Biology

Hi all, apart from patch clamps and measuring the potential difference between he vacuole of a cell and outside the cell wall with electrodes - is there a way of measuring potential difference in plants in response to external stimuli ? Preferable non invasive or something that wont damage/kill cells - Id like to measure relatively rapid potential differences if such are present, ideally in the field without the need to take the plant to the lab - tall order I know ! cheers, Augustine

I am a high school student developing an experiment on the topic of Electro Culture, the study of electricity on plant growth. I'm thinking that i will use 4 flatbeds with 36 kidney bean plants in each, while varying the amount of electric current on each flatbed to form my IVs. However, i'm not sure how to channel the electricity to the plant while still controlling the voltage. Also, it needs to be a safe setup. I can rent a generator if needed, but I've got no clue how to do this. I'm doing my own research now, but help would be very much appreciated.

Can somebody tell me how to grow from houshold aparatus penicillin?

Hello everyone! I'm new to Science Forums and I'd like to post my first topic. I know what plasmolysis is, but I'd like you to tell/describe what the red and yellow arrows are pointing at. I'd like to know it today if possible... Thank you very much in advance! Carlos

Hello everyone, Let's say I want cool sterilised water. If I get water from my tap and put it in the fridge does that sterilize the water, or do I have to boil it first and then put it in fridge. I'm just asking this from a pratical point of view, from sterilisation I don't mean complete removal of microorganisms, I'm just asking if I boil and put it in fridge am I wasting my time. Thanks

FOR HEALTH, you need FOOD! Having millions of $$$$$$$$$ still cannot provide you health, where as food CAN! But lack of money will continually ruin your health, BECAUSE you can't buy food to eat!!

I was wondering what the 'S' means when describing subunits? I am currently taking an immunology class and when reading about immunoglobulins it says that IgG's are monomers (7S immunoglobulins) and that IgM is a pentamer (19S immunoglobulin)? Also various other descriptions about enzyme structures describe things in term of a number followed by S. Another example is given below from the following site "In Eukaryotes, the co-efficient of ribosomes are 80s, of which is divided into 60s for the large, and 40s for the small subunit. The 60s contain 28s rRNA, with a small fragment that is attached noncovalently and can be released upon heating; a 5.8s, and a very s…

Why do women have 2 ovaries? They only need one in the womb, and it won't give them twins unless it divides, right?

I was just watching this show "Nature's Secrets", they were talking about the powerful silk that spiders make, and it said that we couldn't put spiders together in a farm to mass produce their silk because "spiders hate each other." it said. Do spiders really hate each other? As in automatically when they see each other?

Hello everyone, Ok if a vessel was damaged, there is a platelet plug formation at the damaged site, then fibrin mesh forms, and red cells get stuck in that forming a blood clot in that area. Now in a test tube how does blood clot, does the same mechanism occur? how? Thanks

What are the preservatives used to preserved or stored biological specimens? And in what concentration? In fact I will appreciate if any member in the forum help me out with full detail of what is biological preservatives. Thanks

My question is a spin off from another thread about sesame seeds. Phi for All replied, and my reply to him goes too far off topic to keep it in that thread. Do you keep track of such things a lot? Personally I don't keep track of anything at all. I just eat a varied diet, and get my daily weekly exercise, but I am totally unaware of quantities of certain elements in certain foods, and even of the amount of calories (Joules!) that I take in... And I have no idea about the quantities of any of the nutritional categories, like certain elements, proteins, fats, salts or vitamins. I never read the small print on the packaging. For certain elements (manganese, co…

Are sesame seeds healthy to eat? What is the nutritional value of sesame seeds for humans and why are they so essential in balanced diet? How have sesame seeds become so popular in so many different bread? I find them a little bit tasteless but was just wondering what everybody here thinks...

