0
votes
3answers
23 views
Can sexual reproduction create new genetic information?
Is there a small chance that in sexual reproduction a new allele forms in the off-spring that was not present in either of the parents, or are the alleles in the offspring always from at least one of ...
3
votes
2answers
57 views
What's the difference between shotgun sequencing and clone based sequencing?
What are the main differences between shotgun sequencing and clone based sequencing?
-1
votes
0answers
13 views
Can I eat just potatoes for the rest of my life and stay healthy? [closed]
I've been thinking about limiting my diet to literally potatoes for the rest of my life.
Can I eat only potatoes and stay healthy?
5
votes
1answer
87 views
Why do many fruit trees have five-petaled flowers?
Peach, pear, apple, cherry, and many other fruit trees seem to have flowers comprised of five petals. Assuming there is no evolutionary advantage to confusing students of trees, is there a plausible ...
3
votes
1answer
39 views
Experimental evidence for the selfish gene vs. the selfish individual
In the Selfish Gene, Dawkins makes the argument that a better view of evolution (i.e. more in accordance with experiment) is obtained if you view the basic unit of evolution to be the gene rather ...
3
votes
1answer
105 views
Do forever-living organisms exist?
Do organisms exist that are able to live indefinitely if they are not killed by external factors?
Under external factors I would consider things like predators and natural disaster but not illness by ...
1
vote
2answers
24 views
What is in the space between neurons in a brain?
When neuron animations are displayed, there are frequently seen neurons, axons arranged in a lattice with a lot of empty space between. I'm interested if there is indeed empty space in the brain, or ...
0
votes
0answers
16 views
Does brain activity generate heat gradients in the brain?
I'm reading this article on guiding axon growth using temperature gradient, and it mentions that the trajectory of growth of neuron connections can be influenced by temperature gradients as little as ...
4
votes
1answer
55 views
How do I view the simulated protein structure along with ligand in VMD?
I did a simulation of a protein-ligand complex, and it has stabilized after 5 ns. I have got the respective pdb files for every ns, but when I try to view in VMD (Visual Molecular Dynamics), I cannot ...
4
votes
1answer
77 views
Why does getting certain chemicals in cuts hurt?
More specifically, shampoo. What are the mechanics of detecting a noxious chemical stimulus in terms of which receptors recognise what, how do they do it, and how is this information relayed to the ...
-1
votes
1answer
31 views
Amino acid characteristics that determine their chemical properties?
What chemical aspect of amino acids results in their having different properties such that the chemical and physical properties of polypeptides vary with both amino acid content and amino acid order?
...
1
vote
1answer
27 views
In vitro enzyme production
I need to express a protein in vitro but I don't know where to start. I will likely do a T7 transcription protocol but for translation I am not sure what to do. Are there any good kits?
2
votes
2answers
63 views
+50
What medical and commercial proteins are made using genetically modified animals?
Recombinant technologies in micro-organisms being used to produce commercial and medically useful proteins like insulin are fairly common.
However some proteins are still produced commercially in ...
2
votes
1answer
22 views
Do male marsupials have a pouch?
Do male marsupials have a pouch, or is it a female organ only (like the womb)?
1
vote
0answers
21 views
Reason behind formation of different shapes of cell
I have always wondered how cells are modified to give them a specific shape. On what specific part of a cell does gene regulation act for giving the shape ?
2
votes
1answer
31 views
What is this marmot-like animal (Tigray, Ethiopia)?
I was searching what are the animals I frequently saw in the north of Ethiopia. I took some bad quality pictures.
For me it looked like a large squirrel, local people called it a rat, and on the ...
1
vote
1answer
26 views
How do pet gecko lizards pose a health risk?
Does having gecko lizards living in your house pose any health risk?
0
votes
1answer
25 views
Ill effects of urea and NH3 on metabolism
What exactly does urea do that harms our body ? Does it interfere with our cellular processes or disturbs the colloidal onchotic pressure of our blood ?
