Biology

When defined seperately, human and nature are easily distinguishable and definable. But when you start to question what human nature is, things get a little hairy. One person might say human nature involves our basic instincts, as they are fairly universal. Another might say, human nature is what we have become, such as the ability for symbolic thought or complex languages. My question to you, science community, is what truly defines human nature? One article in New Scientist magazine referred to storytelling to be old...as old as human nature. A reader could infer from this fragment that human nature encompasses only that which has been uniquely derived to o…

Do bacteria and viruses divide, or replicate? Surely, if they are to divide, their total surface area / volume will never increase?

hi everyone... I'm hoping to get a few ideas about what could be going on with this expression system. I'm currently expressing an enzyme in W3110 cells. We discovered a silent mutation that increases production of the enzyme of interest but it also seems to increase the background expression as well. Any thoughts on if that could be possible? Or is it likely to be an artifact of the experiment? thanks~~~!

Hello everyone, Lets say there is a membrane, which has a channel for the solute(eg sodium) and another channel for water Now if I have a hypertonic (more sodium) solution in side A, and hypotonic (less sodium) solution in side B. Which way would water go? * I'm very confused here diffusion and osmosis both occuring. Does water follow sodium or sodium follows water? Thanks

would any one please explain me the life cycle of a plasmodium (malaria causing) ? there come a part where they form gametocyte , i mean how and why a single celled organism form gametes (they divide asexually)

I have done extensive research on viruses. The more I look at them and understand them, the harder it is to believe that they are not considered life. First of all, viruses use the DNA of other living organisms to survive. In order to replicate themselves, they need a living host, which means that they require some form of information to reproduce. They evolve and replicate, which are some of the major requirements for any form of life. Even though they are not made of cells, they are still able to replicate and evolve. Viruses are able to perform specific actions, such as destroying cells and taking over living hosts. These simple actions are an enormous indicator of…

Hello Yesterday, I was wondering something: When a person falls in sleep in a complete dark, silent room (0 dB; let's assume the person's breathing and heart beating etc. doesn't make any sound). When he's in the REM-sleep, and suddenly, a sound is being produced, he will most likely wake up. When a person falls in sleep while the same (let's say, constant) sound is being played on the background, will he wake up (let's say in the REM-sleep) when the sound is suddenly deactivated?? My guess would be: yes: the brains are used to the sound and I think that when they register a sudden change of the situation, they will wake you up? (The same could be asked for light,…

Hello, I have a question regarding an experiment. First, a quick introduction. I want to study resistance mechanisms of cancer cells to an antibody. My goal is to block the efflux pomps (major MDR effector) with cyclosporin A and so I am trying to determine a dose that will do this, without being "too toxic" for the cells. In order to determine which dose to use, I performed an MTT test. Let's say I have 100% cells to start. I want the drug dose corresponding to 90% of cell survival. Do you know how I can do this? I tried drawing curves on excel and getting the equation...but its a "n" degre polynom that I remember seeing in high school but that I am incapable of solv…

What do you mean by life? Is it not like a robot?

Here's another take... We probably need GMOs to help us survive and feed the world's growing population, potentially allowing us to do so with lower user of poisons and pesticides. A good article overall. Just a short snippet below. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/nature/fewer-pesticides-farming-with-gmos/ That last statement in my quote above strikes me as particularly poignant. What are your thoughts?

Hello everyone, First of all, let me say a couple of things: 1) I'm not a native english speaker, so, sorry if there're some mistakes 2) This is my very fist question in this site 3) Honestly, I think that my question really sucks, but I've to do it to calm my mind Ok, here I go: Is, the purpose in the life of a fruit, being eated by an animal to spread the seeds that are inside it? The basic answer is yes... It's almost obvious, however, if you abstract the idea and think in the prespective that the tree is "expecting to feed" a different specie to spread it's seeds, sounds more complex. Ok, It's just that? it's just a mutualism? Thanks …

I know water contaminated with raw sewage causes disease, but don't know exactly why. Human waste is made up of food & beverages we ingest & various enzymes that are already in our bodies. Where does the disease come in?

