BIOBABE.

I'm currently a fourth year biotechnology student. On this blog you will see all sorts of science topics. Ranging from biotechnology, genetics, diseases, basic biology and more. As well as my experiences at school. Enjoy!

[biotech]

Sorry for being absent, the last bit of school has been rather hectic.

Although I will say I spent a lot of my down time playing the game: Plague Inc.

It is very simliar to the online flash game of Pandemic 2 but it has a lot more features and is significantly realistic. It is is a free app (although to purchase it, it is only 2 dollars and I would highly recommened the paid version).

The game play is greatly increased and you can choose between things such as: virus, bacteria, fungus, parasite, prion, nano-virus and bioweapon.

It works on a cell phone but I enjoy playing it on a tablet.

Now go forth! And kill the world!

[biotech]

Lab work today-

Some times it's the most boring endevor. 

I put colcemid in my cell cultures to arrest cell division and I have to wait 2 hours before I can do anything else. 

It's been 45 minutes. 

Good thing I have tumblr. 

[biotech]

Update:

The biotech program I'm in has been going very well.

I'm currently working on my second capstone, which includes erythrocyte culturing and karyotyping because my family has a strange chromosomal abnormality that doesn't have any sort of phenotypic outcome. Even though it is a significant translocation. 

I also applied for a summer internship, that would actually be paid.

[biotech]

Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 1: Sequence

MGIGRSEGGRRGAALGVLLALGAALLAVGSASEYDYVSFQSDIGPYQSGRFYTKPPQCVDIPADLRLCHN VGYKKMVLPNLLEHETMAEVKQQASSWVPLLNKNCHAGTQVFLCSLFAPVCLDRPIYPCRWLCEAVRDSC EPVMQFFGFYWPEMLKCDKFPEGDVCIAMTPPNATEASKPQGTTVCPPCDNELKSEAIIEHLCASEFALR MKIKEVKKENGDKKIVPKKKKPLKLGPIKKKDLKKLVLYLKNGADCPCHQLDNLSHHFLIMGRKVKSQYL LTAIHKWDKKNKEFKNFMKKMKNHECPTFQSVFK

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Specialized T-Cells:

Memory T-Cell: Recognizes invading antigens from a previous exposure.

Killer T-Cells: Destroys antigens

Suppressor T-Cell: Suppresses antibody formation. Prevents immune system from getting out of hand. 

Helper T-Cell: Helps where it is need. Can act like a memory, killer or suppressor cell. Stimulates B-cells to produce more antibodies.

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Immunology:

Thymus gland produces T-Cells. T-Cells fight viral/fungal/protozoa infections.

Bone Marrow produces B-Cells. B-Cells fight bacterial infections and viral infections in the blood.

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Immunocompetence:

When the body's immune system reacts and preforms as it should.

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A healthy human body has 2-4 pounds of microbes living in/on them.

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My biotech classes so far-

Have been rather disappointing. 

Not in that ways that I'm not learning anything, I have been learning plenty of new material that I didn't know before, but at the same time a lot of it for me has just been refreshers. Which I have my high school biotech program to blame for that. 

This term at school I was in my Advanced Techniques for biotechnology course, which I was excited about initially. I was ready to learn new ways to use lab equitment and be taught how to use things I had never used in the past, but as the class started I soon found out that everything I was going to learn in that class I was taught in high school.

It wasn't a bad thing that I got to redo all of these things, but all of the labs we did in class I had done in high school, they were literally from the same company and the same kit. To name a few, extracting our own DNA, identifying genetically modified genes in corn products and ALU gene typing. 

I suppose I was expecting something more, being a college class. Although, I guess not everyone else in the class had the blessing to have such an advanced biotechnology class in their high schools. (And I have to take into consideration that I'm the youngest of my class at 19 and the oldest is somewhere in his 50's.)

I have been able to help the other people in the class, with the basics, just as how to micropipet and make the correct percent gels, and how to decipher what the protocols for the lab means. And I have also developed a great relationship with my professor since we were able to talk on a more serious level than most of the other people in the class. 

I suppose I was just expecting more. Which is also why I haven't been posting as much, it would really just be me repeating myself from things I've said in the past. So I'm hopefully that next term in my Protein Analysis for biotechnology I'll get to learn new techniques that I have yet to do. 

I'm also taking Human Diseases next term as well, so that will also be something to look forward too. 

[biotech]

Cordyceps Fungi.  Fungus straight out of science fiction. 

[biotech]

Need Tutoring Help?

In light of a assignment at school project, I would like to extend a tutoring chance to my followers and the other users of Tumblr, for high school and college students.

The topics that I could help with include:

Genetics

Biotechnology

Basic Chemistry

Biology

Math: Algebra through Pre-Calculus

To contact me just send me a message to this Tumblr or my AOL account at: biotechxx

I also have skype at: biotech_x

The means of tutoring will be up to you, whether it is done through typing, voice chatting or video chat. 