I have heard that NH3 damages the brain . What ...
5
votes
1answer
61 views
What effect do oligosaccharides, like those found in legumes, have on the composition of intestinal flora in humans and if so how so?
I know that intestinal flora metabolising oligosaccharides, like those found in legumes, is the cause for the well known fact that legumes cause flatulence, but does an oligosaccharide-rich intestine ...
0
votes
0answers
21 views
Hardy-Weinberg applied to three alleles and stimation of allele frequencies
I have this equation:
Corresponds to HW in equilibria with three alleles:
$(p+q+r)^2=1$
Expanding the square results:
$p^2+2pq+r^2+2pr+q^2+2qr = 1$
I need to separate homozygous and ...
0
votes
0answers
14 views
Do cockroaches eat their shells after moulting?
I recently witnessed a cockroach eat its shell after it moulted. Do cockroaches always do this?
3
votes
2answers
119 views
Physiological indicators of happiness and well being
If I understand it correctly, levels of serotonin in the brain can indicate if a person is happy. What other physiological measures indicate happiness or well being for a humans?
I am looking for ...
0
votes
1answer
27 views
General undergraduate zoology textbook recommendation?
I am very interested in zoology,and I want to study zoology in my spare time.
Any undergraduate level zoology text book recommendation?
-1
votes
0answers
35 views
Is it possible to gain mutant powers through a genetically modified virus? [closed]
Is it possible to gain mutant powers through a genetically modified virus?
i want wolverines healing powers - biologists you're on!
0
votes
3answers
82 views
Has medical progress stopped human evolution?
We can cure many diseases nowadays, and thus the natural selection is very limited.
Plus, mankind spent the whole beginning of its existence in almost the same hostile environment, and that's where he ...
3
votes
1answer
52 views
What nutrients can humans absorb in the mouth?
For instance, I realise being able to absorb simple sugars in the mouth is pivotal in the rapid action of oral glucose gel. Thus I was wondering what nutrients in general can be absorbed directly ...
0
votes
1answer
19 views
First genomic survey of human skin fungal diversity
"The researchers found that a single type of fungus, belonging to the genus Malassezia, is predominant on the head and trunk. Hands, which harbor a great diversity of bacteria, are home for relatively ...
0
votes
0answers
18 views
How to evaluate 1st and 2nd order reactions, with rate constants and fluxes? [closed]
I want to implement differential equations in C# from Open Cell cellml file. The mathematical model is described in the following link [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1367306/][1]. I have ...
2
votes
1answer
29 views
What does “rapamycin-sensitive oncogenic transformation” mean?
Can someone explain exactly what "rapamycin-sensitive oncogenic transformation" is? I get that it's a drug that suppresses the immune system but what does it have to do with oncogenic transformation?
...
0
votes
0answers
17 views
best known indexing method / transformation to coordinates for gene sequences
What would be the best known method to transform a gene or proteine sequence to some coordinate space (so $t(G)$ is the transformed sequence) complying to following rules:
similar sequences ...
-1
votes
0answers
19 views
Is there any problem in the debian package of BLAST executables downloaded from UBUNTU software centre? [closed]
I am using standalone BLAST in my two computer. The executables are installed differently in these two machines. In one case blast2 package has been installed from UBUNTU software centre which is a ...
3
votes
1answer
40 views
Is Active Transport Required For Life?
Is active transport required for all living cells to function?
I was under the impression that if a cell doesn't have active transport, it either would lose molecules through the membrane and not be ...
4
votes
2answers
63 views
Intrinsic apoptosis in erythrocytes
With a lack of mitochondria, can red blood cells perform intrinsic apoptosis and do they have another way of generating cytochrome c to attach to a CARD domain and assemble the apoptosome?
Or are ...
2
votes
2answers
33 views
How does the immune system distinguish own and foreign antibodies?
