All Questions
0
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0answers
5 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 ...
-1
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0answers
10 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
18 views
What are the chances of offspring being full blown albino if male parent has partial albinism?
The father has a white patch of skin on his thigh. Some of his family members have varying patches but no one has one on the face or eyes or hair.
If the female partner has the albino gene what are ...
0
votes
1answer
17 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
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1answer
15 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!
0
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1answer
23 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 ...
0
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0answers
9 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
21 views
Mapping a mutation to known SNP, 3' UTR, miR
I've parsed out a very large TCGA cancer ssm (single mutation file) file to give me the essential information.
The ssm is in the following format:
...
1
vote
2answers
19 views
How did the activities of protocells become inheritable?
I have learned that first a protocell came to exist and its characteristics came to be passed on by genetic material. So how come genes for all the activities come to incorporate into genetic ...
3
votes
1answer
29 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
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0answers
32 views
DIY food intolerance testing ELISA
I recently purchased an expensive food allergy kit which reportedly tested 59 types of food, what I found was actually consistent with my experiences despite health experts saying they are not ...
0
votes
0answers
25 views
Is there any interest to searching for intelligent messages within the DNA coding sections already responsible for coding RNA to make proteins? [duplicate]
Is there any major flaws in the below reasoning that would not make it worthwhile to find a potential intelligent message inside our DNA? I'm thinking modern science would shy away from this endevour ...
1
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0answers
18 views
What mammalian cell lines are easiest to grow and transfect?
I'm working with HEK293 cells, which are very easy to transfect. Does anyone have other suggestions for cell lines with very high transfection efficiency? Ideally the chromosomes would also be diploid ...
0
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0answers
23 views
Reverse complement of reconstruction model for assembling reads
One way to assemble fragments produced by DNA sequencing (often called reads) is to seek for the shortest common superstring that contains all the reads of a given set of reads. One model for this ...
2
votes
1answer
28 views
Why does the sweat of children not smell like adults?
My kids sweat plenty in this hot heat, but they don't smell afterward. I on the other hand need all kinds of deodorant. Why doesn't kid sweat smell?
0
votes
1answer
16 views
Transplantation of stem cells
During the autologous transplantation of stems cells from bone marrow to produce new blood cells why all the other stem cells other than the one obtained are destroyed?
3
votes
1answer
47 views
Can proteins move outside cells?
I am trying to learn about basic cell biology, and have what is probably an extremely simple question.
So this is how I understand it so far:
Proteins are made from amino acids. This process is ...
0
votes
1answer
16 views
Immunity during pregnancy
I have learnt that our immune system distinguishes self from non-self by using MHC. So a mother during pregnancy should also develop antibodies against the fetus as it is also a genetically different ...
0
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0answers
16 views
Ideas for mobile apps focusing on community health and preventative care? [closed]
I am a software developer and would like to make some free apps to assist people with their healthcare, especially those who are underserved or typically are not involved in their healthcare. And I ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
Specifically What Protein Folding Calculations does Folding@Home do? [closed]
The Folding@Home project claims to solve protein folding problem on participant's desktops when they're not in use. Could anyone tell me what the calculations are that are running through Folding@Home ...
0
votes
3answers
39 views
Diffusion across cell membranes
I got this question and don't really understand the difference between the answers.
Diffusion is (in cell membrane):
a) passive by nature, no metabolic energy is needed
b) driven process by ...
0
votes
0answers
13 views
Is schoons hardshell muskmelon a hybrid?
Would schoons hardshell muskmelon be considered a hybrid as I have read it was a cross between a Bender's Surprise and a Honey Rock.
0
votes
1answer
26 views
What medical and commercial proteins are made using genetically modified animals?
I have heard of recombinant technologies in micro-organisms being used to produce commercial and medically useful proteins like insulin. However, until recently, I was aware that transgenic animals ...
1
vote
0answers
16 views
Hippocampal regulation of hypothalamus
What is the difference between CA1-CA4 hippocampal subfields and dentate gyrus (DG) in negative regulation of hypothalamus? I`ve found only evidence that GR expression is more in CA1-2 and DG, while ...
0
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0answers
13 views
Endophytic Xylariaceae: diversity and taxonomy inferred from rDNA sequence analyses
"Thailand is considered as one of the areas containing a high percentage of unknown taxa of Xylariaceae (Rogers 2000). In Thailand, several studies on endophytic fungi have been documented, namely, ...
0
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0answers
21 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.
...
-2
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0answers
24 views
International standard to prepare an International journal [closed]
Any of you could give the link or reference regarding International standard to prepare an International journal on microbiology field?
0
votes
1answer
50 views
TCGA data, and bioinformatics design questions for SNP/ mirna analysis
It's my first time posting to this forum but was looking for some help on the data aspects of this project.
