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| bio | website | |
|---|---|---|
| location | Cambridge, United Kingdom | |
| age | 28 | |
| visits | member for | 1 year, 5 months |
| seen | May 9 at 13:53 | |
| stats | profile views | 62 |
I’m a bioinformatics PhD student at EMBL-EBI and the University of Cambridge but I’m originally from Berlin.
My thesis project is about the regulation of tRNA expression in mammals.
Here’s my …
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Aug 27 |
revised |
What is an organism? added 297 characters in body; added 48 characters in body; added 2 characters in body; added 95 characters in body |
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Aug 27 |
answered | What is an organism? |
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Aug 26 |
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How many human cells are there in our body, on average? Well, the Nobel quote is wrong whichever way you turn it (for the reason outlined in the Wikipedia quote). But I wouldn’t be surprised that, even taking the average, there’s an uncertainty of a factor 10 about the correct number. Because all the factors used to determine the number are crude estimates indeed. |
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Aug 25 |
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Human evolution: Where *exactly* did the first human come from, whose parents were not? @Mohammad I had understood the question but the answer remains that 1. we do not know, and 2. it varies. Concerning your specific example, it’s not even known whether humans and chimpanzees (not ancestors, but closely related species) could produce viable offsprings. Many biologists are convinced that they could, even though their chromosome numbers are different. Of course, this is an impossible, because unethical, experiment. Mating modern humans with 250kya ancestors would almost certainly work. |
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Aug 25 |
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Human evolution: Where *exactly* did the first human come from, whose parents were not? @Mohammad Excellent question. Unfortunately, Russel’s answer is spot-on. For instance, some species of dogs cannot inter-breed simply because of size differences, not due to other genetic incompatibility. Some species of crickets could inter-breed but aren’t sexually attracted to each other due to different mating calls. Some species, such as the Larus gulls (technically, all one species) can both inter-breed with a third, but not with each other. |
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Aug 24 |
answered | Human evolution: Where *exactly* did the first human come from, whose parents were not? |
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Aug 22 |
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Why do DNA and RNA have the functions they have? @bobthejoe Is it? Most of the mRNA seems to be unstructured, apart from cap, tail and maybe 3ʹ UTR. I admit that I haven’t read anything stating this definitely but I’ve also never read anything to the contrary (and a structure in the coding sequence sounds worth mentioning), and in fact the (electron scanning) photographs I’ve seen of transcription show elongated, unfolded mRNA tails. |
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Aug 22 |
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Why do cockroaches flip over when they die? Do they flip over? I’ve always considered that to be just a comic representation. Maybe it’s just easier to spot dead cockroaches which have flipped over, since the others aren’t easily distinguishable from live ones? … |
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Aug 22 |
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Why do DNA and RNA have the functions they have? @bobthejoe While that’s interesting in general (good answer!), here we are talking specifically about mRNA where structure plays no or only a very minor role. |
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Aug 21 |
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Why isn't there any repulsive force between Na+ and K+ disrupting thier roles in transmembrane voltage/ action potentials Actually a fair point. |
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Aug 21 |
revised |
What would need to be discovered to prove there is extraterrestrial life? added 34 characters in body |
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Aug 21 |
answered | What would need to be discovered to prove there is extraterrestrial life? |
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Aug 21 |
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Why isn't there any repulsive force between Na+ and K+ disrupting thier roles in transmembrane voltage/ action potentials I’m not sure the question is quite clear: the repulsive force of the ions is necessary for their role (otherwise you wouldn’t get an electrochemical gradient across the membrane). |
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Aug 20 |
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Why do DNA and RNA have the functions they have? Yes, in fact I’m convinced that sequence of origin is the real reason. The similarity with non-coding RNA is notable only insofar as much of the machinery for treating RNA (any RNA) is ancient and very well conserved, and thus the cell requires less innovation by relying on mRNA than it would by having some kind of mDNA. |
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Aug 20 |
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Why do DNA and RNA have the functions they have? The first sentence of your second paragraph is essentially proof by intimidation: you’re not giving any reason here. Just because RNA can take on multiple forms doesn’t by itself say anything about the suitability of mRNA as an intermediary between DNA and proteins, especially since all the examples you’ve cited are noncoding. |
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Aug 15 |
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Why aren't mitochondria and plastids considered symbiotes of eukaryotic cells? In my naivety I think that Richard Dawkins has given the perfect answer in the last chapter of The Selfish Gene. It’s indeed (solely, he argues) a function of their life cycle. Mitochondria may be able to reproduce independently, but their proliferation is bound to their hosts. |
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Aug 15 |
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What is Mendelian Randomization, and how is it used to infer causality in epidemiology? Nice weather? In the UK? Ridiculous. |
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Aug 15 |
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Why did life not evolve to use radio? Why is the thermal noise not a problem in mechanical devices then? Is the only reason the better conductivity of the material? |
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Aug 15 |
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Why did life not evolve to use radio? Light is an electromagnetic wave. The only difference is wave length and energy. |
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Aug 15 |
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What gaseous substances do humans emit? I always understood that NO, when used as a neurotransmitter / second messenger, is in solution, i.e. not gaseous. |
