Category Archives: Life Science

Seeing Cellular Machinery

kinetochore rings are visibly bound to the microtubules. An electron microscope image generated by the Nogales Lab, where kinetochore rings are visibly bound to the microtubules, from Seeing Cellular Machinery article from the always interesting ScienceMatters@Berkeley.

A cell is perhaps the most complex factory in the world. The basic structural and functional unit of all life, cells convert nutrients to energy, perform highly specialized tasks based on instructions stored in their DNA, and reproduce themselves. How are these feats accomplished though? UC Berkeley biologist Eva Nogales is using electron microscopy to watch some of these cellular mechanisms in action.

Fossils of Sea Monster

Fosil of extinct sea creature

‘Godzilla’ Fossils Reveal Real-Life Sea Monster, National Geographic news:

Researchers have unearthed fossil evidence of a 135-million-year-old “sea monster” they’re calling Godzilla.

A large skull of the animal was found in southern Argentina in an area that was once part of the Pacific Ocean.

Named Dakosaurus andiniensis, the creature is an entirely new species of ancient crocodile. It had a head like a carnivorous dinosaur and a tail like a fish. With its massive jaws and serrated teeth, it preyed on other marine reptiles.

Totally unique among marine crocodiles, “it is one of the most evolved members of the crocodilian family and also one of the most bizarre,”

What’s A Gene For?

What’s A Gene For? by Carl Zimmer

This dilemma has helped give rise to a new kind of science called bioinformatics. It’s an exciting field, despite its woefully dull name. Its mission is to use computers to help make sense of molecular biology–in this case, by traveling through vast oceans of online information in search of clues to how genes work

Catalyzing Nanotechnology

image synthetic and biological catalysts
Catalyzing Nanotechnology by David Pescovitz, ScienceMatters@Berkeley.

The researchers have also explored a method to imprint bulk silica with particle templates as large as 15 nanometers. Rather than organize several functional groups at a time, the synthesis of nanoparticle building blocks for bulk silica imprinting is ideal for organizing thousands of functional groups at once, Katz says.

This slide depicts the synthetic and biological catalysts consisting of similar organic and organometallic active sites. The confined environment surrounding both biological catalysts results from the hydrophobic interior of the enzyme. The researchers successfully replicated this confinement in the synthetic equivalents of the biological active sites shown on the right side of this figure. (courtesy the researchers)

Related: nanotechnology posts

Ministry of Silly Walks

silly walk photo

The Mechanics of Foot Travel

The engineers’ computer simulations conclude that walking is simply most energy efficient for travel at low speeds, and running is best at higher speeds. And, they report, a third walk-run gait is optimal for intermediate speeds, even though humans do not appear to take advantage of it.

The findings help to explain why the possible–but preposterous–gaits in the Monty Python sketch, “Ministry of the Silly Walks (sadly the link was broken – so removed),” have never caught on in human locomotion. The researchers add that extensions of this work might improve the design of prosthetic devices and energy-efficient bipedal robots.

You have to like a government news release that references a Monty Python sketch, don’t you? Especially if they realize Monty Python was poking fun at ludicrous government departments (using physical humor). I am glad they choose to add some spice to the scientific news. Learn more about the Ministry of Silly Walks (sadly the link was broken – so removed).

New link (since other links died): Monty Pythons Flying Circus (The Ministry of Silly Walks & the Spanish Inquisition ) (2000)

Bird Flu Resistant to Main Drug

Bird Flu ‘Resistant to Main Drug’ (site removed content so link to them removed)

While the H5N1 virus is now mostly passed directly from bird to human, health experts have warned that it is just a matter of time before it mutates into a form that is easily transmissible between people. When that happens, it may result in as many as 150 million human deaths.

Obviously the 1918 flu pandemic should stand as a recent example of the danger posed by flu epidemics. I don’t have any ability to judge how likely these threats of “bird flu” are but it seems like we could very easily be failing to invest sufficient resources in fighting such a possibility.

Have bird flu warnings affected you?, BBC

It also is a reminder that we should be careful not to overuse anti-biotics.

Mapping Cellular Signals

Mapping Cellular Signals by David Pescovitz

Shokat’s laboratory focuses on kinases, enzymes that transfer energy stored within the cell to other proteins. The kinases act as control switches for many cellular activities, from development to death. However, with more than 500 kinases in every cell, identifying a specific kinase’s functionality and manipulating it without affecting others in the protein family is no easy task.
…
Shokat hopes that someday, scientists wielding his chemical-genetic tools will build a map of all the kinases in the cell. Pharmacologists could then consult that map to determine the best drug therapy to fight a particular disease.