Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Hello, all! This fall, I will begin working on my PhD in biochemistry. My research interests have, until recently, mostly been in the realm of protein structure, function, and evolution. However, I am beginning to find that research in the area of abiogenesis is catching my interest. There really doesn't seem to be a ton of research going on though. Maybe I'm searching in the wrong places, but not many scientists appear to be very interested in the subject. I know that at the university I'll be attending in the fall, there is none going on. How is abiogenesis viewed by the scientific community? Is there much abiogenesis research going on in universities?

I was just curious as to what exactly happens chemically when you go to sleep that makes it so important. I mean, what goes on when you sleep that it takes up a fourth of your lifespan?

Chronic diseases like diabetes or celiac disease are believed to be only handled by specific external medication or/and a diet. I try to provide a theory for many or nearly all chronic diseases. A fact is that the pH value of blood is highly important for the health of the body. With a pH value below 7 you are going to die. I try to make clear that the pH value of blood is the basic indicator for any chronic disease that could occur in humans. Why is that? As I pointed out in a former post, the pH value is of immense importance because blood is present throughout the whole body except of the cornea of the eye. Its pH value is in the range of 7.35 - 7.45. Since blood i…

This may sound like a strange question, but due to my lack of cellular biology I can't seem to determine the feasibility of such a question: Is it possible to inject chloroplasts into an animal cell and force symbiosis, and thus allowing it photosynthesize and respirate without forming cell walls and the big ass vacuoles that plants have? I also realized that the replication of the organelles require additional genetic information to be injected into various chromosomes, so any thoughts?

Hello I need some biochemical knoweldge 1. Day ago, during accident i left my Natural Aloe Vera juice in room temperature for about 20 hours. Keeping Aloe Vera juice for long in room temperature destroys its organic power. Smell become a more acidic, like milk in just begging of fermentantion, can you confirm or deny from my provided information that Aloe vera juice is still drinkable or not ? i provide image of composition. Thank You Very Much. And please forgive if i posted in wrong category

Would it be possible to heat cold running water without using gas or electric sources fast and to a high temp? I want to heat cold water coming down a conventional hosepipe from the very 1st drop BUT the heating process would need to be done in the last 10cm or so. Has anyone got any ideas on how this could be achieved?

Are we still debating on if GM foods are good or not? Cause the pro side is winning I think. All the cons ideas are mostly theories like questions with IF with them.

What causes alleles to become dominant or recessive? How does RNA 'know' which allele is dominant and which is recessive? How does itbind with the correct one? If a recessive allele causes the fittest phenotype then the recessive allele will become dominant(after a long time)...this causes the huge variation. How is this possible? Alleles which become dominant have the most interactions with RNA. Can RNA alter the dominance/recessiveness?

Yesterday I received the reviewers comments from an editor of "Journal of clinical biochemistry". The paper was rejected but what upset me most was the fact that it took almost four months to reach this decision and one of the reviewer wrote a total of 4 lines (!!!!!) and this could have been done in one day. I can accept that a paper might not be good enough for a journal, what I can't accept is that it takes 4 months to do that. The scientific work is based on publications that are needed to raise funds and for career advancement. I think it is unbearable that we are hostages of editors of scientific journals who can decide if, and when a paper can be publishe…

A recent breakthrough has shown that resveratrol (A red wine extract) seems to improve life span 15-20%. Makes obese mice virtually as healthy as normal mice. It seems that it also has preventative effects agains diabetes and prevents organ damange. These effect were recently observed in mice, and published in Nature. However the team from Harvard that published this study started with work in yeast, then fruitflies and worms, which all seem to have the same effect. So it seems virtually impossible that a simular effect wont be found in humans. Resveratrol is involved in increasing the expression of a gene involved in mitrochondrial development that has been p…

I just watched some past episodes from star trek. For people that are unfamiliar with the Trek universe I've given a brief description if you are interest in reading all of it. My question is as the subject says, why does the media portray genetic engineering in such a bad light? In the 1970s a group of humans genetically engineered a few thousand humans, thus creating stronger, faster, and smarter humans(they pretty redesigned humanity. They were suppose to have about double the intelligence. I dont know if this number is right so someone correct me if I'm wrong. The average IQ is about 100-110. So if they were twice as smart their IQs would be 200-220. If I remember…

I just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on the subject. If anyone knows what the current usage is, and what is the risk factor in using it. Also, I know there have been many rumors of people being frozen, but i was wondering what is the longest someone has been frozen, and are there any people right now, who are frozen, inorder to preserve their lives, and want to wake up in a few years

Hi, people. Wondering if the highly touted "drinking hydrogen peroxide" actually adds any usable oxygen for our body tissues. A friend of mine loaned me the book: hydrogen peroxide scam I started reading and while it has some interesting reading, it is touting this peroxide drink as a cure all, and reeks of theytypical scam publication, with no footnotes, no credentials of the author, no nothing science publications usually have. I started thinking, hmmmm, they say to add 3 drops of 35% H2O2 in a glass of H2O. Man, that cant amount to a whole lot of O2 even if it was O2 and not just atomic oxygen, which, I believe, is NOT usable in our tissues. Even if you dra…

if u see human body as a machine,its income energy and use the energry,its seems it can work forever.