I would like to start by saying this is a strictly academic question even thought it involves my own body. I've lived with it for years so I'm worried just curious. My question is what causes a persons skeleton to be so different one side from the other? Oh, I know in the human body a lack of symmetry is common but generally this mainly inconsistent in the human body, not on one side. Let me give you a list of what I mean: Jaw: Does not open straight up and down but moves to the right then down(a dentist pointed this out) Clavicle (collar bone): Left is larger then right and seems to have a different shape Ribs: Larger on left side with larger spaces in bet…

There is this tree in my yard that I want rid of. The thing is, if it touches the city sidewalk, then there is a problem. It's between a fence and the city street. The trunk is about 19 feet tall, the branches probably extend upward about 10 feet. It seems like maybe it's got a 6-foot diameter. I've got a few ideas, but even if poison were used to kill it, it might fall on the fence. I don't want it to fall on the fence. So, what I'm wondering is if there are any good ways to really weaken it so that when it's cut down, it isn't as heavy to haul off. Other things I'm wondering about are good ways to take it down without it causing too much heavy debris to move onto …

Hello, Can any one help me? I got a grade B in my GCSE Biology and now I want to do A level biology, is this reasonable. And I'm doing this subject to take medicine in university. Please give me a true and honest answer, I don;t mind if it's bad. Thank you

Hi friends, From where can I get DNA sequences of organisms in text file format? Just to plot probability density function, find entropy etc . I would love to get human dna files if possible. TIA

So I'm currently growing 5 bacterial cell cultures. I start at the dilution of 10^-1 by adding 300 microliters of a media and 33 microliters of the bacterium. So when we do these dilutions fewer cells are developed. Is it because we are starting with fewer cells or is it because we are using less spent media?

So the hair stands up. This is said to create more insulation That makes no sense Yes, the hair stands up, making the barrier to your skin greater. But before it was standing up, it was laying flat, covering all of your skin. When it stands up, it leaves more of your skin exposed, because it was covering the whole surface area, and now it is covering less of the surface area, but a higher length. Wouldn't these effects just cancel each other out?

So I'm lying with my head sideways- making this a challenge to write- because I'm balancing several drops of vinegar (4.5% acetic acid) in my ear canal. lol. An ear infection has come to visit, again, and it hurts like a... This happened about 8-9 hours after going swimming. Out of curiosity, what about microbial proliferation in the ear canal causes so much pain? I suspected these things: immune response, i.e. histamine, swelling and so on; anaerobic respiration, causing lactic acid to build up; or tissue cell damage due to bacteria embedding itself underneath and multiplying. The problem is I have no idea if it is any of those above, or something else, but I'm …

Does anyone have a protocol or can anyone direct me to a protocol for a rolling circle (non-pcr based) approach to whole genome amplification. Thanks.

I am way away from my school days and my scientific knowledge is a bit rusty. I am currently in a debate about if a virus can 'evolve' and I always thought it could. It is true or am I wrong? Any answers truly appreciated

Hi! My question is, what part of the brain would contribute to the imagination of a place? Example, I imagine going to Paris and what it would be like to stand in front of the Eiffel Tower and the golden lights that sparkle off it at night.

I want to freeze a goldfish and bring it back to life (yes people, it IS possible) but now i need something that can be my aim (aka what i'm testing) so far i have one idea but i don't think it's very good, testing the theory that fish can survive in glaciers and completely frozen ponds. However, since liquid nitrogen does not mimic a glacier for time it takes to freeze the fish or the length of time the fish is frozen for and there aren't many goldfish swimming around Antarctica I don't think it is a good aim. I sort of have my heart set on liquid nitrogen so an aim that could incorporate that and be capable of winning a state science fair (year 9 & 10) would be so a…

There is a hypothesis that high pressure freezing below -80 degrees Celsius may improve survival of individual cells and small organisms upon thawing. Interestingly, no published research on this topic can be found in PubMed. In my lab we try to prove the hypothesis by freezing gametes and smooth muscle tissues under high pressures. Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion of high pressure freezing methods. Feel free to contact me if you are seriously interested in research collaboration.