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What are Genes?

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the chemical information database that carries the complete set of instructions for the cell as to the nature of the proteins produced by it, its life span, maturity, function and death. Genes are the working subunits of DNA. Each gene contains a particular set of instructions, usually coding for a particular protein or for a particular function.

3 Nov 2010

Oligonucleotide Synthesis

Oligonucleotides are short chains of base pairs that are used for a variety of applications in research, genetic testing and forensics.

22 Sep 2010

What is an Oligonucleotide?

Oligonucleotides are short nucleic acid polymers used in research, genetic testing and forensics.

22 Sep 2010

Types of Viral Vectors

There are several types of viral vectors that can be used to deliver nucleic acids into the genetic makeup of cells, including retrovirus, lentivirus, adenovirus, adeno-associated virus and herpes simplex virus. Each of these has unique advantages and disadvantages for specific applications, as outlined below.

14 Sep 2010

Viral Vector Applications

Viruses have evolved by borrowing and modifying cellular genes to become extremely efficient at nucleic acid delivery to different cell types, avoiding at the same time immunosurveillance by an infected host. Those are the main properties that make viruses highly attractive gene-delivery vehicles (or vectors).

14 Sep 2010

What are Viral Vectors?

Regardless of their origin and family, viruses have evolved elegant strategies to reach and enter specific target cells where they seize the cellular machinery to express viral genes and assemble progeny particles. In the same way, viral vectors represent the most effective means of gene transfer to modify specific cell type or tissue, and can be manipulated to express therapeutic genes.

14 Sep 2010

Recombinant DNA Applications

Recombinant DNA (rDNA) has many uses in the society of today, from research and biotechnology to the medicine stocked on the shelves of pharmacies. The ability to manipulate the creation of DNA with technology has proven to be useful in various applications, as outlined below.

16 Aug 2010

What is Recombinant DNA?

Recombinant DNA, which is often shortened to rDNA, is an artificially made DNA strand that is formed by the combination of two or more gene sequences. This new combination may or may not occur naturally, but is engineered specifically for a purpose to be used in one of the many applications of recombinant DNA.

16 Aug 2010

Quantum Dots in Biology and Medicine

One of the most exciting forefronts of nanobiotechnology is the use of quantum dots, which are defined as semiconductor nanocrystals with excitons in all three spatial dimensions, as fluorescent dyes in biology and medicine. Initially discovered in 1980 by Alexic Ekimov and Louis E. Brus, the advances of quantum dots synthesis significantly promoted fluorescent imaging for both in vitro and in vivo applications.

19 Jul 2010

Quantum Dots in Photovoltaics

The utility of quantum dots in continually expanding as more is discovered about how they work and their specific properties that can provide novel methods of doing things. One such use is in photovoltaic energy.

19 Jul 2010

Quantum Dot and Computing

Quantum dot technology has the potential to bring computing devices as we know them to a completely new level. The nanocrystal semiconductor particles have the ability to convert light energy and electrical energy and vice versa in an efficient and stable way that could revolutionize the way computers work.

19 Jul 2010

Quantum Dot Optical Properties

The optical properties of quantum dots are known to vary between different types and can be predicted by certain factors.

19 Jul 2010

Quantum Dot Production

Semiconductors can be used to confine electrons and produce quantum dots with several different methods. These will be outlines below in further detail.

19 Jul 2010

What are Quantum Dots?

A quantum dot is a semiconductor nanocrystal with unique properties distinct from bulk semiconductors or discrete molecules. The excitons are confined in all three spatial dimensions, lending to their optical and electrical properties that prove useful in biomedical imaging, as well as the possibility for use in electronic devices and solar energy systems.

19 Jul 2010

Tau Protein Function

The proteins work together with a globular protein called tubulin to stabilize microtubules and aid the assembly of tubulin in the mircrotubules.

9 Jun 2010

What are Tau Proteins?

Tau proteins are proteins that perform the function of stabilizing microtubules. These proteins are abundant in nerve cells and are present to a much lesser degree in oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. When Tau proteins become defective and fail to adequately stabilize microtubules, pathologies of the nervous system can develop such as Alzheimer’s disease.

9 Jun 2010

What are Metabolites?

An understanding of metabolism is pivotal to comprehending the phenotypic behavior of all living organisms (including humans) where metabolism is integral to health and proper functioning. Metabolites are the intermediate products of metabolic reactions catalyzed by various enzymes that naturally occur within cells. This term is usually used to describe small molecules, although broader application is often practiced.

1 Jun 2010

Systemic Telomere Length and Aging

Telomere length is the result of the equilibrium between shortening and lengthening mechanisms, and in many different organisms there is a decrease in length with increasing age. This suggests that the activity of the enzyme telomerase (which is a specialized reverse transcriptase) is limiting, even in stem cell compartments.

20 May 2010

Telomere Measurement

Southern blotting and terminal restriction fragment analysis have traditionally been regarded as the gold standard for measuring telomere length. Nevertheless, due to its labor-intensive and time-consuming nature, reproducibility problems, as well as the requirement for large amounts of genomic DNA, newer analysis methods based on polymerase chain reaction have been developed. Real-time PCR (qPCR) is the most widely used among them, and the ensuing results show a high degree of correlation with results from Southern blot analyses.

20 May 2010

Telomere Function

The telomeres are special structures on the chromosome ends that are essential for providing protection from enzymatic end-degradation and maintaining chromosomal and genomic stability. This is the reason why adequate telomere structure (including the presence of telomere-binding proteins) remains pivotal for avoiding cellular dysfunction.

20 May 2010