This is my Cell Bio Blog

A place to explore the science of biology on a molecular level.

[cellblogology]

hysteria about GMO "designer" babies

On facebook I found and article about three parent children. Being familiar with the process and reasons for parenting a child with replaced mitochondria I dropped a little thought about the diseases that could be prevented with this technology. However many people are afraid of it and even go so far as to condemn things like this as being "playing god" and "evil". Also decrying the evils of monsanto and how everything in society is going bad. I wish people would take a quick google search instead of reacting with panic to everything.

[currentsinbiology]

Cell’s recycling team helps sound alarm on pathogens

Just as households have garbage disposals and recycling bins for getting rid of everyday waste, the cell has its own system for cleaning up unnecessary or defunct components. This process, known as autophagy, is also an efficient method of eliminating unwanted visitors like viruses, bacteria, and parasites.

But when it comes to combatting a fungal invader, Duke researchers have found that the cleanup crew takes a less straightforward approach. Rather than killing fungal invaders directly, autophagy is used to chew up a molecule that would otherwise hold back the immune response. It’s sort of like breaking the glass on an alarm to allow the button to be pushed.

The finding appears January 22 in Nature Communications.

"The real frontline killers of fungi are (white blood cells called) neutrophils, but they are kept at bay by a molecule called A20," said Mari L. Shinohara, Ph.D., senior study author and assistant professor of immunology, molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine.

Citation: “Autophagy enhances NF?B activity in tissue-dependent macrophages by sequestering A20 to boost anti-fungal immunity,” Masashi Kanayama, Makoto Inoue, Keiko Danzaki, Gianna Hammer, You-Wen He and Mari L. Shinohara. Nature Communications, Jan. 22, 2015. DOI: NCOMMS6779

Normal neutrophil in a smear (Source)

[cellblogology]

Interactions

I am a very introverted person. I am also shy. I also have a lot of social anxieties. Despite this, in order to function I have to make hundreds of interactions every day. Many of them are single incidents that have no bearing on the rest of my day, such as asking one of my friends what time it is, or saying hello to the professors that walk by. Many others have immediate cascading effects or even long term effects. Such as my creating this blog post in order to get the points will impact my grade in the short term, and every subsequent blog post will culminate in me acquiring all the points in that category to help me get an A. There are also very many interactions that occur within our bodies. Some involve one tissue or organ interacting with another tissue or organ. Some involve one part of an organ interacting with another part of an organ. Some involve one cell interacting with another, and some involve some molecules in one cell interacting with another molecule/atom in the same cell. Seemingly infinite amounts of interactions are happening in your body to keep you alive, and allow you to read this post!  Humanity has not gained total knowledge of all these interactions, but there are ways to study them.  I am so so so so so glad that my cells are not afraid of each other (well there are exceptions I'm sure there are some cancerous or malfunctioning cells somewhere that my immune system is attacking but that is not the point) like I am of other people.

[cellblogology]

Definitions 1

topoisomerase- an enzyme that keeps circular DNA from supercoiling. Found usually in prokaryotes. ligase- Removes RNA primers replaces them with DNA nucleotides and connects okazaki fragments on the lagging DNA strand. DNA polymerases- a group of enzymes that create and elongate DNA strands

[cellblogology]

Nitrogeonous Bases

Nitrogenous bases are a part of a Nucleic acid. They hydrodgen bond to form the double-helix structure of DNA, are recognized by mRNA in the transcription process, and are recognized by tRNA in the transcription process. There are five main nucleotides. Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, and Uracil. Uracil is only found in RNA, whilst Thymine is only found in DNA. But there are other Nucleotides or mutations of nucleotides. Inosine acid is an analog of Guanine. It is found in RNA, and very rarely in DNA through deamination of Guanine. It can react with A, T, U, and C, thus contributing to mutation. http://www.atdbio.com/content/15/Mutagenesis-and-DNA-repair read more about Inosinic acid nucleotide and other Nucleotides here.