Blog - Ricki Lewis
New Genetic Twist: 4-Stranded DNA Lurks in Human Cells
Sixty years after scientists described the chemical code of life — an interweaving double helix called DNA — researchers have found four-stranded DNA is also lurking in human cells. The odd structures are called G-quadruplexes because they form in regions of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that are full of guanine, one of the DNA molecule's four building blocks, with the others being adenine, cytosine, thymine. The structure comprises four guanines held together by a type of hydrogen bonding to form a sort of squarelike shape. (The DNA molecule is itself a double strand held together by these building blocks and wrapped together like a helix.) The new visualization of the G-quadruplex is detailed this week in the journal Nature Chemistry. "I think this paper is important in showing directly the existence of this structure in vivo in the human genome, but it is not completely unexpected," said Hans-Joachim Lipps, of the University of Witten in Germany, who was not involved in the study.
DNA from the Beginning - An animated primer of 75 experiments that made modern genetics.
Genetic pedigrees
In these diagrams, people are represented by symbols, usually circles for female and squares for male, and the bottom line represents the children of the couple above. For simplicity, 4 offspring are shown in these examples. However, in practice the number, proportion and order of birth are likely to vary. Obviously, the same technique of family trees can be used to show the results of animal breeding. It is customary to use dark symbols to indicate someone affected with a genetic condition, and unfilled symbols for those who are unaffected. In the explanations that follow, an intermediate grey colour is used to assist in understanding the effect of a heterozygote carrier. Dominant allele, e.g. Genetic explanation Since the condition is shown in some of the first generation offspring but not in some others, this is not a simple cross between 2 different homozygotes. Note also that in this case the appearance of the condition is independent of the sex of the individual. Genetic diagram
Teach.Genetics™
Your Genes, Your Health
DNA- The ins and outs!
Watson and Crick's Paper Watson and Crick published a paper that described the complementary structure of DNA. This paper rocked the science world and illuminated the structure of DNA! Check out their Paper below! Watson and Crick published a paper that described the complementary structure of DNA. Watson and Crick's Paper The Complementary Structure of DNA-The paper The Complementary Structure of DNA-The paper [ DNA Replication-Explanation and Video DNA Replication-Explanation and Video Chapter 16 Outline Below is an outline of Chapter 16. Chapter 16 Outline Below is an outline of Chapter 16. Chapter 16 Outline The Cell Craft Challenge Install and Play CellCraft until you complete the 5th level. Download Cell Craft from here As you play the game, keep track of your success by filling out the cell craft worksheet (attached below). Install and Play CellCraft until you complete the 5th level. Worksheets
Personal Genetics Education Project
Emotion reversed in left-handers brains
The way we use our hands may determine how emotions are organized in our brains, according to a recent study published in PLoS ONE by psychologists Geoffrey Brookshire and Daniel Casasanto of The New School for Social Research in New York. Motivation, the drive to approach or withdraw from physical and social stimuli, is a basic building block of human emotion. For decades, scientists have believed that approach motivation is computed mainly in the left hemisphere of the brain, and withdraw motivation in the right hemisphere. Brookshire and Casasanto's study challenges this idea, showing that a well-established pattern of brain activity, found across dozens of studies in right-handers, completely reverses in left-handers. The study used electroencepahlography (EEG) to compare activity in participants' right and left hemispheres during rest. A New Link Between Motor Action and Emotion Most cognitive functions do not reverse with handedness.
Friends Have More DNA in Common Than Strangers
People may unsuspectingly choose friends who have some DNA sequences in common with them, a new analysis finds. Researchers compared gene variations between nearly 2,000 people who were not biologically related, and found that friends had more gene variations in common than strangers. The study lends a possible scientific backing for the well-worn clichés, "We're just like family," or "Friends are the family you choose," the researchers said. NEWS: How The Sun Changes Your DNA "Humans are unique in that we create long-term connections with people of our species," said Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist at Yale University involved in the study. The researchers did the study because they wanted "to provide a deep evolutionary account of the origins and significance of friendship," Christakis said. The most common gene shared by friends was the "olfactory" gene, which is involved in a person's sense of smell. VIDEO: 98 Percent Of Your DNA Is Junk VIDEO: Imaginary Friends Make You Awesome
The Fruit Fly and Genetics
Personals: ♀ FF, Se/E/Dp, seeks ♂ FF, +/+/+ for short term relationship. Enjoys romance, fermentation, and long walks on the peach... You know those annoying little bugs that like to get in your fruit if you leave it on the counter? Well they're called Drosophila melanogaster (or just fruit flies) and they've been used to study genetics for over 100 years. This interactive website is designed to introduce biology students to research on model organisms while reviewing genetics basics. Learning about Genetics Using Flies Model organisms are species that are studied to understand the biology of other organisms, often humans. Fruit flies in vials with media. Low Maintenance Creatures Fruit flies are great to work with in a research setting because they are relatively easy to take care of, especially compared to larger and more expensive organisms like rats or fish. Knocking Them Out The fruit flies do fly, of course, so they have to be knocked out before they come out of their vials.
