Recent content by nmz787

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    How come some pathogenic micoorganisms are commensals in our body?

    depends where it is... strep is on our skin all the time, but if i lick my finger, then choke a bit and inhale some saliva, now its in my lungs which is a totally different environment where it may be easier for the bacteria to infiltrate the blood system and spread infection which is detected...
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    Energy contained within Humans and what happens to it after death?

    the body itself is just like any other matter, its going to decompose and be consumed by other life forms... the matter is going to continue being part of many other living systems for an unknown, possibly infinite amount of time. Just like when you eat a rice plant or chicken, it "died" but...
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    Black Queen Hypothesis: How Genes Are Turned Off

    Its more likely a mutation in the DNA, or the actual DNA gets lost/deleted during cell replication. The resulting cell, if able to survive thanks to "stealing" or "borrowing" nutrients/etc from other cells or species in the environment (think symbiosis, whether mutual or parasitic) it actually...
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    What Defines Synthetic Bacteria and Their Natural Identities?

    The M. mycoides synthetic genome is considered "synthetic" because the DNA used began in a DNA synthesis machine, using lab chemistry techniques to produce it. The actual genome was pretty much a replica of the natural one, with some "watermark" DNA added to uniquely identify it by the creators...
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    Synthetic biology, where can I learn more?

    In addition to Mike H's links, the book "Biology Is Technology" by Rob Carlson seems like a good place to start. I haven't read the book, but I've met Rob and he's been keeping an eye on the synBio market/field for many years now. Personally, if you really want to get into this, I recommend...
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    Can you swap a cell's DNA for pure DNA in cloning?

    In short, yes. In prokaryotic cells (DNA in cytoplasm) this has been done with the M. mycoides genome at JCVI. Eukaryotic cells (DNA in nucleus) generally have more regulation, so swapping the native DNA for synthetic might work, but the expression of it might not be as expected due to...
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    DNA agarose gel: one than one chromosome, one band.

    Basically chromosomes are just too big to be effectively separated with conventional gel electrophoresis, you need pulsed field gel electrophoresis, or possibly liquid chromatography with a really really long column length. Depending on how big the difference between chromosomes in basepairs is...