I Really didn`t know where to put this question, but here seemed the most likely spot. considering all the millions of different chemicals in the edible foods that we eat, how is it possible that seemingly NON of these when combined cause a "reaction" making toxins of some sort? are there any edible foods that eaten singularly are safe, but when eaten together make a Poison or a Toxin? or maybe foods that are safe when raw but break down into toxins when cooked?

I hope this is the correct Forum for this question. 24 yr old male, 240lbs, drank 6 12oz regular beers. Five hours after first drink, 2 1/2 hrs after last beer he was involved in a motor vehicle accident. He was not injured but was trapped for about 10-15 minutes before help came. After help arrived, they called 911 and went to their truck to get something to pry the door open. While doing this, the subject yelled that he was smelling gasoline. When they turned around, they saw the truck erupt in flames. They ran to the truck, kicked in the back glass and reaching through fire they managed to pull the now unconcious subject out and tossed him to the ground where he re…

In my naive understanding, single Celled organisms swim through their lives, "smelling / tasting" various chemical gradients, and thereby orienting themselves and their movement strategies. How do single Cells "taste" chemical gradients -- do they use chemo-receptors, on opposite sides of their membranes, to get a "forked-tongue" effect, and "smell in stereo" like snakes ? If you consider such chemo-receptors as "sense organs", what, inside the cell, is the "sensory data processor" -- to wit, the Cell's "proto-brain", which translates "taste" into movement instructions ?? If, in higher animals, the "seat of cognition" seems associated with the physical brain ("sen…

What stops rocks humans rivers and atoms been the same ?

Approximately how many atoms from a person’s body, with whom I have frequent contact, would I have in my own body?

Are there lives on earth that don't eat others? Is it possible to live without sacrificing / killing others for food? Can something like this be created with science? And I don't mean lab meat or plants. I know it is all about finding enery to live, but the way lifeforms are getting that energy is so cruel.

Is altering the human genome possible? If it is, has the government kept it a secret from us? Is it already a perfected technology? Basically, its possible to a certain limit while in the early stages of human embryo growth. however, is it possible to alter the dna structure of a fully grown man and/or woman? This is something that not even I can prove using simple logic. I mean, I don't think its possible. Maybe in the womb, or either during or right after fertilization...but still, this is a very broad topic, which very few people have answers to. Personally, I wish I had the answer. . But putting my original inquiry aside, let us go back to altering the hu…

just something to exercise your creative minds. This is in no way meant to be serious, just a general musing. hence its location in this forum. Having seen Resident Evil recently I started to think about the most efficient and successful way of killing people. The method used was the spread of the virus material itself first through an airborne carrier. inhallation results in the deceased becoming zombies, infecting whoevere they bit etc etc im sure you know the plot. the question im asking is, given the aim of eliminating as many people as possible, what do you think would be the best method through which to do this? nerve gas seems basic seeing as it only kills …

I was thinking of a way to invade enemy countries, that would allow rapid conquering, and assimilation of enemy populations. I was thinking of combining a sleeping nerve agent, with a nerve agent that's addictive, so that people would be knocked out by it, then once they woke up, they would be complete slaves to whomever could provide the drugs. I was also thinking of combining with a compound that would slightly lower the body temperature. This way when you invaded, you could easily tell whose had the effect of the agent and who hasn't. Those who haven't have a slightly higher body temperature, which means they were probably part of the military, and should be sho…

First, its nice to return to these forums after a few months and still see so many familiar faces. So my friend the other day told me his girl friend told him she "loved him but was not in love with him." This got me to thinking... what are the chemical and physical properties of love? What chemical process occurs when one sees someone and instantly feels a "crush" while he can look at a super model and be like, eh? How can someone feel attached, "love you," but not be "in love?" I remember reading some time ago about a chemical called oxytocin that causes one to feel attached through experiences, but im not sure if that all that is to it.

What is it made out of on a molecular level. I know it's not a muscle so what is it?