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Questions tagged [molecular-biology]

The study of the molecular processes underlying life.

Often related to and .

Molecular-biology involves study of biology at the molecular level including, but not limited to:

  • transcription
  • translation
  • replication
  • cell function

Try to combine this with other relevant tags as molecular biology is a broad field.

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Why is there more variation in proteins than genes?

The Genome of a cell or organism is the same as that of the entire organism. However, the proteome of an organism is much greater than that of each cell (unless the organism is unicellular). How do you account for the presence of more variation…
Cloud
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How can histidine be classified both as positively charged and hydrophobic?

I saw the chart in this post Histidine aromaticity. Since I'm not allowed to comment and post a question instead of an answer, I have to ask my question in a separate thread. How can histidine be classified both as positively charged and…
Stefan
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What is the mechanism of transgene integration (from expression vector to the host genome)?

How does a transgene (in vector) integrate to the host genome? (e.g. in glass bead method, neither biolistic nor agrobacterium). I already cut some parts (NdeI-PciI) of the vector (pUC18) and wondering if it affects the integration procedure. Is…
Saeid Kadkhodaei
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Are there any organisms that lack ATP synthase?

ATP synthase is used by cells to synthesise ATP from ADP using energy from a proton gradient. Depending on which sites I look at, this is either a universal feature of living cells, or it's "almost universal", used by the vast majority of…
N. Virgo
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Why is propanoic acid often added to the diet of C. elegans?

And what are its effects on C. elegans? The paper is Burnett C, Valentini S, Cabreiro F, Goss M, Somogyvári M, Piper MD, Hoddinott M, Sutphin GL, Leko V, McElwee JJ, et al.. 2011. Absence of effects of Sir2 overexpression on lifespan in C. elegans…
InquilineKea
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In C. elegans, why does knock-down of cco-1 in some tissues increase lifespan, and knock-down of cco-1 in other tissues decrease lifespan?

Full question: In C. elegans, why does knock-down of cco-1 via RNA interference in specific tissues like body wall muscle decreases life span, whereas knock-down in the nervous system and intestine increases…
InquilineKea
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DAM enzyme distances move along the genome

I am fusing a protein with a Dam enzyme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam_(methylase)). The idea is that when the protein binds to the DNA, the Dam enzyme will start methylating nearby GATC sites, thus helping identify the protein binding region…
Dnaiel
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RNA processing in eukaryotes

Why does post-transcriptional processing of eukaryotic mRNA involve addition of a 3' polyA tail, rather than one of polyU, -G, or -C?
Raju Biology
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What is the IC50 exactly?

I am reading the paper "Activity of the bcr-abl kinase inhibitor PD180970" but I don't understand how IC50 works on table 1. Can you tell with simple words and give me an easy example?
Tomy
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How Do Adherent Cells In Culture Attach To A Plastic Dish?

I am particularly interested in MC3T3-E1 cells (mouse fibroblasts), which are adherent cells. Are hemidesmosomes involved in anchoring the cells to the plastic dish? What (if any) other molecules are involved? What happens at the molecular level?
Dale
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What are good resources for self-learning modern molecular biology concepts?

My learning of molecular biology ended in the early 90's (and with early 90's era information). While I don't aspire to be a molecular biologist, I do aspire to better understand modern approaches better. Short of going back to school and taking…
kmm
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Evolution of endosymbionts?

Mitochondria and plastids in eukaryotes evolved through a process of endosymbiosis. How does an event like a eukaryote engulfing a bacteria, become a part of the genome? Some of these primitive eukaryotes could have been more predisposed to more…
user17496
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What are the "minimum requirements" for a single cell?

I saw a description of the "minimum requirements" for a cell at http://creation.com/origin-of-life in the section called "What are the minimum requirements for a cell to live?" and I'm wondering if this is scientifically accurate - and if not - what…
Yehosef
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What's a protein pulldown assay?

I'm reading a paper and the authors mention a "protein pulldown" assay. I've never done this before, and googling doesn't bring up much. Could I get a rundown of the basic theory behind it? Also does % coverage have anything to do with this assay?
Drowsy
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Why proteinase K doesn't degrade itself?

Can anyone tell me why proteinase K doesn't degrade itself? If possible please provide me the source.
user9676
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