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1500 questions
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What are the limitations to current nucleotide sequencing technologies?
Using the Illumina platform, it is cheap and (relatively) easy to sequence huge amounts of DNA or RNA. There are various other platforms out there (Roche/454, SOLiD, PacBio, Ion Torrent) each with their own distinct advantages, but Illumina seems to…
Daniel Standage
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DNA synthesis companies: cost per base, turn-around time, codon-optimization algorithms
I would like to synthesize a 3.4kb gene (originally isolated from soil bacteria) and transform it into E. coli. There are several companies (DNA2.0, GeneScript, BlueHeron) which will synthesize the gene for you. I would like to know how these…
Gergana Vandova
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11
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What was the biological mechanism that allowed Tarrare to eat so much?
Are there any conjectured mechanisms that cause Tarrare's extremely oversized stomach and abdominal cavity? Along with his superhuman appetite of course. Whether from a medical perspective or a genetic one (I.e a potential diagnosis that is perhaps…
hisairnessag3
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What is the distinction between chemokines, cytokines, interferons and interleukins?
They all seem to describe molecules of similar function and many people seem to use them interchangeably.
Also please include any other similar molecules if I've forgotten any in the list above.
Armatus
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Where does Darwin state his "principle of multiple utility"?
I have never heard of Darwin's 'principle of multiple utility', but several papers refer to it. For example, from Darwin at the molecular scale: selection and variance in electron tunnelling proteins including cytochrome c oxidase
Such a high…
Nick Gall
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Why did a lot of common insects evolve such a thin waist?
Something that doesn't quite make sense to me is why lots of insects like ants, bees and wasps have a such a small petiole when it connects many major organs to the rest of their body from a suddenly much wider abdomen.
Normally from an engineering…
Vane Voe
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Why don't the heads of phospholipid bilayers repel hydrophobic molecules?
What I Think I Know: Hydrophilic and hydrophobic things repel each other. Since the cell membrane contains hydrophobic tails, it is difficult for hydrophilic molecules to pass through the cell membrane.
Question: Why don't the heads of phospholipid…
Taylor
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What species is this aromatic plant found in a mountainous region of Greece?
This plant was found in the Taygetos mountains, Greece, and had a lemony smell.
Small plant about a foot high.
The shiny recurved leaves are reminiscent of rosemary, and the dry seed-heads seem rather distinctive.
Any ideas of Genus or species most…
Acorn
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11
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What is this underwater creature?
West Bali, about 10 meters deep. Body is roughly 10 cm across.
Does not move.
Tom Demeyer
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Chiral (a)symmetry of curly hair (and fur)
Some people have curly hair, as well as fur of some animals can be curly.
However, shapes which are curly are not mirror symmetric, much alike screws or chiral molecules.
The question is whether curly hair in a given species (say, humans, but I…
Piotr Migdal
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Can mitochondria become cancerous?
Given that mitochondria have their own DNA and can replicate independently, can they ever become cancerous? For example, could a mutation in their DNA cause them to rapidly replicate, ultimately killing the cell it's in?
F16Falcon
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Do taller people have larger somatosensory cortices than short people?
When we assume that peripheral touch receptor densities are equal in tall and short people, then tall people should have more touch receptors than short people, given the larger amount of skin surface in the former. Hence my question:
Do taller…
InquilineKea
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Does preservation in ethanol alter leaf litter mass?
I have benthic samples that were collected with an Ekman dredge from some small ponds. The samples contain quite a bit of coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM, basically dead leaves). I would like to quantify the amount of CPOM in the samples…
DQdlM
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Which brain regions are D1 dopamine receptors expressed, and which brain regions are D2 dopamine receptors expressed?
This is a follow-up question to If D1 receptors stimulate adenylate cyclase (through GPCRs) and D2 receptors inhibit it, then why do mutations in both have similar effects?.
As a further question - I'd like to ask: do D1 dopamine receptors have the…
InquilineKea
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Agarose vs agar? Why do DNA gels use agarose only and how do you obtain agarose from agar?
Agar is a relatively cheap substance from red algae. And it contains a saccharide agarose as well as a small amount of pectin.
Agar is used for culture plates as is, but for DNA gels a grade of agarose, I guess with the pectin removed. What…
shigeta
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