Genetics

I'm reading about apomixis. Is that the same as selfing?

Genetically modified foods (also known as bioengineered or transgenic food) are foods which come from genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms whose genetic information (DNA) has been specifically changed in order to enhance/change/turn-off certain traits within an organism such as: size, nutritional value, adaptation within the environment.

African Diversity I found this article interesting. I think most of us know that Africa has greater human diversity, but I never thought people so close in proximity to one another would prove to be relatively diverse. I guess this would be another reason to help Africa - it seems to be the rain forest of the human genome?

Hello I plan on storing GFP in a -8 degree celsius fridge. how long before it degrades if The buffer used is TE? also i have heard the main problem with DNA going bad is the freeze thaw cycle from taking it out, using it, and resoring it. would you say its better to store in multiple 20 ul containors, or a larger contanor that has the frozen dna shaved off with a scraping tool like a sterile razor blade. genefiend.

I met a problem in manipulating plasmid in my project, here it goes. I have a plasmid with an insert, which is capped between two identical promoters in different directions, so a dsRNAs could be produced. Now if I want to chop the insert into pieces, then just incorporate one piece (a random piece) of them in bewteen the pair of 'caps', what should I do? Any comment would be appreciated, thanks.

todays greatest talk in india bt brinjal . Peple all over complain abt this in india . Today wat happens in india may happen any where in the world tomorrow , might be in ur home town . Knowing its potential harm people relent to stop such stupidity around the world .Is there a real possibility to stop this nonsense anymore.

Does TFIIH not play a major role in the releasal of RNA polymerase II to conduct transcription? Because I'm reading a book that's saying this: Is this article contradicting that information? Title: Phosphorylation of the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain by TFIIH kinase is not essential for transcription of Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome <Published online before print August 7, 2009> - http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/08/06/0903642106.abstract 1. Sun Woo Honga,b, 2. Seong Min Honga, 3. Jae Wook Yooa,b, 4. Young Chul Leec, 5. Soyoun Kimd, 6. John T. Lise and 7. Dong-ki Leea,b,1

Hello there! Could some expert try to "simplify" (but not too much) the very cientific and detailed explanation given about the mutation of the DEC1 and DEC2 genes in regulating the overall time we need of sleep? http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v419/n6909/full/nature01123.html PS: remember, not that much simplified, as I'd like to know what exactly mutation of these genes do to make sleep times lesser than the usual in humans - why? would it be that mutation in these genes make our cells spend less energy so that we go to bed "less" tired or would it be that mutation in these genes changes somehow the sleep patterns (for example, more of deep sle…

I'm reading about embryonic development and tagging organisms with "reporter genes." What I don't understand is why the eukaryotic organism would transcribe the reporter gene and the gene of interest at the same time. Supposedly, these can be hooked up somehow? Wouldn't that make the two genes like an operon? But eukaryotes don't have operons, right? I don't understand.

I have looked and looked for a picture of the Borrelia burgdorferi (a prokaryote) chromosome, which supposedly is a linear chromosome. I have seen images of a plasmid in it, which I guess was linear. I have a microbiology book that says the microorganism has a linear chromosome, which surprises me. I'm guessing this is a unique bacterium in comparison to other bacteria. I've looked, and I'm guessing posting here might help. Asking the author to cough up the reference source is my last bet. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borrelia_burgdorferi

I'm use to thinking that a recessive gene only survives as dormant through one generation. Is that wrong? Can a recessive gene be passed on through two generations and not show up as a phenotype, and then show up in the third generation (i.e. in one's great grandchild)?

Were the various strains of algae that were maintained from the Aquatic Species Program ever processed, documented, and made public? Also, who shut down the program? Here is what I've found so far. Does anyone know if there is a database with more strains? A Look Back at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program: Biodiesel from Algae Prepared by: the National Renewable Energy Laboratory 1617 Cole Boulevard Golden, Colorado 80401-3393 A national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Operated by Midwest Research Institute Under Contract No. DE-AC36-83CH10093

I wondered if any of the fine minds here would care to shed light on a little conundrum I've encountered regarding the use of Fst and clustering populations by admixture. I've clustered my populations in question using UPGMA with pairwise Fst values, but I'm not entirely sure if this is the right approach to take. I understand that UPGMA relies on the assumption of similar evolutionary rates and that if that assumption is violated any ultrametric trees derived will have incorrect topology and essentially be a useless waste of time. However, the SNPs I'm using are all synonymous or non-coding (though that doesn't discount linkage with functional untyped variants of cour…

Constitutive heterochromatid is densely packed chromatin (different from functional rather diffused euchromatin) which is non-function, access of transcription factors is prohabited in those regions. So, I would like to know, why they are here? Are they just another group of junk DNA pieces (will any phenotypical change be observed if mutation is directed into such a region?), just like introns? Or they are once active in the embryonic development process or the ontogeny of an individual?

