RNA polymerase

in creating important structures found in our body such as deoxyribonucleic acid, more commonly referred to as DNA, and ribonucleic acid or RNA. (Erster, Lecture 4 Chapter 5) Ribonucleic acid is then categorized into two types of RNA: mRNA and tRNA (there are other types but the ones mainly discussed in protein synthesis only involved these two). The DNA and RNA are partners that work together to make protein in protein synthesis. DNA is like the instruction manual to making the protein. The…

Fundamentals of Biochemistry in the Biotech Industry Maple Syrup Urine Disease: A Sweet Scented Killer Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) is a rare, potentially deadly disorder where the body cannot break down the three branched- chained amino acids (BCCA): leucine, isoleucine and valine. These amino acids are used to build proteins and when they are not being used they can be broken down and recycled in the cell. The complex that breaks these amino acids down is called BCKD (branched-chain…

DNA is the element of making an organism. It contains genetic information that can be applied to all kinds of functions required for living. DNA is a sequence of nucleotides which can be transcript to mRNA. When mRNA is formed, it can later on translate to tRNA where codon could be found. Codon is a set of nucleotide in tRNA which is directly related to the formation of amino acid. The combination of codon determines the characteristic of the amino acid. In other words, to make amino acids,…

DNA is our genetic code, it is permanent and unchangeable. Epigenetics are the mechanisms that influence DNA, it is the device that inhibits or increases our gene expression. Epigenetics can be influenced by many factors, for example nutrition and stress. Although the actual makeup of our genetic code isn’t changed by these factors, the extent to which the genes are expressed can be (Rettner, 2013). Epigeneticist Moshe Szyf highlighted the ways in which different behaviors can influence…

Gene traps are the plasmid or retrovirus-based vectors having a reporter gene that is only expressed when integrated in a functional gene. They were originally developed for the study of insertional mutagenesis in mouse. The gene traps were used to identify and characterize genes which were regulated by exogenous stimuli or during development process. The gene trap is a process which makes it possible to identify genes that gives rise to phenotypic effects when they are switched off, and also…

Unit 18 - Genetics (Assignment 1) Task 1. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA for short) is genetic material that carry’s the majority of information for development growth and many other functions. DNA is located in the nucleus of a cell. DNA has a double helix structure and is formed by a series of bases these are Adenine , Cytosine , Guanine and Thymine. These bases have a basic pattern when forming DNA. Adenine will only join to Thymine when in DNA and Cytosine will only join to Guanine when in…

Progeria, otherwise known as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome , is a rare disorder that causes children to age eight times faster than a normal person. This disease affect only 350 kids today. It was discovered by Jonathan Hutchinson in England in 1886 and was first called Progeria by Hastings Gilford. It was then named Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome. The name Progeria is taken from a Greek word that means "prematurely old". It is an autosomal recessive disorder, meaning that an…

It’s important to realize that each scientific break through is made possible by the work that came before it. It’s a lot like putting puzzle pieces together, collecting different important evidence until enough puzzle pieces result in another break through. Fifty years ago two scientists announced to a lunch time crowd that they had discovered the secret to life. How DNA changed the world To begin with scientists used to have no understanding of what caused distinct patterns of inheritance.…

Aspergillus nidulans: One of the lesser known pathogen of the aspergilli group, A. nidulans is a model filamentous fungus widely used for studying eukaryotic cell biology (Galagan et al., 2005). A. nidulans possesses a phospholipid-hydrolyzing novel cPLA2 protein, PlaA, which shows maximum similarity to mammalian-type cPLA2 proteins (α, β, γ) (Hong et al., 2005). Like the three isoforms of human cPLA2 proteins, A. nidulans PlaA also consists of two separate catalytic domainsA and B, and…

When we think “polymer”, we should not limit ourselves to its biological applications; polymers can do so much more. Polymers are the “recipe for life.” We find them everywhere we look. For example, turn to your friend. What is he or she made of? The answer is polymers. Polymers make up essential molecules in our bodies, such as proteins or nucleic acids. They may be microscopic, but their functions in our bodies are important. Background Information There is so much more to being…