Category Archives: Transhuman News

DNA double double! This is Genesis Week, episode 16, season 3 with Wazooloo aka Ian Juby
http://genesisweek.com http://christianima.com In this episode, why can chameleons change colour? And double data in the DNA! This is Genesis Week, episode 1...

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DNA double double! This is Genesis Week, episode 16, season 3 with Wazooloo aka Ian Juby - Video

The ForensicWeek.com Show Episode 044 [Forensic DNA Analysis]
The ForensicWeek.com Show is broadcasting Episode 44, Thursday, December 19, 2013, 7 PM to 8 PM (EST). The topic this week is Forensic DNA Analysis. How sig...

By: Tom Mauriello

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The ForensicWeek.com Show — Episode 044 [Forensic DNA Analysis] - Video

DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that contains the genetic code of organisms. This includes animals, plants, protists, archaea and bacteria.

DNA is in each cell in the organism and tells cells what proteins to make. A cell's proteins determine its function. DNA is inherited by children from their parents. This is why children share traits with their parents, such as skin, hair and eye color. The DNA in a person is a combination of the DNA from each of their parents.

Viruses use either DNA or RNA to infect organisms.[1] The genome replication of most DNA viruses takes place in the cell's nucleus, whereas RNA viruses usually replicate in the cytoplasm.

DNA has a double helix shape, which is like a ladder twisted into a spiral. Each step of the ladder is a pair of nucleotides.

A nucleotide is a molecule made up of:

DNA is made of four types of nucleotide:

The 'rungs' of the DNA ladder are each made of two bases, one base coming from each leg. The bases connect in the middle: 'A' only pairs with 'T', and 'C' only pairs with 'G'. The bases are held together by hydrogen bonds.

Adenine (A) and thymine (T) can pair up because they make two hydrogen bonds, and cytosine (C) and guanine (G) pair up to make three hydrogen bonds. Although the bases are always in fixed pairs, the pairs can come in any order (A-T or T-A; similarly, C-G or G-C). This way, DNA can write 'codes' out of the 'letters' that are the bases. These codes contain the message that tells the cell what to do.

On chromosomes, the DNA is bound up with proteins called histones to form chromatin. This association takes part in epigenetics and gene regulation. Genes are switched on and off during development and cell activity, and this regulation is the basis of most of the activity which takes place in cells.

When DNA is copied this is called DNA replication. Briefly, the hydrogen bonds holding together paired bases are broken and the molecule is split in half: the legs of the ladder are separated. This gives two single strands. New strands are formed by matching the bases (A with T and G with C) to make the missing strands.

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DNA - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) What is DNA?

We all know that elephants only give birth to little elephants, giraffes to giraffes, dogs to dogs and so on for every type of living creature. But why is this so?

The answer lies in a molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which contains the biological instructions that make each species unique. DNA, along with the instructions it contains, is passed from adult organisms to their offspring during reproduction.

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DNA is found inside a special area of the cell called the nucleus. Because the cell is very small, and because organisms have many DNA molecules per cell, each DNA molecule must be tightly packaged. This packaged form of the DNA is called a chromosome.

During DNA replication, DNA unwinds so it can be copied. At other times in the cell cycle, DNA also unwinds so that its instructions can be used to make proteins and for other biological processes. But during cell division, DNA is in its compact chromosome form to enable transfer to new cells.

Researchers refer to DNA found in the cell's nucleus as nuclear DNA. An organism's complete set of nuclear DNA is called its genome.

Besides the DNA located in the nucleus, humans and other complex organisms also have a small amount of DNA in cell structures known as mitochondria. Mitochondria generate the energy the cell needs to function properly.

In sexual reproduction, organisms inherit half of their nuclear DNA from the male parent and half from the female parent. However, organisms inherit all of their mitochondrial DNA from the female parent. This occurs because only egg cells, and not sperm cells, keep their mitochondria during fertilization.

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Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Fact Sheet

The DNA of birds could be the conduit to a re-creation of dinosaurs. The idea would be to design genomes of creatures from the past.

Can we go back there?

It's fairly clear that we're in for a period of rapid change.

This might lead to a stunning new world, if you believe Google. Or, in the view of some scientists, it might also lead to a re-creation of Sam Neill's finest moments.

