Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Hypothetically, if one could administer a constant supply of glucose or some other sugar into a plant's stem, such as an IV tube, could the plant be kept alive without light? And if so, how would that affect its growth? Would its size be dependent on the amount of glucose administered? Without sunlight, would it not grow leaves, or grow leaves without chlorophyll?

Hello, I recently did a qPCR (just a trial) using a ABI stepone plus system and i am stuck with the results. I am unable to understand the following: 1) Ct Mean: I have only one Ct value for a sample but it gives me a mean Ct mean value. How? Even some samples went undetermined but it still shows a Ct mean value. Why? 2) What is meant by quantity and why is that empty? 3) What is Ct Threshold? 4) I have three Tm values. I assume that is the melting temp. of the primers. Am i correct? Why are there 3 Tm values? Please find attached a screenshot of the result Thanks

My question: When Ibuprofen and Aspirin are NSAIDs and work to inhibit/change the cyclo-oxygenase pathway (COX), then how come they are used to treat SIMPLE HEADACHES? A normal headache is not an inflammation in the brain - a brain inflammation will be something much more serious. Can it be that Ibuprofen is used as a placebo drug against mild headaches all these years? Thank you Med student year II

Hello, Could someone give me an example of how to prepare a standard curve for qPCR? I read some protocols but got confused. It would really be helpful if someone could help me with an example. Also, i read that i need to prepare a standard curve for each of my plate? Is it correct? Lastly, can we run the housekeeping (HG) genes and gene of interest (GOI) on separate plates? Eg: i have 30 genes and i want to run it as triplicates. So, either i run all the GOI on one plate or omit some and run the HG with the GOI OR i could run the HG genes on a different plate. Is it correct that i need to run my HG genes for every new sample i run? Thanks

How would one go about figuring out what bacteria specifically makes this substance as a biproduct of their existance?

Hello everybody, I am wondering if anybody currently knows of a protocol/method to fold peptides that revolved around the use of methanol? Our Lab Director is convinced one exists but my students and I are having a hard time finding such a method. To be more specific we work with SPPS if anyone has any general questions on that as well

Anyone know if lactobacillus probiotic bacteria are susceptible to caprylic acid in the form of simply coconut water? What about grapefruit seed extract or uva ursi? Thank you.

How is Pitocin (synthetic form of Oxytocin) which is used for birth labor induction, chemially different from Oxytocin? How does Pitocin compare to Oxytocin with relation to subsequent brain/body chemical reactions? I realize this is a very open ended question, but if there is someone, anyone out there who knows or is looking to study something novel, someone out here is very interested... TIA

I need to ask a few questions to people who are studying biochemistry / are biochemists or work in the biochemistry area. I will basically ask some questions about what you do and I need them answered. I need this for a school work. I would gladly welcome any volunteers. Thanks in advance.

DNA replication, Transcription, and Translation all use ATP. But how much ATP is needed for these processes? Now I understand that it would require that I know the numbers for each kind of nucleotide in the genome. For individual genes, that is easy but for the whole genome it would require that I know the ratios as well as the fact that we have approximately 6 billion nucleotides in our genome to get a good approximation. The reason for me asking this is because when I have built the cell from scratch I want to know if 50 nanograms of glucose is enough for all cellular processes to happen up to and including mitosis assuming that my cell produces 36 ATP per gluco…

Why during Pasteur's famous experiment can the micro organisms not make it through the curved neck to the broth?

Taken from: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~ejchaisson/cosmic_evolution/docs/fr_1/fr_1_chem4.html A central puzzle in modern biochemistry is life’s chirality—that is, a tendency for life’s molecules to have a certain preferential orientation, or “handedness.” Much of life is said to be inherently left-handed, especially its amino acids. No one has ever been able to explain satisfactorily how life became so asymmetric. Yet broken symmetry seems as central to biology and life on Earth as it is to physics and matter in the early Universe. Asymmetry may well be an essential prerequisite for the origin and evolution of complexity throughout all of Nature. Many molecules display…

I understand that some substances can mimic hormones because they are the same "shape" and they bond to the hormone receptors to create similar effects. My question is, which part of the molecule bonds to the receptor? Is it different with all hormones and receptors? I'm trying to find out if a molecule of Substance B can fit into the receptor for Substance A, and I'm not sure how to go about doing this.

