Grant Jacobs • Jul 30, 2010 •
Most proteins fold onto themselves without forming knots. A minority form a ’topologically entangled conformation’, a knot. Proteins are strings of amino acids, chained together one after the other. (Source: WIkimedia Commons.) The properties of proteins depends on their specific three-dimensional fold, how the chain of amino acids are arranged in … Read More
David Winter • Jul 29, 2010 •
Crispin Jago has made a very cool thing, a periodic table of irrational nonsense. Rolling my eyes over the groups, wondering how people can believe some of these things, made me think about New Zealand's unique ecosystem of kooky ideas. We don't have t... Read More
Grant Jacobs • Jul 14, 2010 •
New research suggests that (some of) the secrets to honey’s anti-bacterial properties may have been revealed. A Dutch team of microbiologists propose that the anti-bacterial properties of the honey they tested come down to four chemicals and one general property: [caption id="attachment_3001" align="alignright" width="350" caption="Honey comb; near the top-right bees can be seen entering … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Jul 14, 2010 •
Two recent studies independently report mutations in the otoferlin (OTOF) gene are the cause of a rare temporary hearing loss caused by a high body temperature. I have a hearing loss, and if I spot research on deafness when updating papers for my own research (see Footnote of previous post) I often take a peek. Tonight I … Read More
Fabiana Kubke • Jul 10, 2010 •
Imagine you drive into a motel in Gatlinburg TN, and see behind an open room door 2 guys setting up cameras pointing at the beds while two young women peek from the parking lot. Well, if it was in the mid ’90′s it might have been Drs Moiseff and Copeland setting up the equipment before [...] … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Jul 06, 2010 •
We all have our lumps, the quirky features we develop with time. Some of these are bone spurs, extra growths of bone. These can be caused from damage to joints, like the lumpy joints seen in elderly people with arthritis. Bone spurs from differing causes can develop in many parts of the body, spine, … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Jun 10, 2010 •
Subtitle: Recent research identifies many changes in copy number that may point to genes that cause or are associated with autism. In order to verify that important information has been conveyed over radio, the sender might ask ’how do you copy’ or, more briefly, ’how copy’ asking the receiver to tell the sender the information they … Read More
David Winter • Jun 08, 2010 •
I got a little bit starry eyed writing about the Neanderthal genome the other day. I chose to retrace the arc of scientific progress that links the initial description of Neanderthal man as something different than modern humans to the point reached l... Read More
Grant Jacobs • May 29, 2010 •
Our memories keep our yesterdays, our friends’ faces, the distinctive smell of previous partners, if we’ve read that book before, what clothes you wore to the party. Movies and books have been written about memories. Or the trials not being able to keep them.2 Poets and lyricists evoke them, talk about them and reminiscence … Read More
Grant Jacobs • May 14, 2010 •
That evolution occurs is well resolved. Precisely how evolution occurs, in detail, is less so. One question revolves around if present-day life arose from a single species or more than one. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="263" caption="Darwin's tree (Source: Wikimedia Commons.)"][/caption] Douglas Theobald from Brandeis University has tested if life arose from one or several … Read More