Genetics

Hi fellows, This sounds really stupid but I spilled some lentiviral proteins onto my face today when I was loading the proteins in the SDS-PAGE gel. I am not sure if they got into my eyes but I wiped them out immediately after spilling. And the amount was very small. The proteins were collected from 293 cells that were used to package lentivirus so they definitely have lentiviral particles in them. I lyzed them with NP40 lysis buffer, they were sonicated and of course denatured by boiling. Were these procedures enough to kill all the virus or am I still at risk of getting infected? I am just worried that is there any chance the viral particles could revive once they g…

Bored one day in the lab and found this funny video to entertain myself for 3 minutes. Who remembers those goofy infomercials?? www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JBFpXVXhyw

Hi everybody Has anybody ever used FAM (donor) and HEX (acceptor) as the two probes in a hybridization probe assay? Are they spectrally far enough separated from each other so the emission of FAM won't interfere with that of HEX? And also, has anybody ever used this on a Bio-Rad CFX96 instrument? Just want to make sure the instrument will be able to perform my assay. Thanx!

Does anyone know if the hydra's immortality is due to telomere regeneration, and if so, which genes would be responsible for that? If it's not obvious enough already, my idea is to use a viral vector to transmit the gene to a test animal to make it biologically immortal, then try to make a human (myself) immortal. Cheers, Lattima

I would like to understand more about endogenous retroviruses and how they are classified. Are there any markers or characteristics that distinguish them from other transposons or other DNA sequences? I am interested because I engaged with a creationist that is saying in response my assertion that ERVs are evidence of evolution, his words : "EVRs were supposed to be *recent* evolutionary addenda not absolutely essential to the earliest stages of embryogenesis. They different from mammal to mammal. They have been consistently shown in the scientific literature to NOT be vestiges of, for ex, a shared, discarded piece of DNA, but rather the scaffolding and the switch sta…

Hello, i have heard in class about many people coding a gene for converting FAT into protien. I know that this is possable. As far as i know, that the codon: A or T is a mutation in that GENE for turning fat into protien. I know that A goes with T and G goes with C. So please can you help code that gene? - I have heard that i can use HEAT or ultraviolet light to split the GENES apart. if i use infrared light or fire is that ok? were abouts in the body do i take the gene out from? Can i take out aNY GENE from ANY part of my body such as my fingerr or arm? If i do, then my body shall produce a new one right? or will it lack that gene i have just taken out and …

Are there animals that have genes for avoiding cancer? If so, what are they? Iota said the naked mole rate was one of them, but is it really?

PHILADELPHIA: Friday morning, I watched my Twitter timeline explode into moralizing chaos in reaction to a distorted, but widely distributed article that explains a recent study on how “Poverty Impedes Cognitive Ability.” The study itself, published in Science, asks policy-makers to “beware of imposing cognitive taxes on the poor,” such as “filling out long forms, preparing for a lengthy interview,” all of which evidently interrupt cognitive abilities. http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2013/08/31/compassion-hard-face-science/

Let me say right off that I am not a Biologist, Geneticist, or even a student. I watched an episode of "Through the Wormhole" and it brought up some things I want to understand better, but I don't know where to begin finding out. I actually have a couple of questions : 1) It is my understanding that the X chromosomes in the female actually get mixed up from one generation to the next , so that the female , when passing down an X in an egg, passes a chromosome that is not an identical copy of one of the ones she received herself. It is a mixture of different genes from each X. (2) The Y chromosome is passed down intact just as received from the father, and his father bef…

Hey everyone, I am an undergrad researcher that has been tasked with making new plasmid standards for qPCR on several different nitrogen fixing genes so i need to track down the exact sizes of each gene so i can verify the correct gene was amplified in the preliminary PCR reactions. I thought this would be a cakewalk but it turns out it is not. I'm finding that alot of primers test for genes by amplifying only a small portion of a conserved region of the gene and not the entire gene itself, so when i search for them i come up with several different sizes depending on what primers are being used. The genes im working with are nitrogen fixing genes and a few othe…

Hey i have a great question, if we already have say, ATCGT gene for hearing in out body, then can we have another ATCGT gene coded for another body function in our body? Is Gene or DNA overlaping possable?

Hi, I'm looking to get my whole genome sequenced. I researched the cost and it seems it can be done for 10k USD maximum. After it is sequenced, is there software available that will easily show me all known genes that are in my dna ? Maybe the software would compare it against a known database. Is such a software system available that is free or not expensive for one license ? I'm not a scientist so looking for layman type of software. My main concern is that I pay for it to get done but then it is not in any usable form or there software needed to analyze it and compare is to technical to use. Thank You.

