Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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…

hey guys, im still a bit confused over the purpose of positive and negative controls. Can sum1 explain me the uses and give good examples so that I may understand. It would be greatly appreciated thnx!

How do I convert ( glucose concentration ) µg per ml into µM? For example 10 µg per ml?

Hi, Is there any situation where one would want to use DH10B over DH5alpha competent cells? I've read that DH10B is used for methylated DNA but I'm not sure what that means.

Hello everyone~ I have a burning question. I was studying and came across this reduction/oxidation example under gluconeogenesis topic. The book stated that: NADH----> NAD+ is reduction and NAD+ ------> NADH is oxidation. I am very confused because I thought opposite. I thought that is the H is lost in NADH, that is oxidation, as oxidation is loss of electrons (or oxygen). Can someone please clear this concept up of oxidation/reduction. Thank you.

Cells exposed to a hypotonic solution can take in more water than is expelled, thereby expanding and exploding. It is said that a cell has lysed (sp?) when this occurs. My girlfriend and I were discussing something and this term came up ... but neither of us could remember the term that refers to when a cell shrivels up, as with a cell exposed to a hypertonic solution! Note - I'm not assuming that all cells do this, regardless of cell walls (as in plants) and such, or anything of the sort - really, I'm just curious about the term for cellular implosion. I think there is a term ... and so does my girlfriend. Neither of us can remember it, though, and my googling is…

Would the melting point of DNA be affected by the presence of an organic solvent? My guess is no because there would be no difference between the H bonds formed between, say, ethanol and water. H-bonds contribute little to the stability of DNA of nucleic acid structures anyway... I can't think of any other properties that may affect the melting temperature. thanks.

Hey guys, I was wondering if anybody knew an acronym for glycolysis intermediates or glycolysis enzymes? My test is coming up in three days so I NEED SOME SERIOUS HELP

And what about in cell membranes? Is it the same case there? (Just need to quickly finish my practical report...lol).

Is it true that anger secrets an enzyme that considerably reduces IQ? If yes, what's the enzyme called?

My first post so please bear with me if my question is a bit unclear. My professor was lecturing about enzyme kinetics and I am a little unclear about the meaning of Km. Specifically, Km is supposed to measure how effectively the enzyme binds to substrate and is defined: km = ((K-1)+(K2)) / (K1) Where K-1 is the rate of the reverse reaction: ES--> E+S, K2 is the rate of the product forming reaction: ES-->P, and K1 is the rate forward reaction: E+S-->ES My question: is K2 dependent on K-1 and K1 or independent? If independent, it would seem that if K1 was very large (good enzyme-substrate binding), and K-1 small, K2 could either be very larg…

Do plants breathe? I've heard that plants do because they exchange gases (O2 with CO2). I've also heard that plants don't breathe because breathing is "the movement of muscles to exhange gases" and plants don't have muscles. If anyone is a plant expert please tell me.

Dear all, does anybody know how to convert an enzyme activity of e.g. 5.1 IU/mg to a reaction rate, let's say in micromol/s ? I read that the IU unit for biological activity and it's definition differs from substance to substance. Does anybody have a guess how I can get information of how to convert this for my specific enzyme (creatine kinase)? Thanks in advance, cheers Hans

Hello everyone, I am having a hard time figuring this one out. I know that N-formylmethionine is the "start" amino acid during prokaryotic translation. But WHY does the methionine have to formylated? What is the point of formylating it, only for it to be deformylated, or completely cleaved, later during protein modifications? Thank you so much for reading my post! I greatly appreciate it.

I belong to a forum dedicated to BDSM (Bondage- Domination- Submission- SadoMasochism). I am besides a biochemist, which makes me very interested in the transformation from pain to pleasure. There are a thread opened in the forum entitled “From the pain to the pleasure, is there only biochemist?” http://www.clubsumision.com/showthread.php?t=1633 (sorry, it is written in Spanish). On this thread we have argued about the steps who can produce this pleasant sensation when the pain and humiliation are produced in certain situations from certain people to certain other people. For example the action of the endorphins could be stronger in masochist people (perhaps they have…

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?

After relentlessly bugging my profs about tips and methods to study for this test the only info i have gathered is that it has a ~65% failure rate and without purchasing one of the old test from ACS there is really no way to study for it. However, it was recommended to me that the semester I have to take this test to take Metabolism concurrently (which i am doing now) since around 40% of the test covers this subject. This test is worth 30% of my final grade and there will be no curve. Does ANYONE have any kind of advice, tips, hints, or anything of the sort that might be of some help? ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated:embarass:

please give me some idea that why only RNA primer used in DNA replication ?

Say it's the apocalypse, and we need fresh drinking water. Silver is known for its anti-bacterial properties. Would adding a whole silver dollar, to say 1 liter of water able to kill bacteria in it? Just a curious question. ~EE

What is the essential difference between two strains of E.coli: BL21(DE3) and TOP10? Why is BL21 used for protein expression and TOP10 for plasmid storage? The plasmid in this case is pDEST17. I'm really new at all this and looking at genome of these two doesn't give me any answers... I know it has something to to with lack of lac operon in TOP10 strain. Please help.

I need a small clarification regarding fatty acid synthesis in humans. To be more clear with my question, I will consume some space to explain few things. consider the following image: That above diagram shows nomenclature of fatty acids: consider the fourth one alpha linolenic acid its w3, meaning the first double bond from the last carbon is in 3rd position. 18:3 means its 18 carbon and has 3 double bonds, delta 9, 12, 15 refers to the position of double bonds from the COOH end. legend for figure 2: 1, elongase; 2, delta6 desaturase; 3, delta5 desaturase; 4, delta4 desaturase The above figure shows the interconversion of fatty acids within …