Posted by on under double helix, reica, mydna, persal, two choices, bookshelves, blob, shelves, dna | 
All Buy My Shelves #1 – I doubt this shelf is an actual replica of Mexican designer Joel Escalona’s personal DNA, or else Mr. Escalona would be a blob of protoplasm, but his MYDNA shelves are a unique take on the double-helix. There are two choices in bookshelves. The Static MYDNA is a [...]
Tagi: double helix, reica, mydna, persal, two choices, bookshelves, blob, shelves, dna
Posted by on under clothing hangers, coat hanger, gizmodo, alexandru, irina, dna |
Irina Alexandru's design is more of a coat hanger than a closet, but it's intended to allow for the maximum amount of clothing hangers in the smallest amount of space. I just plain like the curvy...
Tagi: clothing hangers, coat hanger, gizmodo, alexandru, irina, dna
Posted by on under scripps research institute, fatal neurodegenerative, infectious protein, mad cow, rna, zombie, dna |
Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have determined for the first time that prions, bits of infectious protein devoid of DNA or RNA that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease, are capable of Darwinian evolution.
Tagi: scripps research institute, fatal neurodegenerative, infectious protein, mad cow, rna, zombie, dna
Posted by Jason Kottke on under microbe species, bacterial genomes, universal genetic code, genome studies, th level, gene transfer, chromosomes, microbes, genes, ancestors, genetics, several times, nbsp, dna, biology, protocols, evolution, earth, science |
Recent evidence of horizontal gene transfer -- in which genes are exchanged from other organisms, not from ancestors -- has some scientists thinking that the dominant form of evolution for most of the Earth's history was between non-related organisms and not among ancestors.
In the past few years, a host of genome studies have demonstrated that DNA flows readily between the chromosomes of microbes and the external world. Typically around 10 per cent of the genes in many bacterial genomes seem to have been acquired from other organisms in this way, though the proportion can be several times that. So an individual microbe may have access to the genes found in the entire microbial population around it, including those of other microbe species. "It's natural to wonder if the very concept of an organism in isolation is still valid at this level," says Goldenfeld.
Read on for their hypothesis about how horizontal evolution drove innovation -- development of a universal genetic code and genetic innovation-sharing protocols -- in life forms early on in the Earth's history. Fascinating.
Tags: biology evolution genetics science
Tagi: microbe species, bacterial genomes, universal genetic code, genome studies, th level, gene transfer, chromosomes, microbes, genes, ancestors, genetics, several times, nbsp, dna, biology, protocols, evolution, earth, science
Posted by on under moira gunn, th millennium, colorblindness, 12 men, npr, dna, threshold, virus, science |
destinyland writes "1 in 12 men suffers from colorblindness, though '[t]he good news here is that these folks are simply missing a patch of DNA ... which is just the kind of challenge this Millennium is made for. Enter science.' But NPR's Moira Gunn (from Biotech Nation) now asks a provocative question. Is it wrong to cure colorblindness? She reports on an experiment that used a virus to introduce corrective DNA into colorblind monkeys. ('It took 20 weeks, but eventually the monkeys started distinguishing between red and green.') Then she asks, could it be viewed differently? 'Are we trying to 'normalize' humans to a threshold of experience?'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tagi: moira gunn, th millennium, colorblindness, 12 men, npr, dna, threshold, virus, science