My tools of choice would be in python/R .
Goal: I'm looking to create a disease specific ...
2
votes
0answers
20 views
How to use mechanical microstrainer to extract tissue proteins from human?
Background:
There are many methods to extract proteins form human tissues out there. The majority of them use an extraction buffer containing variable concentrations of detergents and protease ...
0
votes
0answers
30 views
Wheat anthracnose outbreaks caused by Colletotrichum cereale in the USA
"Wheat anthracnose outbreaks caused by C. cereale were problematic during the 1940s in the USA, but presently do not limit production of this crop, despite the fact that the fungus still inhabits ...
0
votes
0answers
19 views
Is it “extreme” or “large” diversity for endophytic microorganism subject? [migrated]
Do I need to substitute the word extreme to large in this text?
Endophytic fungi are molds that are found in the healthy plant tissues. Endophytic fungi is mold that exists in the plant tissue ...
0
votes
2answers
49 views
What kind of arthropod/animal is this?
Can anyone identify this strange creature? I live in a very urban part of Montreal, Canada. It wasn't moving (seemed dead) and although the image is huge, it wasn't as big as it seems (a couple of ...
1
vote
1answer
39 views
How difficult is to renature a protein?
I know of Anfinsen's experiments and I'm aware that some denatured enzymes may regain their lost activity through the removal of the denaturant agent. What I'm unaware of is how rare is it for a ...
-1
votes
1answer
58 views
What determines a journal's 'impact factor'? [closed]
This isn't directly linked to biology, but it does seem to crop up as being the driving force when deciding which journal to apply for when attempting to publish an article.
Journals like Cell, ...
1
vote
2answers
55 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
15 views
What is the disadvantage of having no anticoagulation after pulmonary embolism?
Is chronic anticoagulation always given after pulmonary embolism?
What are the risks or disadvantages
if anticoagulation is not given?
if terminated early?
2
votes
1answer
21 views
By what mechanism is Streptococcus bovis acting as a risk factor for colorectal cancer?
Streptococcus bovis bacteremia/endocarditis is considered a risk factor for colorectal cancer. What pathophysiological mechanism may link the two together?
0
votes
1answer
55 views
Writing methods section on PCR amplication in a paper
Considering that I am writing a paper for a journal, could the following phrase be understood? or should I put the 'step-by-step' way by giving numbers?
PCR Amplification and sequencing
PCR ...
0
votes
0answers
23 views
Are there plants that excrete poisons into their environments? [duplicate]
Plant growth is very much limited by other plants in its neighbourhood, "stealing" their potential nourishment. So are there any plants that solved this problem by killing its neighbouring plants, ...
0
votes
1answer
17 views
What's seen when stress echocardiography shows ischaemia? Can this happen without angina?
What can be seen on the screen when stress echocardiography suggests ischaemia? Can this happen without chest pain?
Illustration from Wikipedia:
2
votes
2answers
41 views
Primer design for Gibson assembly
I'm trying to design a primer for Gibson assembly. My gene of interest is on a plasmid, and I want to copy that gene, and put it into a different plasmid.
I am unsure how to design my primers for ...
2
votes
2answers
82 views
Why do neurones use chemical signalling at synaptic junctions?
Problem. When a neurone fires, it sends an electrical signal that jumps down the axon via the nodes of Ranvier very rapidly. At a synaptic junction, chemical brownian diffusion signalling with ...
2
votes
0answers
20 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.
...
0
votes
0answers
16 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?
2
votes
3answers
57 views
Knockdown of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) - how is it done?
I don't work at the wet lab and don't know all the details about the knockdown techniques.
My question is:
How lncRNA knockdown is done?
For example - you have lncRNA that is functional in the ...
0
votes
1answer
65 views
Are humans more aggressive during a full moon? [closed]
Is it true that we are more agressive during the night when there is a full moon?
If true, could this be a remnant from times where we needed to hunt for our food and so could see more at night when ...
4
votes
0answers
32 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
20 views
What material is recommended for autoradiography cassettes when working with 32P?
So, during radiation safety training, much hullabaloo is made regarding how the high energy beta emitted by 32P produces Bremsstrahlung radiation when striking a high Z shielding material. As such, ...
3
votes
1answer
47 views
Why does it hurt more when you touch a nerve directly?
I am not a biologist nor know much about biology (so please explain in layman's terms) however I have always been curious as to why this is.
What causes the difference in pain between touching an ...
2
votes
1answer
27 views
How is transport of glucose into prokaryotic cells different from transport into eukaryotic cells?
I was reading page 92 of Fundamentals of Microbiology, 4th edition, which states
In facilitated diffusion, the substance (glucose, for example) to be transported combines with a plasma membrane ...
