Tagged Questions

2
votes
0answers
22 views

What is the purpose of Y-shaped adapters in Illumina sequencing?

Y adapters different sequences to be annealed to the 5' and 3' ends of each molecule in a library. The arms of the Y are unique, and the middle part, connected to the DNA fragment, is complementary. ...
4
votes
1answer
82 views

Can forensic DNA analysis be used to generate a visual approximation of a suspect?

In light of the current US supreme court case, I'm curious if enough information can be teased out of a DNA sample to get a "reasonable" approximation of the suspect (never mind the legality). I ...
3
votes
1answer
100 views

Why re-label the strand ends in 3' DNA labelling?

I have a problem with a molecular biology question; I don’t understand how DNA 3’ labelling works. I took a diagram from my lesson and tried to understand with it; this is what I understood. If I’m ...
6
votes
1answer
97 views

How does Topoisomerase II inhibition affect cancer cells?

Topoisomerase II poisons represent some of the most important and widely prescribed anticancer drugs currently in clinical use. These drugs encompass a diverse group of natural and synthetic ...
4
votes
1answer
77 views

How does formaldehyde cause protein-DNA crosslinking?

How does formaldehyde cause protein-DNA crosslinking? I would guess it's because the strongly polar water molecule interacts strongly with polar residues on a protein-DNA complex, and adding a less ...
4
votes
2answers
185 views

DNA as an acid? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Does DNA react in all of the ways most other acids do? Even if DNA is made up of nucleotide bases, it is said to be an acid. Why is this?
7
votes
1answer
105 views

How realistic is to use DNA for long term storage?

This is mainly a followup question to the recent paper Next-Generation Digital Information Storage in DNA. Personally, while I agree about the data density of the format, I can't help point out the ...
8
votes
1answer
3k views

Why do we add salt when precipitating DNA?

All the DNA extraction protocols I have seen involve adding salts to the extraction buffer. What is the purpose of the salts? What happens if they aren't included?
12
votes
1answer
167 views

What is the prehistory of amino acids in cells?

As a followup to Why 20 amino acids instead of 64? and What is the smallest number of amino acids required for life?, I am trying to understand the prehistory of amino acids in cells. All living ...
9
votes
4answers
166 views

How can I avoid digesting protein-bound DNA?

I'm interested in sequencing and analyzing the bound DNA, and minimizing the amount of unbound DNA that gets sequenced through digestion. When digesting protein-bound DNA, is all of the unbound DNA ...