Therapeutic antibodies, for example Rituximab which recognises CD20 on B lymphoma cells, can cause adverse effects (e.g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19399690)
One reason behind these adverse ...
4
votes
2answers
4k views
Does Human Female Meiosis II occur after fertilization with sperm?
I am reading the answer and I am getting confused by the sentence:
At the end of meiosis I females have two daughter cells and meiosis II
only occurs if and when fertilization occurs by a sperm ...
3
votes
2answers
26 views
Is there any source for raw data of SNP genotype frequency?
On sites like SNPedia, some pages contain the frequency of the SNP in question in different populations, based on published research. I'm trying to write a script that takes 23andme data and compares ...
2
votes
2answers
74 views
Why is a slow worm not considered a snake?
Slow worms are considered lizards as opposed to snakes, both are reptiles. Now I get that there are traits that distinguish them (eye lids, ears ...). But snake species themselves vary already quite a ...
2
votes
0answers
10 views
Reflexes & Pathologies including the Vagus Nerve
I only know the vasovagal reflex. I would really appreciate if someone could inform me about the other ones.
About the pathologies, I already know the effects of direct nerve damage. I am talking ...
0
votes
0answers
36 views
By what mechanism does taking a shower wake up and energise?
My personal experience is that a warm or hot shower can make me feel good, alert and energised. I've heard others having similar experiences, some mentioning cold shower as a good method to wake up.
...
-1
votes
0answers
19 views
Switching over to syntetic biology [closed]
I have a bachelors in computers science and would like to switch over synthetic biology.
How do i proceed
Is it advisable to do so
How can i get a (another) bachelors degree or a masters degree ...
4
votes
1answer
33 views
Cat purring: What are some possible underlying mechanisms behind purring and bone remodeling and formation?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-cats-purr
The article above says that cats purr mostly when they're wounded or under duress. They hypothesis that cats purring leads to ...
0
votes
1answer
26 views
copper spiral birth control not toxic?
I Always thought that copper was toxic to the human body.
So how can it be safe to place a copper object (birth control spiral) into a uterus for a duration of 5 years?
0
votes
1answer
19 views
Excretion and metabolic waste?
I know there is a difference between digestive and metabolic waste, but which one is called excretion? And what's the other one called? Thanks!
5
votes
1answer
107 views
What could account for an apparent loss of mass at death?
An interesting tidbit floating around the internet these days is that Dr. Duncan MacDougall apparently weighed people shortly before and after death, and found an average of a 21 gram discrepancy, to ...
9
votes
3answers
710 views
DNA synthesis companies: cost per base, turn-around time, codon-optimization algorithms
I would like to synthesize a 3.4kb gene (originally isolated from soil bacteria) and transform it into E. coli. There are several companies (DNA2.0, GeneScript, BlueHeron) which will synthesize the ...
2
votes
1answer
49 views
Histone marks mechanism
I am slightly confused about the mechanisms that makes histone modifications associate with gene expression.
That is, H3K36me3 is believed to be present in actively transcribed genes, H3K27me3 in ...
0
votes
1answer
36 views
What's food mode?
I've been watching a The Crocodile Hunter episode about Komodo dragons, and Steve Irwing kept speaking about the animals being in "food mode", in which they apparently change their behavior to one of ...
2
votes
1answer
23 views
Range of feasible coefficients in an unlimited growth model
If you are given an unlimited growth model in the form:
$\frac {dP(t)}{dt} = k P(t)$
Obviously the population growth would never be unlimited, but let's presume for the moment that we are ...
0
votes
0answers
12 views
cell uptake prediction
I'm generating random molecules I would like to know if they are able to pass through the cell membrane. Are there any ways (preferably computational) to predict cellular uptake of an organic molecule ...
4
votes
1answer
51 views
What is the minimum population size that Hardy-Weinberg calculations can be applied to?
I'm trying to find out if a particular allele is in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium, but the data is poor. What's the minimum population number that you can use to get any sort of respectable ...
