(August, 2003) Although the structure of DNA is the same throughout all species of plants, animals and microorganisms, each individual organism looks different. This is due to the order in which DNA base pairs are sequenced. Not only does this order make you a human rather than a dog or a daffodil, it also makes each person unique. Sequences of DNA differ from person to person, but every cell within the same person contains the same sequence of DNA. So, your hair, blood, skin and all of the other cells in your body are exactly the same at the molecular…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From May, 2006
RESTRICTION ENDONUCLEASES: MOLECULAR SCISSORS FOR SPECIFICALLY CUTTING DNA
(August 2003) Today, in the age of molecular biology, the study of an organism’s genome (its complete DNA) is a central component driving our understanding of biology. When scientists first considered studying genomes they were faced with a problem: how to reproducibly cut a genome’s DNA into fragments that were small enough to handle? It was a significant problem. Genomes are composed of large DNA chunks on the order of millions of units, while a scientist could reasonable only handle pieces of DNA a few thousand units long. A discrepancy far too large to bridge, thus a method for reproducibly…
INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM THERMO-EPISTEMOLOGY
This manuscript describes some of our recent findings in the exciting new field of quantum thermo-epistemology, a branch of implausibility theory dealing with fundamental questions such as: * Why does toast always land butter-side down? * Why do cars break down only when you need to go somewhere in an emergency? * Why do banks only lend money to people who don’t need it? We have found, surprisingly enough, that these vexing questions do in fact have a scientific answer, and have developed the beginnings of a theory, which is briefly described here. – – – Theorem (1). Believing something…
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MY ON-GOING LOVE AFFAIR WITH SCIENCE
May 8th, 1988 I encounter science for the first time during recess. As my friends and I are busy using the magnifying lens that Billy Stewart had gotten for his eighth birthday to burn some sticks, she breaks off from the pack of girls she usually travels around the schoolyard with to tell me that she likes my shoes. I don’t understand how anyone could possibly dislike my shoes as they are brand new and have little zippered compartments where I have carefully secreted away the coins I will later use to buy myself some Gobstoppers, so I’m a little…
MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS FROM RHODOPHERAX FERRIREDUCENS
Novel microbial fuel cells. A recently isolated microorganism has been reported to have a remarkable potential for electricity generation in microbial fuel cells. Rhodoferax ferrireducens, an iron-reducing microorganism, was isolated from subsurface sediments in Oyster Bay, Virginia, USA. Microbial fuel cells composed of this microorganism exceed the performance of previously described microbial fuel cells and even show some clear advantages over existing transition metal-catalyzed fuel cells. Microbial Fuel Cells Before developing the concept of microbial fuel cells, it may be useful to recall the basic concepts of the conversion of chemical energy into electricity. A battery converts chemical energy into…
INTRODUCING: BABY TALK
Most parents are anxious to know the meaning of the various cries, groans, and sounds their child makes. Recently a Spanish electronic engineer named Pedro Monagas created a battery-powered device called “Why Cry”. This instrument about the size of a calculator is reportedly able to tell a parent whether their baby’s cry is indicating hunger, sleepiness or tiredness. Mr. Monagas states that his “Why Cry” is 98% accurate. Well I, myself, am considered a kind of “tinkerer”. And, as a new parent I often wonder what all the sounds that my baby makes might mean, not just his crying. So,…
DOLPHINS SHOW SOME CULTURE
See a dolphin swimming through the water and you’re not just looking at a sleek and playful marine creature, you’re also seeing an animal with culture. Indeed, dolphin culture has recently been spotted off the coast of Australia, says new research from a group of international marine biologists studying bottlenose dolphins. However, this dolphin culture isn’t fancy cocktail parties, visits to art galleries, or listening to contemporary jazz. It’s wearing sea sponges. This use of sea sponges is first description of potential culture—a skill or tradition that is passed down without the involvement of genetics—in a marine mammal and places…
THE CELL CYCLE: A UNIVERSAL CELLULAR DIVISION PROGRAM
(August 2003) In the 17th century, Robert Hooke peered through a microscope at a slice of cork and discovered that it was composed of cells1. Centuries later, Rudolf Virchow set forth the cell theory1, in which he proposed that the cell was the basic unit of all living organisms. We now know that this theory is true; cells make up all living things, whether they are plants, animals, or microorganisms. This realization produces a reflective concept on the continuity of life. There is only one way to make more cells—by the division of those that already exist. All animals come…
THE YEAST TWO-HYBRID ASSAY: AN EXERCISE IN EXPERIMENTAL ELOQUENCE
(August, 2003) Once upon a time, it was believed that proteins were isolated entities, floating in the cytosol and, for the most part, acting independently of surrounding proteins. Proteins were thought to diffuse freely, and reactions occurred as a result of proteins A and B randomly colliding with one another. Today we know this picture to be far too simplistic to account for the complex processes that all coalesce to become ‘life’. Instead, the majority of cellular phenomena are carried out by protein ‘machines’, or aggregates of ten or more proteins [1]. These protein-protein interactions are critical to all cellular…