Category Archives: DNA

DNA is one of the nucleic acids, information-containing molecules in the cell (ribonucleic acid, or RNA, is the other nucleic acid). DNA is found in the nucleus of every human cell. (See the sidebar at the bottom of the page for more about RNA and different types of cells). The information in DNA: The key to all of these functions is found in the molecular structure of DNA, as described by Watson and Crick. Although it may look complicated, the DNA in a cell is really just a pattern made up of four different parts called nucleotides. Imagine a set of blocks that has only four shapes, or an alphabet that has only four letters. DNA is a long string of these blocks or letters. Each nucleotide consists of a sugar (deoxyribose) bound on one side to a phosphate group and bound on the other side to a nitrogenous base. There are two classes of nitrogen bases called purines (double-ringed structures) and pyrimidines (single-ringed structures). The four bases in DNA's alphabet are: Watson and Crick discovered that DNA had two sides, or strands, and that these strands were twisted together like a twisted ladder -- the double helix. The sides … Continue reading →

Eat blueberries to live a longer life 7/11/2015 - Sometimes foods that are healthy don't always appeal to a large number of people. Blueberries are an exception, however - they are both delicious and nutritious. Blueberries are truly one of the great superfoods for so many reasons. Although they can satisfy a sweet tooth, they are low in sugar and... Google and Amazon want to store your DNA in the cloud 6/12/2015 - In the scramble between the mega-information-monopolies to control every aspect of your life, Amazon and Google are now vying with each other to own your DNA. Well, maybe not exactly own it -- at least not yet, anyway -- but they want to store it in the cloud and, as far as I'm concerned, that's essentially... Carnivorous plant with huge number of genes stumps scientists with tiny genome 4/24/2015 - Scientists have discovered that an already unusual plant known as the carnivorous bladderwort (Utricularia gibba) is even more mysterious than they had previously realized. According to a new study conducted by researchers from the University at Buffalo and published in the journal Molecular Biology... New GMO vaccines alter human DNA to produce artificial immunity 3/27/2015 - Recently, … Continue reading →

The CBS drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" routinely draws more than 20 million viewers per episode, making it one of television's greatest successes. The show's popularity owes a great deal to the writers and actors who bring the stories to life. But another intriguing element is the cutting-edge technology used by the Las Vegas crime lab trying to solve crimes. Collecting and analyzing DNA evidence tops the list of the lab's forensic toolkit, and its ubiquity in shows like "CSI" and "Cold Case" has increased public awareness to the point that many jurors in real-world courtrooms expect to see DNA evidence presented -- whether a case calls for it or not. It's hard to believe that DNA evidence has come so far so fast. The techniques that make it possible to identify a suspect using his or her unique genetic blueprint have only been around since 1985. That's when Alec Jeffreys and his colleagues in England first demonstrated the use of DNA in a criminal investigation. Since then, DNA evidence has played a bigger and bigger role in many nations' criminal justice systems. It has been used to prove that suspects were involved in crimes and to free people who … Continue reading →

Monty Rakusen/Photodisc/Getty Images Popularized by its use in high-profile criminal investigations and paternity cases, DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, is most commonly used to prove a relationship to an individual. New tests created in recent years, however, have also turned DNA into a popular tool for determining ancestry and predicting health and genetic traits. As DNA is passed down from one generation to the next, some parts remain almost unchanged, while other parts change greatly. This creates an unbreakable link between generations and it can be of great help in reconstructing our family histories. While it can't provide you with your entire family tree or tell you who your ancestors are, DNA testing can: DNA tests have been around for many years, but it is only recently that the cost of genetic testing has finally come down into the realm of possibility for the average individual interested in tracing their roots. Some homeDNA test kits can often be ordered for less than $100 (cost varies by test)andusually consist of a cheek swab or a spit collection tube to easily collect a sample of cells from the inside of your mouth. You send back the sample through the mail and within a month … Continue reading →

Your DNA is what makes you uniquely you. It's that double helix that your genes are made of. Your DNA accounts for why you resemble your parents and it distinguishes you from your pet frog and from everybody else. DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, sometimes called "the molecule of life," as almost all organisms have their genetic material codified as DNA. Since each persons DNA is unique, "DNA typing" is a valuable tool in connecting suspects to crime scenes. You can also use the word less scientifically, as in its just not in my DNA to sit through six hours of meetings. Definitions of DNA 1 DNA is the king of molecules a segment of DNA containing adjacent genes including structural genes and an operator gene and a regulatory gene single-stranded DNA that is complementary to messenger RNA or DNA that has been synthesized from messenger RNA by reverse transcriptase DNA that is not incorporated into the genome but is replicated together with the genome (especially in bacterial cells) sequence of a gene's DNA that transcribes into protein structures sequence of a eukaryotic gene's DNA that is not translated into a protein stretches of DNA that do not code for … Continue reading →

