Daily Popular
- Four-letter codons: A new synthetic biology playground
- Hoogsteen base pairs: An alternate structure in DNA
- Fascinating: Many of us have genes from Neanderthals
- New ear implant restores balance
- lincRNA: A recently discovered RNA organizes stem cell differentiation
- Prions: Not alive but they can evolve
- Histones: DNA packaging and much more
- Progress toward graphene solar cells
- Cats, buttered toast, and anti-gravity
- Government Internet censorship on the rise
Popular Posts
- .
Tag Archives: evolution
Climate change consensus: An open letter from 255 Scientists
Sometimes…often…many of the scientific rebuttals to climate change deniers amount to pep-talking the base (an Americanism for rallying those who are already loyal to the cause). Well, sometimes the base needs a good pep-talk. Like now, when the voices of global warming denialism are being orchestrated into a general anti-science chorus. That’s what 255 members [...]
Posted in Spun Also tagged anti-science, Big Bang, climate change, global warming, science, scientific method, theory Comments closed
Evolution treats transcription factors differently than DNA
People with reddish hair have genes for that, but what gets the job done – that is, growing reddish hair – isn’t the DNA or gene, it’s the transcription of the genes by molecules of protein, mainly RNA polymerase transcribing into messenger RNA (mRNA), which takes the designs coded in DNA and guides the production [...]
Posted in News: Proteomics Also tagged DNA, epigenetics, genes, genetics, molecular biology, protein, proteomics, speciation, species, transcription, tRNA Leave a comment
Can culture change the genome?
Almost from the beginning of our knowledge of genetics, it’s been asked, “Can the way we (humans) live change our genetics?” These days this is much the same as asking if culture can change the genome. It’s actually a relatively old question. The question got its biggest boost from one who is now a boogeyman [...]
Posted in Impact: Genetic Modification Also tagged biology, culture, DNA, EDAR, epigenetics, genes, genetic modification, genetics, genome, Lamarck, molecular biology, RNA 1 Comment
Update: Males not at the end of genetic line
Yesterday’s SciTechStory post on the topic of the male Y-chromosome was one of many in the blogosphere. That´s hardly unexpected–sex, males, chimps–some built-in interest there. One post in particular at The Atavism is well worth a read-through. The post is at The why of the Y-Chromosomes amazing evolutionary rate. Here’s a sample: It’s evident that, [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged chimpanzees, DNA, human beings, Y-chromosome Leave a comment
Also tracking: Science and tech disappointments
Turning the year to a new decade is bound to produce a wide variety of retrospectives. Lists are always popular. I came across an interesting list the other day at the Scientific American site: 10 Science Letdowns of the New Millennium by Katherine Harmon. The original is presented as a slide show. Why, I’m not [...]
Posted in Impact: General Also tagged alternative energy, anti-science, brain, cancer, cars, climate change, electric cars, exobiology, genetics, global warming, HIV, neurology, paleontology, power grid, science, space, technology 1 Comment
Prions: Not alive but they can evolve
Prions are mostly protein. Although protein is a fundamental component of living cell material, prions are not alive. The behave something like viruses, without DNA or RNA yet able to reproduce by forcing living cells to do the reproduction for them. Prions were hypothesized in the 1960’s (Alper and Griffith) but not discovered until 1982 [...]
Posted in News: Cell Biology Also tagged adaptation, cell biology, DNA, mad cow disease, prions, protein Leave a comment
Evolution seen through 10K vertebrate genomes
Some are calling it a ‘genome zoo.’ Others say it will be the world’s greatest menagerie of vertebrate genomes. Yes, you could say that about the launch of the Genome 10K Community of Scientists (G10KCOS), but this massive project – in its way at least as ambitious as the famed Human Genome Project – is [...]
Posted in News: DNA Decoding Also tagged DNA, DNA sequencing, G10KCOS, genome, species, vertebrate genome Leave a comment
Evolutionary light bulb change
Q: How many evolution scientists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Only one, but it takes eight million years.
Part of what makes us human may be what’s missing