The average high school tutoring costs 20-30 dollars a session and college ranges from 40-50. I would be more than happy to just charge of 10 dollars a session. Depending on the topic and grade level. This fee can be paid for over paypal. 

My experience, I'm a second year college student soon to get my associates degree in biotechnology. I'm transferring to Ohio State University to pursue their Molecular Genetics bachelor. 

Please, contact me with any questions. 

[kny111]

The First Lady of DNA

The story of Rosalind Franklin never ceases to fascinate, and the publication of her biography as told by Brenda Maddox is indeed pertinent: celebrating 50 years of the most illuminating discovery in life sciences, namely the revelation of the structure of DNA. In the 25th of April 1953 issue of Nature, three consecutive short papers ushered in a new era in biology by unveiling an ingenious model of the DNA structure, together with the X-ray diffraction data crucial for its formulation.

The best known of the three papers is the one by James Watson and Francis Crick, who both then worked at the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University. Watson and Crick proposed that DNA forms a right-handed helix composed of two anti-parallel DNA strands, which are kept together by specific hydrogen bonds between adenines and thymines and between guanines and cytosines. The notion of complementarity was born, and it immediately suggested a conceptually simple mechanism for copying genetic information over generations of cells and organisms.

The other two papers presented X-ray data obtained by two research groups at King’s College, London, one led by Maurice Wilkins and the other by Rosalind Franklin. It was Wilkins who initiated the X-ray diffraction studies of DNA fibres and who obtained the first promising diffractograms suggesting that DNA could be helical.

However, it required the experience and experimental skills of Franklin to obtain high-quality X-ray diffractograms that contained the definitive information that Watson and Crick needed to propose their famous DNA model.

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Nitrogenous bases:

Purines (double rings): 

Adenine and Guanine.

Pyrimidines (single rings): 

Thymine, Cytosine and Uracil (RNA).

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Molecular Structure of DNA and RNA, vocabulary.

Transformation: (1) when a plasmid vector or segment of chromosomal DNA is introduced into a bacterial cell; (2) when a normal cell is converted into a malignant cell. 

32P & 35S: Radioactive isotopes of Phosphorus and Sulfur used to specifically label phage proteins and DNA. 

Nucleotide: The repeating structural unit of nucleic acid, composed of a sugar, phosphate and base. 

Ribose: A sugar found in RNA. (Ribonucleic acid)

Deoxyribose: A sugar found in DNA. (Deoxyribonucleic acid)

5' & 3' (Five & Three Prime) Carbons: Indicates the carbon number in the DNA's sugar group. 5' is attached to the phosphate where as 3' is attached to a hydroxyl group. 

Double Helix: The arrangement in which two strands of DNA (sometimes RNA) interact with each other to form a double-stranded helical structure. 

Purine: A type of nitrogenous base that has a double ring structure. Such as, adenine and guanine. 

Pyrimidine: A type of nitrogenous base that has a single-ring structure. Such as, cytosine, thymine and uracil (found in RNA).

Phosphodiester Bond: In a DNA or RNA strand, a linkage in which a phosphate group connects two sugar molecules together. 

Anti-Parallel: An arrangement in a double helix in which one strand is running in the 5' to 3' direction and the other stand is 3' to 5'. 

Right-Handed Helix: The clockwise motion a DNA double helix strand spirals. 

Left-Handed Helix: Counter-clock wise spiraling of DNA. 

Major Groove: A wide indentation in the DNA double helix in which the bases have access to water. 

Minor Groove: A narrow indentation in the DNA double helix in which the bases have access to water. 

A-DNA: A right handed DNA double helix with 11 base pairs per turn. Does not occur in living cells. 

B-DNA: The predominant form of DNA in living cells. It is a right-handed DNA helix with 10 base pairs per turn. 

Z-DNA: A left-handed DNA double helix that is found occasionally in the DNA of living cells. 

Complementary Bases: In DNA, cytosine always pairs with guanine and thymine always pairs adenine. This is known as the AT/GC rule. In RNA, thymine is replaced with uracil and uracil now pairs up with adenine. 

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I'm a Biotech I student in HighSchool. You should think about moving to California, here we have a ton of BioTech Companies and schools. c: I <3 your blog

I will keep that mind, although there are a lot here in Ohio, in fact Ohio is one of the number one places in the country for the bioscience industry. Although, I would not mind living in California. However, my current plans for college have me going to England, so hopefully I can find work there as well. 

How are you enjoying your biotech program in college and do you plan on carrying on with it in college?

And thank you, I'm glad you like it. 

[biotech]

Probability and Statistics.

Hold on a second, I thought this was a science blog. 

Yes, but for those of you who don't like math close your eyes. 

The next series is using probability and statistics to predict genetic outcomes.

Featuring:

Punnet Squares 

Pedigree Charts 

Sum Rule

Product Rule

Binomial Expansion Equation 

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Genetics homework & Iron Man.

That's my kind of studying.