BIOLOGY CLASS & ANATOMY CLASS
Here's an article that demonstrates the application of what we learned in class to medical conditions.
Biology class - Introns, those short segments of mRNA that cells remove (splice) from the molecule before moving into the cytoplasm because they do not code for any amino acids , or so we thought. Apparently "junk DNA" is not as useless as scientists thought, just like I said in class. ;-)
It seems on some cells (brain cells in this case) they DO have a function and the cells know when to retain them instead of "deleting" those nucleotides. Read the article and lets see if you can explain their function.
Anatomy class - We just finished discussing the nervous system. You learned (I hope!) that besides neurons we can find other types of cells (neuroglia) that work together to keep this system running smoothly. Based on the article and since you already took Biology and understand what introns and channel proteins are; What's the connection between these proteins and maintaining neuronal communication with the presence or absence of introns in these cells?
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that introns, or junk DNA to some, associated with RNA are an important molecular guide to making nerve-cell electrical channels. Senior author James Eberwine, PhD, Elmer Bobst Professor of Pharmacology, and lead authors Kevin Miyashiro, and Thomas J. Bell, PhD, both in Eberwine’s lab, report their findings in this week's early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In nerve cells, some ion channels are located in the dendrite, which branch from the cell body of the neuron. Dendrites detect the electrical and chemical signals transmitted to the neuron by the axons of other neurons. Abnormalities in the dendrite electrical channel are involved in epilepsy, neurodegenerative diseases, and cognitive disorders, among others. more
Source: Biology News Net
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Johns Hopkins researcher leads international effort to create 'proteinpedia'
BIOLOGY CLASS
How many of you use wikipedia to find the answer to different questions?...well, me too. Now think of this, a wiki that specializes only on what we are currently discussing in class; proteins. Yes, those molecules with their distinctive shapes that determine our phenotype.
Researchers at JHU came up with the idea of creating this online service for research labs working on proteonics and molecular biology to share all their findings and making them accessible to other labs and the public. What's great about the site is the fact that the data published is based on results of actual experiments and not models or predictions. Just like the Human Genome Project, decoding and understanding the proteins synthesized by organisms can be a daunting task, projects like these, the HUMAN PROTEINPEDIA, will help speed up the process of disseminating all this information.
Based on what we have discussed in class in terms of understanding what DNA and proteins are and how they work, which is more useful, let's say, for the field of medicine. Are they both equally important, or maybe one can help medicine more that the other. Let me know what do you think.
A researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute of Genetic Medicine has led the effort to compile to date the largest free resource of experimental information about human proteins. Reporting in the February issue of Nature Biotechnology, the research team describes how all researchers around the world can access this data and speed their own research.
“Advances in technology have made data generation much easier, but processing it and interpreting observations are now the major hurdles in science today,” says Akhilesh Pandey, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of biological chemistry, pathology and oncology and member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Hopkins. more
Source: Biology News Net
How many of you use wikipedia to find the answer to different questions?...well, me too. Now think of this, a wiki that specializes only on what we are currently discussing in class; proteins. Yes, those molecules with their distinctive shapes that determine our phenotype.
Researchers at JHU came up with the idea of creating this online service for research labs working on proteonics and molecular biology to share all their findings and making them accessible to other labs and the public. What's great about the site is the fact that the data published is based on results of actual experiments and not models or predictions. Just like the Human Genome Project, decoding and understanding the proteins synthesized by organisms can be a daunting task, projects like these, the HUMAN PROTEINPEDIA, will help speed up the process of disseminating all this information.
Based on what we have discussed in class in terms of understanding what DNA and proteins are and how they work, which is more useful, let's say, for the field of medicine. Are they both equally important, or maybe one can help medicine more that the other. Let me know what do you think.
A researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute of Genetic Medicine has led the effort to compile to date the largest free resource of experimental information about human proteins. Reporting in the February issue of Nature Biotechnology, the research team describes how all researchers around the world can access this data and speed their own research.
“Advances in technology have made data generation much easier, but processing it and interpreting observations are now the major hurdles in science today,” says Akhilesh Pandey, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of biological chemistry, pathology and oncology and member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Hopkins. more
Source: Biology News Net
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Scientists Synthesize a Genome From Scratch
BIOLOGY CLASS
This week in class we started our chapter on Molecular Biology, as you saw in the video I used to introduced the topic, one of the biggest scientific projects in the last few decades has been the sequencing of the human genome. As an international collaboration, The Human Genome Project was able to complete their work in less time than what they had predicted. Only a few decades ago the molecule of DNA was described by Watson and Crick, and their work published on the journal Science in 1953. In less than 55 years that molecule has been studied so much that we now have a map of all those "parts" called genes. In class I asked you, imagine what will happen in the next 55 years.
Well here's an article that can give you an idea of things to come. Scientists have been able to "build" an artificial or synthetic genome. They have put together a molecule of DNA from a species of bacteria using enzymes to attach small segments made from nucleotides. Although they still have some work to do to have an entity that shows signs of life, indeed this is a demonstration of the power of biotechnology.
What do you think? Is it right to be doing this? Why do you think these scientist are doing this? Isn't just easier to go and find the bacteria somewhere else and then use it for what ever purpose you need? Tell me what you think.
Researchers have rebuilt an entire genome from scratch, they report online today in Science. Although the team has yet to demonstrate that this DNA can substitute for the real thing, the work paves the way for customized bacteria that could efficiently produce drugs, biofuels, and other molecules useful to humankind. more
Source: ScienceNOW Daily News
This week in class we started our chapter on Molecular Biology, as you saw in the video I used to introduced the topic, one of the biggest scientific projects in the last few decades has been the sequencing of the human genome. As an international collaboration, The Human Genome Project was able to complete their work in less time than what they had predicted. Only a few decades ago the molecule of DNA was described by Watson and Crick, and their work published on the journal Science in 1953. In less than 55 years that molecule has been studied so much that we now have a map of all those "parts" called genes. In class I asked you, imagine what will happen in the next 55 years.