So please imagine, if you dare, a world in which dinosaurs roam again. I am sure they will appreciate the advent of large meals in America and especially the Big Mac and large fries.

How might this all happen? Well, one British biochemist believes that she might be able to take the DNA of birds and use it to re-create dinosaurs.

According to the Telegraph, Alison Woodard believes that scientists like herself need to have a full grasp of the DNA of modern birds.

Then, with a little genetic alteration -- a nip here, a tuck there -- there is a chance to design genomes that would turn out to be the large creatures we only know from books and movies.

The Telegraph quotes Dr. Woodard as saying: "We know that birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs, as proven by an unbroken line of fossils which tracks the evolution of the lineage from creatures such as the velociraptor or T-Rex through to the birds flying around today."

I confess I didn't know that, but am glad that she does.

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Birds could be turned back into dinosaurs, says biochemist

For Maggie Zingman, the scenario is clear, although still just a hope.

A man is arrested on criminal charges in Oklahoma and booked into jail. Officers swab the inside of his cheek, and a DNA profile extracted from the swab is submitted to a DNA database.

Brittany Phillips. Photo by Maggie Zingman.

Later, authorities order a routine check to compare DNA evidence from a 2004 rape and homicide to profiles in the DNA database. And this time they get a hit: The man booked into jail becomes the prime suspect in the unsolved rape and killing of 18-year-old Brittany Phillips, Zingman's daughter.

I won't stop, said Zingman, referring to her efforts to catch her daughter's killer and to advocate for expanding DNA collection. The sooner we can change these laws, the sooner parents won't have to go through what I've gone through.

Zingman, 58, a psychologist, has been on a crusade for years to have Oklahoma require that DNA be collected from suspects at the time of arrest, not just conviction, for certain crimes. Now the possibility that the state Legislature will pass such a law may be greater than ever, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld collection of DNA from arrestees.

However, the proposal, which was introduced but not voted on in the last regular state legislative session, still faces two major hurdles.

One is opposition from civil rights groups worried that expanded DNA collection will violate the privacy rights of people who haven't been convicted of any crime.

Legal challenges to DNA collection from arrestees continue, including a major case in California.

The second issue is cost. Oklahoma already faces a backlog in processing DNA from crime scenes and convicted offenders, with authorities relying heavily on federal funding to process samples.

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Oklahoma Watch: Should state collect DNA from arrestees? Legislators consider it

Researchers have created a new type of molecular motor made of DNA and demonstrated its potential by using it to transport a nanoparticle along the length of a carbon nanotube.

The design was inspired by natural biological motors that have evolved to perform specific tasks critical to the function of cells, said Jong Hyun Choi, a Purdue University assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

Whereas biological motors are made of protein, researchers are trying to create synthetic motors based on DNA, the genetic materials in cells that consist of a sequence of four chemical bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. The walking mechanism of the synthetic motors is far slower than the mobility of natural motors. However, the natural motors cannot be controlled, and they don't function outside their natural environment, whereas DNA-based motors are more stable and might be switched on and off, Choi said.

"We are in the very early stages of developing these kinds of synthetic molecular motors," he said.

New findings were detailed in a research paper published this month in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

In coming decades, such molecular motors might find uses in drug delivery, manufacturing and chemical processing.

The new motor has a core and two arms made of DNA, one above and one below the core. As it moves along a carbon-nanotube track it continuously harvests energy from strands of RNA, molecules vital to a variety of roles in living cells and viruses.

The Nature Nanotechnology paper was authored by graduate students Tae-Gon Cha, Jing Pan and Haorong Chen; former undergraduate student Janette Salgado; graduate student Xiang Li; Chengde Mao, a professor of chemistry; and Choi.

"Our motors extract chemical energy from RNA molecules decorated on the nanotubes and use that energy to fuel autonomous walking along the carbon nanotube track," Choi said.

The core is made of an enzyme that cleaves off part of a strand of RNA. After cleavage, the upper DNA arm moves forward, binding with the next strand of RNA, and then the rest of the DNA follows. The process repeats until reaching the end of the nanotube track.

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DNA motor 'walks' along nanotube, transports tiny particle