Tagged Questions
2
votes
2answers
34 views
DNA replication Okazaki fragments
I understand multiple origin bubbles; DNA polymerase only synthesizes DNA from 5' to 3' and all that. But what I don't understand is why it has to be in fragments. Yes, DNA is anti parallel, and so ...
4
votes
1answer
69 views
How do mutations come to be shared by all cells?
It's my understanding that various hazards can damage the DNA in our cells, causing mutations.
But whenever I picture this, I see the damage being done to one of our tissues (for example, our lungs ...
2
votes
0answers
54 views
Papers linking telomeres and aging [closed]
I'm currently writing a piece of work about telomeres and aging, and wondered if you could share some good papers you've either read or know of.
8
votes
3answers
195 views
What kind of event would cause the current Mitochondrial Eve to be replaced by a new one?
Apparently all living humans are matrilineal descendants of a single woman who lived 200.000 years ago. She is called Mitochondrial Eve.
But at the time she lived there was a different matrilineal ...
3
votes
2answers
160 views
Difference between mice and rats
What is the actual biological difference between mice and rats? Are they actually the same thing with two different names depending on appearance (are they all mice for instance and we call the larger ...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
Evolutionally speaking, why do humans have 46 chromosomes
In humans, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46. Monkeys, chimpanzees, and Apes have 24 pairs (twenty-four pairs), for a total of 48.
What caused humans to have 46?
...
5
votes
1answer
98 views
Are there any DNA base sequences that are fully conserved between the genomes of all humans?
That is, they don't differ throughout the entire population. I understand of course that we can't DNA sequence every human, so by "fully" I mean there's an incredibly small probability of there being ...
7
votes
1answer
233 views
How many gigabytes of DNA are there on earth?
The human genome is about 770 MB, the C. elegans genome is about 100 MB, the yeast S. cerevisiae is about 12 MB. Different other genomes have been sequenced: how many GB of genomic DNA we have now?
...
6
votes
1answer
77 views
What is the effective relatedness of inbreeding?
If a human inbreeds with a relative, how distant does the relative have to be before the homozygosity in the child is no higher than if the mate were randomly chosen from the global population?
7
votes
1answer
138 views
Finding DNA from Amino Acid sequence problem
My attempt: First I took the single letter AA codes and made them amino acids. So, the first one is Trp which is 5'-UGG-3'. From this I got the DNA sequence 3'-CCA-5'. However, the correct ...
5
votes
2answers
543 views
Altering the human genome
I recently had a conversation with a rather unusual gentleman who was, let's say, more than a little partial to conspiracy theories. He has this idea that governments are lowering "nanowires" from ...
16
votes
2answers
2k views
What is the advantage of circular DNA in bacteria?
From what I understand, bacteria have circular DNA. What advantages does it have over linear strands like for eukaryotes?
Do there exist bacteria with more than one ring of DNA?
14
votes
6answers
594 views
Could Junk DNA be used as a Turing Machine by nature?
In what ways has DNA been studied to see if there a "programmable" aspect to it?
Has nature produced anything resembling a Turing machine within the cell, perhaps using the "junk DNA" as its code? I ...
9
votes
1answer
120 views
How can you identify if a person is homozygous for a certain allele?
I've been thinking about starting a small private research project. In this project I need to find out whether a person is homozygous for a certain allele. The reason for this is that I'm really ...