Well here's an article that can give you an idea of things to come. Scientists have been able to "build" an artificial or synthetic genome. They have put together a molecule of DNA from a species of bacteria using enzymes to attach small segments made from nucleotides. Although they still have some work to do to have an entity that shows signs of life, indeed this is a demonstration of the power of biotechnology.
What do you think? Is it right to be doing this? Why do you think these scientist are doing this? Isn't just easier to go and find the bacteria somewhere else and then use it for what ever purpose you need? Tell me what you think.
Researchers have rebuilt an entire genome from scratch, they report online today in Science. Although the team has yet to demonstrate that this DNA can substitute for the real thing, the work paves the way for customized bacteria that could efficiently produce drugs, biofuels, and other molecules useful to humankind. more
Source: ScienceNOW Daily News
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Transplant Patient Makes Medical History
BIOLOGY CLASS
Here's another example of what I've been saying in class since the beginning of the year. There are always exceptions to the rules, especially in Biology which is the topic we discuss.
We just finished the chapter on Mendelian genetics, where you learn how the blood type of an individual is determined and inherited, how not all blood types are compatible and why, and the importance of screening the blood samples or organs that will be transplanted to avoid any rejections and further complications. Recall that the positive or negative (Rh) factors on blood types are determined by the presence (or absence) of certain proteins (antigens) on the surface of red blood cells.
Read the following article and try to come up with an explanation other than the one doctors interviewed provide to explain the phenomenon or maybe support the reasoning of the doctors.
CANBERRA (Jan. 25) - An Australian teenage girl has become the world's first known transplant patient to change blood groups and take on the immune system of her organ donor, doctors said on Friday, calling her a "one-in-six-billion miracle."
Demi-Lee Brennan, now 15, received a donor liver when she was 9 years old and her own liver failed.
"It's like my second chance at life," Brennan told local media, recounting how her body achieved what doctors said was the holy grail of transplant surgery. "It's kind of hard to believe." more
Source: Reuters
Here's another example of what I've been saying in class since the beginning of the year. There are always exceptions to the rules, especially in Biology which is the topic we discuss.
We just finished the chapter on Mendelian genetics, where you learn how the blood type of an individual is determined and inherited, how not all blood types are compatible and why, and the importance of screening the blood samples or organs that will be transplanted to avoid any rejections and further complications. Recall that the positive or negative (Rh) factors on blood types are determined by the presence (or absence) of certain proteins (antigens) on the surface of red blood cells.
Read the following article and try to come up with an explanation other than the one doctors interviewed provide to explain the phenomenon or maybe support the reasoning of the doctors.
CANBERRA (Jan. 25) - An Australian teenage girl has become the world's first known transplant patient to change blood groups and take on the immune system of her organ donor, doctors said on Friday, calling her a "one-in-six-billion miracle."
Demi-Lee Brennan, now 15, received a donor liver when she was 9 years old and her own liver failed.
"It's like my second chance at life," Brennan told local media, recounting how her body achieved what doctors said was the holy grail of transplant surgery. "It's kind of hard to believe." more
Source: Reuters
Sunday, January 27, 2008
James Watson's genome sequenced
BIOLOGY CLASS & ANATOMY CLASS
Being this the first post on this blog, I decided to start with this article from Nature magazine since I consider it analogous to what I will try to do this year with this blog. I don't think fifty years ago, as a young student, Watson thought he would be able to have his entire genome decoded and saved on a small DVD. Similarly when I was in high school, it never crossed my mind that information would travel so fast and be so accessible to the public like it does with the help of the internet. As a high school teacher many times I see how students miss the importance of this or at least don't realize how fortunate they are to be living in the information era. Just like Watson's (and Crick's) work gave way to some powerful tools today, I hope my students (or any other) will use this site as a tool to keep up-to-date with current discoveries and research made throughout the world.
Source: Nature
Being this the first post on this blog, I decided to start with this article from Nature magazine since I consider it analogous to what I will try to do this year with this blog. I don't think fifty years ago, as a young student, Watson thought he would be able to have his entire genome decoded and saved on a small DVD. Similarly when I was in high school, it never crossed my mind that information would travel so fast and be so accessible to the public like it does with the help of the internet. As a high school teacher many times I see how students miss the importance of this or at least don't realize how fortunate they are to be living in the information era. Just like Watson's (and Crick's) work gave way to some powerful tools today, I hope my students (or any other) will use this site as a tool to keep up-to-date with current discoveries and research made throughout the world.
Nobel laureate James D. Watson peered deep into his genome yesterday. And soon, anyone else interested in his genetic makeup will be able to do the same.
Scientists in Houston presented Watson with a DVD of his genome sequence, which they said was the "first individual genome to be sequenced for less than $1 million". The carefully worded claim may be an acknowledgement that another personal genome project has already been completed: J. Craig Venter has deposited his genome sequence into the public GenBank database, he told Nature two weeks ago.
Such personal genomes are for now largely symbolic, because it's difficult to draw concrete information about a person's health from his or her genome sequence. more
Scientists in Houston presented Watson with a DVD of his genome sequence, which they said was the "first individual genome to be sequenced for less than $1 million". The carefully worded claim may be an acknowledgement that another personal genome project has already been completed: J. Craig Venter has deposited his genome sequence into the public GenBank database, he told Nature two weeks ago.
Such personal genomes are for now largely symbolic, because it's difficult to draw concrete information about a person's health from his or her genome sequence. more
Source: Nature
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