Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

The building (i.e., polymerization manufacture) of a known sequence of nucleotides into a chain called an oligonucleotide (of which genes are made) or DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Invented by Har Goribind Khorana and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1968, this process enables scientists to create genes or gene fragments for use in research.…

Special protein molecules that signal a plant when environmental conditions are so dry that the plant needs to protect itself.  

Those T cells (thymus-derived lymphocytes) that are triggered (after other types of T cells and other immune system cells have successfully fought off an infection) to gradually slow down and halt the body’s immune response (to the now-conquered pathogen). Discovered by Tomio Tada in 1 97 1 , suppressor T cells suppress B cell activity.…

A mutation that totally or partially restores a function that was lost by a primary mutation. It is located at a site in the gene different from the site of the primary mutation.  

A gene that can reverse the effect of a specific type of mutation in other genes, such as a premature termination sequence.  

A material that has been heated to a temperature above its (normal atmospheric pressure) boiling point, but which is kept in a state that resembles a liquid via the application of high pressure. For example, water will remain “liquid” up to a temperature of 375°C (617°F) if it is placed under enough pressure. Ammonia will…

A solvent that, when combined with water and an appropriate surfactant (e.g., fluoroethers), forms a solvent system that can effectively dissolve large biological molecules without causing those molecules to lose biological activity. Carbon dioxide is a gas at normal (atmospheric) pressure and ambient temperature, but in its supercritical state—temperature above 31.3°C (88°F) and pressure greater…

Also known as superhelicity. The coiling of a closed duplex DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid molecule) in space so that it crosses over its own axis.  

Certain types of antigens that activate a large proportion of an organism’s immune system T cells. These superantigens, which thus over-activate the organism’s immune system, are thought to be responsible for some autoimmune diseases (in which T cells attack and destroy the organism’s own, healthy tissues). An antigen that binds with class 1 major histocompatibility…

A disease that sometimes afflicts soybean plants.