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Hierarchical Sequencing Method - Sequence Tagged Sites

By: HWC, Views: 5874

In the hierarchical sequencing method, researchers begin by collecting cells. In humans, each cell contains 23 pairs of chromo-somes. Here we specifically track the DNA from just one of the 23 pairs. Chromosomes have a series of unique DNA sequences, called sequence-tagged sites (STSs), that a...

Plant Defense Mechanisms from Pathogens

By: HWC, Views: 6105

Plants and pathogens have coevolved such that pathogens can recognize plants by the sugars, or other molecules, they produce. Plants, in turn, can recognize pathogens by the molecules they produce. The ability to recognize pathogens allows plants to activate defense systems that can prevent wides...

Phases of an Action Potential - Resting Potential, Threshold, Rising, Falling, & Recovery Phases

By: HWC, Views: 6104

In this tutorial, we will review the phases of an action potential measured from a small area of a neuron's membrane. The action potential can be divided into five phases: the resting potential, threshold, the rising phase, the falling phase, and the recovery phase. When the neuron is at rest,...

SNP Polymorphysim Microarray Chip - How to Test a Person's DNA

By: HWC, Views: 5958

To test a person's DNA, a researcher first needs a source of tissue. Most of the cells in a blood sample are red blood cells, which lack nuclei, but there are also a number of white blood cells, which do contain nuclei and chromosomal DNA. If we could see a particular DNA sequence in these cel...

The Hypothalamus: The Body's Thermostat (Human Thermostat)

By: HWC, Views: 5904

Normal body function requires a relatively constant body temperature, which is regulated by the body's thermostat, a region of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus generates a temperature set point for the body and appears to be the major site for the integration of temperature inf...

How Hemoglobin Picks Up and Delivers Oxygen

By: HWC, Views: 5932

All of the cells in our bodies require oxygen (02) for survival and must release carbon dioxide (CO2) as a waste product. The respiratory and circulatory systems work together as delivery systems for these gases. The lungs exchange these gases between the environment and the bloodstream. The bloo...

Pasteur's Experiment

By: HWC, Views: 6024

Louis Pasteur designed a procedure to test whether sterile nutrient broth could spontaneously generate microbial life. To do this, he set up two experiments. In both, Pasteur added nutrient broth to flasks, bent the necks of the flasks into S shapes, and then boiled the broth to kill any existing...

The life cycle of protein

By: HWC, Views: 6226

The life cycle of a typical protein begins with its synthesis on a ribosome. As the polypeptide chain grows, molecules of a chaperone protein bind along its length. This prevents misfolding of the nascent polypeptide. ATP binding causes chaperone release. For most proteins, the polypeptide th...

Four Giant Convection Cells oF Earth

By: HWC, Views: 5969

Earth Has Four Giant Convection Cells Earth's climates range from dry and cold at the poles to wet and warm at the equator. These climates are dictated largely by the amount of solar radiation that a region receives. Solar radiation warms the Earth and the surrounding air, setting up convection c...