I believe with the tons of cellulose, fructose, glucose, ethanol, and the many more organic matter that our biological world produces yearly can, fuel the world. Organisms harvest the sun's energy, all organisms store this energy in one way or another, whether its in starch, glycogen, or cellulose or any other organic molecule. Even though Geo related fuel sources come from matter that contains a lot more energy than the regular ethanol rich Maiz plant or the cellulose from Olive Pits, or any other organic material. Organic matter is produced by Biological organisms by the Trillions of tons per year. If we could some how come up with a way to recycle unused or…

I get this doubt often. All things that exist in the universe are primarily made of atoms. Does a cell contains atom as a smallest particle. If so, how does a group of elements form a living structure? So, confusing!

Hullo Biologists - I've been trying, in vain, to think of a natural (ie living) thing that is not symmetrical, but it seems like symmetry rules. Obviously, living things develop under the influence of outside forces (e.g. trees bent by prevailing winds, three-legged cats); but without such forces, aren't all living things symmetrical? At root (ha!), trees have the same dendritic symmetry; even lichens seem to spread with an alarming regularity. So, has anyone got any examples of living things that aren't symmetrical? And, also, why is symmetry so prevalent: what are the mechanisms that cause it? cheers

Dear Science Forums community, There's been an exciting development in the realms of DIYbio and biohacking. The research team Science for the Masses, of which I am a member, is performing an experiment with the aim of biologically extending the range of human vision into the near infrared--all by means of a dietary shift! In 1939 the renowned researcher George Wald (credited with first identifying the role of retinol in phototransduction) published an article entitled "The Porphyropsin Visual System". This paper described a phototransduction system at work in the retinas of freshwater fish. This system is in many ways similar to that utilized by humans and other mammals…

What do make a popcorn pop out like that it do ?

I have read some where that if such permanent cures were to be found than pharmaceutical companies would lose alot of profit from there temporary cures for these diseases... but out of curiosity what is so difficult about finding a cure for cancer, I have a resonable knowledge with biology as I am currently studying it, just curious.. *I'm not saying that it should be easy to find one, just wondering why it is so hard to find one:p

Hello, I was thinking about the self assembly proteins and I can't figure how this process follow the second law of thermodynamics. With the knowledge I have, this proteins form their tertiary structure without involving any enzymes or molecules, they simply form hydrogen bonds or Van der Waals interactions. It looks like a local situation of order without a consequential universe disorder. Obviously I miss something, thanks for the answers

Here is a fact about Bacteria. Did you know? That man shares this Earth with 3.3 times 10 To the power of 36 living creatures!!! 3.3 with 36 0's after it!!! Of which about 70% are bacteria!!! As quoted in the 1974 Guiness Book of World Records. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! All The Best!!! Keep Truckin' Cheers - Mike ( Fuller )

Every ecologist knows flow of energy is unidirectional in an ecosystem , I tried to find its reason but didn't find any reasonable one so please help me .

hi everyone, How are u? Let me ask some basic questions. Here is the problem! I'm sure nearly everyone in this forum has been asked this question. Human and primate have 98% similar genes and in fact we, human being have 100% similar gene in this sense. So how can we say the individual differences? how can we differentiate human races? human and primate? distinguish between primate and other animals? I only know the difference between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Plz answer the questions or tell me references? thz in advance.

I want to do some pre-testing for food product experiments. This is for food in jars that will be either pasteurized, pressure cooked or hot water bath. What kind of microscope would be adequate to do that? This is the tests they will do the to the product samples, the PPM and ratio should be similar to US standards. Here is the email they sent me as to what testing they will do: Notification of the Ministry of Health No. 144 (2535 BC.)and 301(2549 BC.),3(1) Testing Item : including Coliform Bacteria , S.aureus , Salmonella spp.,Bensoic acid, Sorbic acid, Yeast&Mold, acid-resistant bacteria like growth at 30 and 55 C, Coliform Bacteria Not sure what kind of equ…

I was having trouble finding a concise answer as to what types of iron compounds are found in the various foods that contain them. For instance, what is the form of iron found in leafy green vegetables vs. the kind found in red meat. Thanks in advance, John

Please i need help concerning how to prepare two-fold serial dilutions of my Antimicrobial agents for Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) as follows: I have 500mg/ml (containing 5g in 10ml) stock solution and i want to prepare serial dilutions with the following concentrations from it : 250mg/ml, 125mg/ml, 62.5mg/ml and 31.25mg/ml Thanks for your help!