Ok I know this is a bit out of my league but can any one tell me how to Isolate the insulin gene and then inject it into lettuce? I read an article about this but my question is more about the nuts and bolts of the hole operation. And bear in mind I'm not as "Hi tech" as the rest of you folks so keep your words small. Thanks

Hey guys, this is my first post here. I really have no genetics education aside from the classes I took in High School, and I am currently a senior undergrad in Mechanical Engineering. So this should tell you how much I really know about what I'm about to ask. Anyway, here goes: Let's say a grown person wants their eye color to be purple at the DNA level. This means they don't want to wear colored contacts; they actually want to change their DNA to produce a purple iris. Would this be possible by infecting the person with a synthetic retrovirus (gene therapy)? If so, would the virus be able to cross the Weismann Barrier and modify the person's reproductive…

I have a question for you all... According to epigenetics, our environments deeply affect the way in which our genes express themselves. By environment, we can assume that this refers to the collective input of information to our system. This could include the food we eat, the light through our eyes, the surrounding molecular vibrations that we call sound, and all the other senses we "experience". This collective changes who we are. If we are stressed, our genes will adapt. Stress is a function of behavour. Stress as you know it is conscious. Our choice to do exercise is conscious. Exercise will change you epigenetic profile. Cutting a long story short......do…

Truthfully, I just wanna see the pretty colors. But on a more serious note, does anyone know where I can find a picture of green fluorescent protein or some fluorescent tag being used during southern blot analysis? The southern blot wiki page says this (bold, underline section of most relevance to thread): "The membrane is then exposed to a hybridization probe—a single DNA fragment with a specific sequence whose presence in the target DNA is to be determined. The probe DNA is labelled so that it can be detected, usually by incorporating radioactivity or tagging the molecule with a fluorescent or chromogenic dye. In some cases, the hybridization probe may be ma…

It is stated that we share 98% of our DNA with apes. If our DNA is 90% bacteria DNA leaving us with only 10% then how is 98% shared with an ape?

Let's say gametes are being made. How exactly does the big bundle of spaghetti know where to break apart so that complementary homologous chromosomes can be formed and meiosis begun? I'm guessing something unravels the chromatin (HDACs, right?), but what splits it apart in exact positions so that the varying amount of chromosomes can be made to pair up?

There are considered some approaches to sequence DNA base by base - for example by making it go through nanoscale hole and measure its electric properties using some nanoelectrodes. Unfortunately even theoretical simulations says that identifying bases this way is already extremely difficult ... http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl0601076 Maybe we could use nature's ways to read/work with DNA? For example somehow mount polymerase or ribosome and somehow monitor its state... I thought about using speed of process to get information about currently processed base. For example DNA polymerase to process succeeding base has to get from environment corresponding …

Alright, I've tried reading up about miRNA and RISC, but I still lack an understanding of their functions. So, let me see if I get this right. 1. The nucleus generates a piece of double stranded miRNA. 2. The double stranded miRNA gets captured by a RISC 3. If the miRNA matches some part of the RISC, then the miRNA is destroyed. Right? Wrong? I've been reading that somehow this process slows down mRNA translation? I don't see how that works. I've read wikipedia, but has yet to help.

Hello, i want to start college classes soon, but i dont feel that i have enough insight on the subjects im interested in to make an informed decision about the courses i should be going after. My interests are in genetics, evolution, and molecular biology. Someday, i'd like to be doing research in these areas to help make progress towards treatments for genetic disorders and other diseases. I'm planning on going to a graduate school once i have a better bearing on what exactly i want to be doing, but for now i am looking at associate degrees given at my community college, but i am not sure which one will give me a good foundation in the areas i am interested in. …

As the zygote divides into an embryo, how does the embryo know which genes it is to turn on or off in which cell?

What do you guys think of the wobble hypothesis. I'm reading wikipedia and it says there is similar thermodynamic stability. So, I guess this means the process can be done. But how exactly is this process being done? Have any experiments been done to show how and why? I'm calling it a fit, push, and release pattern. Then again, it's still a hypothesis... Does it affect the tRNA's release from the E site at all?