GeneticsPerspective

I suppose a brief explanation would be genetics is what allows life to continue. DNA replication allows for one cell to turn into two, and therefore allow multicellular organisms such as ourselves to exist. To most people genetics is very interesting, and has greatly influenced the world in good and bad ways. Trait inheritance  - A physical molecule (DNA) which can be passed on to offspring, encodes a physical property of a human. E.g. Eye colour. Eugenics  - The aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population, historically by excluding people (as believed by Hitler). Genetic diseases  - Once understood interventions can be developed to increase the quality of life for the human race. Epigenetics  - Heritable biological traits that do not involve changes in DNA. Part of the ' nature ' vs ' nurture ' debate. What causes you to look the way you do? Is it 100% your DNA or partially your environment too? Genetic Counselor  - A new job has stemmed from genetics whic

Mesenchymal stem cell therapy is a promising and scientifically proven cell therapy. This article  explains in detail the types of Mesenchymal stem cell therapies to treat peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral nerves have a limited regenerative potential, meaning if peripheral nerves are damaged it is difficult for healing to occur. ( E.g. As opposed to the liver, a highly regenerative organ - "51% of the original liver mass can regenerate back to its full size" .) Therefore peripheral nerves are harder to repair when compared to other tissue. Upon peripheral nerve injury, molecular disease events occur whereby multiple cell types assist each other in order to restore nerve function. The Image below shows the cell types involved and the stages of nerve injury. For this explanation we need to focus on stage 4. Schwanncell alignment; axon regeneration. Schwann cells change their function when the nerve is injured. Originally their role was to support the nerve function & insula

Viroids have 'no protein coating' as opposed to 'protein coating'. A protein coating would make it a virus, however we are talking about a Viroid and therefore it is single stranded RNA with no protein coating. As far as we know, DNA Viroids do not exist. But this is an advancing field of research and it depends on what you mean by DNA. The general different types of genetic material include - but are not limited to: Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), Double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), Single-stranded RNA (ssRNA), and double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). There is more information on Classes I and II DNA viruses here:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21523/ If there were no DNA viruses without a protein coating - what is the reason? Viroids only infect plant cells. It may be that Viroids route of entry via microscopic junctions between plant cells (Plasmodesmata) are only large enough to fit single stranded genetic material.

The sun emits ultraviolet light radiation which is the component of sunlight that is able to damage skin. Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between 10 to 400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light but longer than X-rays. To put nanometers into perspective - A human hair is around 75,000 nanometers in diameter. There are sub-types of UV which define the wavelength size: Ultraviolet A - UVA - 400–315 nanometers Ultraviolet B - UVB - 315–280 nanometers Ultraviolet C - UVC - 280–100 nanometers Interestingly UVB is essential to synthesize Vitamin D. UV light is able to damage DNA. This results with humans cells (typically skin cells) to attempt to repair themselves. As a result sometimes genetic mutations arise - some of which give the cell the ability to divide more frequently (cancer). The process of UV damage is shown in the image below. Although advertises I'm sure would love you to believe that Vitamin D should always be gained from th

The mitochondrial membrane is important for ATP synthesis ( oxidative phosphorylation ) to occur.  Electron transport chains  are situated on the inner mitochondrial membrane where electrons traverse the chain across proteins - causing protons to traverse into the mitochondrial matrix. Creating an electrochemical proton gradient. This is a very interesting topic and is best understood with an explanation of the JC-1 Dye. Explanation Mitochondrial membrane potential changes - depending on cellular events. The dye ' JC-1 ' is able to  indicate mitochondrial membrane potential  in different cells. If there is a negative charge inside mitochondria then the monomers express green fluorescence. If there is a positive charge inside mitochondria then the monomers form J-aggregates and now express red fluorescence. The ratio between red & green florescence shows the mitochondrial membrane potential. A low or negative mitochondrial membrane potential will show more green florescence.

In genetics and molecular biology there are differences between the terms knock-out, knock-down and (the lesser known term) knock-sideways. Knock-sideways : Inactivates proteins. Could be done using small molecule inhibitors. Knock-out : Gene removal, no gene expression. Could be done using CRISPR. Knock-down : Gene expression is reduced. Could be done using  interference RNA . (Another reference for Knock-sideways: "Importantly, the rapidity of the “knock-sideways” system allowed the researchers to observe a phenotype distinct from siRNA-mediated knockdown of the same protein..." )