What is the best way to prove or disprove a potential new gene? It has already been proven to be dominant and gives a certain phenotype, BUT there already exists a dominant gene that produces the same/very similar (depending on who you talk to) phenotype. This 'new' thing needs to be either proved or disproved as being on a different locus, and if it is on the same locus needs to be proved or disproved to be a new allele. Please excuse the terminology, I'm new to anything more in depth than predicting genotype/phenotype outcomes so I hope it makes sense!

i want to ask that in buffalo or bovine what disorders and diseases are associated with growth hormone receptor (GHR) or growth hormone binding protein (GHBP)? secondly the gene location of GHR of water buffalo is also needed along with the references. please can anybody help me out?

Hello. DNA has been mapped and we know that DNA stores the information for all the proteins that are necessary for life. But how does DNA codes for the shape of a organ or for the amount of cells in the brain? How does DNA stores the information for when to stop growing? Can you give some detailed links? Thank you.

Do scientists know if there is any individual or group who possesses genes that extend across the entire globe? If not is there anyone one individual or group whose genes extend across a majority of the globe?

Hey, I just came across this idea that sounds really cool in theory, but I'm wondering if anyone out knows if it's actually technically possible: Lab-on-a-chip detectors http://marblar.com/challenge/Micro-mixer/idea/1237 So the analyte is passively mixed by a tiny microfluidic mixer which is then passed onto the chip that detects DNA.This apparently would be a much faster process than the current system. However, I have doubts that this is necessary because they are already doing this without the mixing device. What do you guys think?

A regular woman usually has two X cromossomes, one of them is inactivated. Why does the Turner's Syndrome and the Klinefelter Syndrome leads to mental retardation? If, apparently, only one X cromossome is necessary, then why is it such a severe condition when you have Turner's Syndrome? Or if someone has 3 X cromossomes, why can't be 2 X cromossomes inactivated?

I'm currently working on a mac/pc game that allows you to explore a 2d world as an organism - you need to reproduce, attack and defend your way through an extremely vast ocean. Think "cell-stage" in Spore, but with a focus on strategy, genetics, multiplayer, etc. Part of my goal is to keep the game based on as many realistic ideas as possible. However, it's been some time since I took genetics courses and I've been reading a lot to refresh my memory, but I need to clarify some aspects. I understand the relationship between dominant/expressed and recessive/recessed, and I'm trying to mirror this system as best I can in the game. However, it doesn't fully translate …

I appreciate it's a randomly specific question but my knowledge of genetics is rusty and my memory says we have two copies of each gene as there's two halves of a chromosome. My son has a deletion at 2q12.3-13 which means that he only has one copy of SLC5A7. This facilitates the transfer of choline to acetylcholine which is a neurotransmitter. He has some behavioural problems and I think this is a big factor, I would assume that he is only running on half capacity for this transfer. My question is whether if I gave him choline supplements would he have more stable acetylcholine production or would the fact that he only has one copy mean that it's working as best it can an…

Hi all, What is a best DNA extraction protocol for buccal swab samples collected on FTA card [EasiCollect® (Whatman, UK)] to create Sanger sequencing? Jasem

His face; the grey side is his fathers coloration, and the black side is his mothers coloration. Very interested in if he just has Heterochromia or if he would be considered a Chimera.

It seems that there are limited studies regarding the affects that tobacco and alcohol use can have on our genes. Can anyone comment on the degree of damage that might be found in the buccal cells of someone who has spent 30+ years smoking and drinking? And what types of mutations would these toxins cause?

Hello all. With the news about using DNA from skincells and transfering them to an eggcell to use in fighting things like heart disease, I was wondering if it could be used another way. Here is what I was thinking: You use the method of taking DNA from skincells from person A, remove the DNA in an eggcell from person B and transfer the skincell DNA from person A. Then you fertilize the egg with a spermcell from person C. Would it be possible to create a child using this method (or one similar)? So that child would biological belong to person A and C. - Noiako.

This problem is written in my language (not english) so I'll try to translate it the best I can. I've spend the last hour trying to figure this out but I just can't understand this problem. ------------------- The fungi S. cerevisiae creates tetrad spores. How high of a ratio can be expected of tetrad spores with tetratype (both parental types and recombinants) if there are 14 map units between genes? A. 7% B. 14% C. 28% D.72% E. 86% ------------------- So I assume what they mean is basicly among PD (Parental ditype), NPD (Nonparental ditype) and T (Tetratype) what ratio of tetrad spores has the tetrad type. I understand that the tetrad type itself will …