To Whom This May Concern, I am trying to understand the article written by Yamanaka in 2007 that describes how he turned somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells. Unfortunately, my molecular book is not detailed enough, the internet is too vague, and there are many books on stem cell research out there, many which happen to be outdated. If someone could suggest a book (or a series of articles) on stem cell research (please not one that is political or religious) that gives good explanations, pictures, protocol, and is current, that would be most helpful. Price doesn't matter. I have access to a library for loans. Thank you! Sincerely, GPS

I'm interviewing for an enzymologist position at a pharma company. So the keys here are models of inhibition and assay design. Although I have some experience setting up kinetics assays, it was in a different context and with little/no support or criticism from anyone in my company. My questions are: When would one choose an endpoint assay over a continuous/real time one? In a kinase assay, what are some ADvantages of measuring ADP over the phosphorylated substrate? When would you choose a linearized plot (eg Lineweaver Burke, Eadie Hofstee) over a non linear plot? How would dose-response data on a semi-log vs. linear scale look? Thanks in advance.

People, Say you have an animal (like a homo sapiens), with belly fat. Say, that animal (like homo sapiens) happens to go without food for say, 3-4 days. Will the body metabolize the stored fat first with the end result of having a trimmer abdomen whilst still not compromising the body's critical protein/vital nutrients store OR metabolize muscle protein instead of the stored fat? Oh- by the way, This is not about my spare tire fat around my lower abdomen..........LOL. Thanks

Few days ago it has been published a paper in the format of new scientific theory in "Frontiers in Molecular biosciences", entitled "Elements of the cellular metabolic structure", in which the main finding is the discovery of a new biochemical system (the CMS) with the capacity to store molecular information. CMS exhibits two essential dynamic mechanisms. The first one occurs at the level d metabolic networks. The second mechanism occurs at the post-translational modulation level. According to this published dualistic theory of the cell hereditary information, cells exhibit two systems capable of storing molecular information, a dynamic, flexible and adaptive syst…

For example a faulty/mutated nerve, that when stimulated allowed itself to flood with positive charged ions with no means of getting rid of them due to mutated ion channels. Or the neuron only has these channels which pump in positive ions and nothing else.

Im working for a project wherein i want to show the presence of cyanide in apricot kernels or bitter almond Test for cn- will be dn once i get cn- , I need some help regarding how must i go about hydrolysing the amygdalin to get cn-,....iv seen methods like using sulphuric acid and then picric acid..... Will i get good results and how ??? Also cyanide will be produced in dissolved state or gas?

The premium application of science is for a better and diease free world. In many parts of the world, malaria continues to claim lives daily, hence I was motivated to relate this idea to the honourable biochemists in this forum. Malaria vaccine is a possibility that will save lives. We can actually get good vaccines that will either inhibit the multiplication of plasmodium, or encourage the phagocytosis of the species by the Red blood cells. I hope this breakthrough happens soon.

A glucose molecule loses 4 hydrogens when it becomes 2 pyruvate, but 2 (NADH +H+) are produced NAD+ +2H+ +2e- -> NADH + H+ What happens to the leftover H+ ion? Does it follow the NADH around or does something else happen? I've seen some sources refer to NADH + H+ as NADH2 so they can avoid going into what that hydrogen ion is doing. I can't work out if it's following the NADH around until the last phase of respiration when NADH is used to make atp, or if the H+ ion is diffusing away or doing something else.

Could humans (or any animal) aquire the ability to synthetize Vitamin D from simpler compounds without UV? I'm curious.

Can anyone pls explain how I can answer this without really giving away the answer (even tho it mite be bery obvious) cheers

Hi all, I got stucked in my report of protein purification. My sample protein mixture (catalase + lysozyme in 5mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.5) is separated by DEAE-Sepharose chromatography. after separation, my fraction has enzyme activity was 217iu whereas crude sample is 135iu.That means %yield of enzyme > 100%. It doesn't make any sense 'cause %yield is supposed to be less than or equal to 100%, right? I'm quite sure that the whole experimental process there is no error or mistake at all. Does any one can suggest any solution for me in this case? Thank you so much!

Has anybody ordered ELISA kits or Antibodies from PeproTech? ElISA kits are much cheaper than R&D so I'm suspicious!