Plasmid

Ayn Rand’s (1905 – 1982) personal philosophy, Objectivism, was directly impacted by the political influences she was exposed to throughout her upbringing, namely Russian socialism and, as an adult, American capitalism. Objectivism holds that: reality exists as an objective absolute, man is an end to himself and his purpose in life lies within satisfying rational self-interests, and laissez-faire capitalism reigns supreme over any other form of economy. She preaches that one must live a “selfish”…

Bacillus anthracis is the causative organism of the serious infectious disease, called anthrax. There are three manifestations of this disease. The manifestations include gastrointestinal anthrax, inhalation anthrax, and cutaneous anthrax. This research will explore the morphology, virulence factors, reservoir, transmission, and portal of entry of B. anthracis. The pathogenesis will also be reviewed, including symptoms, how B. anthracis causes these symptoms, the possible complications of the…

The plague is probably best known in the West as the disease that caused the Black Death in Europe in the fourteenth century. Nearly two-thirds of the population of Europe was killed, leaving a marked impact on Western culture (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2014). However, plague has not been eradicated and continues to be a disease that humans contend with in the twenty-first century. Natural disasters, human conflict, and abnormally warm and dry weather conditions can all cause increases…

Introduction What if scientists could create a human being in a laboratory with only DNA? Advancements in genetic engineering technology have made that a viable option in the foreseeable future. While “test tube babies” cannot yet be born from only lab equipment, there are ways that a child’s DNA can be manipulated in ways that can eliminate hereditary disease genes and mutations. Since the field is still experimental, this is what it has been limited to up until this point. This strict…

*SCENE 1 : Calgene Lab* Scientist A: According to my research, once I perform this experiment, it will interfere with the production of the protein that causes the decay. Scientist A: I just need to do this and..*stomach grumbles*...nope. I need to go to the restroom for a bit. What this scientist didn't know is that his son was watching from afar. Son: Oooooh, a needle. But why is the tomato the only one left with no needles? Son: Let me fix that. The son then sticks the needle to the…

S. aureus was first isolated by Alexander Ogston. Ogston described the bacteria, which he isolated from pus collected from surgical wounds, as micrococci (Thomer et al., 2015). This description was given because of the sphere-shape of the bacteria and the grape-like clusters that they form. After Ogston’s discovery, Friedrich Rosenbach differentiated between two staphylococci bacteria, which were isolated from humans (Thomer et al., 2015). These bacteria were named S. aureus and S. albus. This…

receptor of sorts, allowing the DNA strand to be spliced together with other pieces of DNA fragments also containing sticky ends. Bacterial plasmids often have human DNA inserted using a similar process as what is used to isolated the originating protein, the bacterial chromosomes are removed and the altered plasmid remains. The sticky ends from the host DNA and the plasmid are joined using special cell proteins, leaving a gene that can be inserted back into the bacteria cell where it can…

Starting with prokaryotes—as earlier discussed, prokaryotes have nucleoids—which are regions where their DNA is stored, not membrane bound—plasmids are common, they have no introns and they do not have histones. Eukaryotes have a membrane-bound nucleus where their DNA is stored, plasmids are rare, they have introns (parts of a split gene that correspond to intervening sequence) and they do have histones (collection of small basic proteins of chromatin). Both prokaryotes…

The Benefits of Genetically Modifying Bacteria and Yeast Insulin Genetic Engineering is the revision and modification of a being’s phenotype. To successfully genetically modify a phenotype, scientists must perform numerous steps. These alterations in the individual’s phenotype can improve the way they function on a daily basis, and even help some overcome difficulties of specific diseases and disorders. One particular kind of genetic modification helps to create insulin for those who suffer…

is no nucleus or membrane bound organelles, but much more complex than a virus. Instead their control centre containing the genetic information is contained in a single loop of DNA. Some bacteria have an extra circle of genetic material called a plasmid.…