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in a living cell contains the master blueprint for the production of proteins and for the replication of itself. It is the repository for the hereditary information. DNA accomplishes protein production by first providing a pattern for the production of mRNA, a process called transcription. The RNA then contains the information from the DNA to manufacture a protein, a process called translation. Some proteins are structural, but some are control proteins called enzymes. These enzymes are employed in the production of proteins, even copies of themselves, so enzymes are used to make other enzymes. Each protein, including enzymes, is made according to a pattern of nucleotides along a segment of the DNA called a "gene". A single living cell contains thousands of enzymes. Another way to organized these ideas is in terms of the "central dogma" of molecular biology. Though a useful organizing structure, the "central dogma" has numerous exceptions. For example, retroviruses use "reverse transcription" to construct DNA from RNA. In general, not every gene gets expressed all the way to the construction of proteins. Some RNAs have other tasks to do, such as the ribosomal RNA and other specifically tasked RNAs with specific tasks in … Continue reading →

Remains of unidentified soldiers who died aboard battleship Oklahoma during 1941 Pearl Harbor attack are being reexamined and subjected to DNA testing in order to confirm their identities; severe damage done to bodies on Oklahoma, one of two ships in battle damaged beyond repair, has made identification process difficult. MORE Hannah Landenmark study in journal PLoS Biology calculates global biodiversity using new metric of amount of DNA found on Earth; study reports Earth contains around 50 trillion trillion trillion DNA base pairs. MORE David Rosenberg, who was given up for adoption by his mother Margaret Erle Katz in 1962, relocated her with help of a DNA testing kit and the Internet, only to have less than a month with her before he succumbed to thyroid cancer; growing number of adoptees are locating birth parents using similar tools. MORE Atlanta jury awards more than $2 million to Atlas Logistics Group Retail Services workers who were required to submit to DNA samples in effort to identify out who had been defecating in warehouse. MORE DNA matching Richard W Matt and David Sweat, murderers who escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, is found in cabin 15 miles from prison; Matt … Continue reading →

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is like a blueprint of biological guidelines that a living organism must follow to exist and remain functional. RNA, or ribonucleic acid, helps carry out this blueprint's guidelines. Of the two, RNA is more versatile than DNA, capable of performing numerous, diverse tasks in an organism, but DNA is more stable and holds more complex information for longer periods of time. DNA and RNA are nucleic acids. Nucleic acids are long biological macromolecules that consist of smaller molecules called nucleotides. In DNA and RNA, these nucleotides contain four nucleobases sometimes called nitrogenous bases or simply bases two purine and pyrimidine bases each. DNA is found in the nucleus of a cell (nuclear DNA) and in mitochondria (mitochondrial DNA). It has two nucleotide strands which consist of its phosphate group, five-carbon sugar (the stable 2-deoxyribose), and four nitrogen-containing nucleobases: adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. During transcription, RNA, a single-stranded, linear molecule, is formed. It is complementary to DNA, helping to carry out the tasks that DNA lists for it to do. Like DNA, RNA is composed of its phosphate group, five-carbon sugar (the less stable ribose), and four nitrogen-containing nucleobases: adenine, uracil (not thymine), guanine, and cytosine. … Continue reading →

An Interactive Animated Nonlinear Tutorial by Eric Martz Adapted for using Jmol instead of Chime, by Angel Herrez Part of Biomodel website by Angel Herrez, Univ. de Alcal (Spain) Disponible tambin en espaol. Tambm disponvel em portugus. Auch verfgbar auf Deutsch. Disponible aussi en franais. This version works in any Java-compatible browser. Java Virtual Machine must be installed (JVM, included with some operating systems or available in Sun's Java website). More tutorials on DNA and proteins, in English, Spanish, etc., are indexed at molvisindex.org. If you prefer using Chime for molecular models, the page using it is still available, with equivalent content and functionality. This tutorial is designed to complement Biology or Biochemistry and Molecular Biology books, so it is not by itself a complete introduction to DNA structure. Please, check the original source for more recent versions. You can also read the version history. You can request a copy of this tutorial for off-line use; once you have your own copy on your computer's hard disk, you can use it without an Internet connection (and it will run faster). Methods, Acknowledgements, and References. Do you know there are more tutorials at MolviZ.Org? Feedback/Requests to or . More about Jmol: … Continue reading →

rotten > Library > Medicine > DNA How did life first get started on this planet? And why does it suck so much? The answer is found in DNA. DNA was discovered in 1869, but at the time, no one really knew what it was or whether it was important. Scientists knew that it was a complicated molecule found inside the cells of living things, and they suspected it had something to do with heredity. In 1944, quantum physicist Erwin Schrodinger (of "Schrodinger's Cat" fame) published a collection of lectures titled What is Life? Schrodinger postulated that all life was somehow designed according a pre-set script that could found among the molecules of the body. Following on his discoveries in the study of subatomic systems, Schrodinger believed that information about the structure of a life form was physically encoded into the life form at a very small scale, and that the code was inherited by each generation from the previous. Schrodinger challenged his contemporaries in the life sciences to find that code. In the 1950s, two young scientists named James Watson and Francis Crick discovered that the molecules of DNA were coiled up in the double helix formation. A couple … Continue reading →