Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Refers to the insertion of two or more (synthetic) genes into the genome of an organism. One example of that would be a plant into which has been inserted a gene from Bacillus thuhngiensis (B.t.) and a gene for resistance to a specific herbicide.  

Any organism that metabolically reduces sulfate to H2S (hydrogen sulfide). This includes a variety of microorganisms.  

A technique that can be used to make a protein that differs slightly in its structure from the protein that is normally produced (by an organism or cell). A single mutation (in the cell’s DNA) is caused by hybridizing the region in a codon to be mutated with a short, synthetic oligonucleotide. This causes the…

A potent antimicrobial agent (steroid, antibiotic) that was discovered in the tissues of the dogfish shark in 1992. It has been found to be active against a broad spectrum of bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. Squalamine was chemically synthesized by man in 1993. An antiangiogenic protein, originally isolated from dog sharks. It has been used to…

The sequences (in RNA molecules) of nucleotides immediately surrounding the exon-intron boundaries.  

The removal of introns and joining of exons in RNA (e.g., genes). Thus, introns are spliced out, while exons are spliced together. The removal of introns from RNA accompanied by the joining of exons to produce a mature transcript.  

An instrument that measures the concentration of a compound that has been dissolved in a solvent (such as water, alcohol, etc.). The instrument shines a light through the solution, measures the fraction of the light that is absorbed by the solution, and calculates the concentration from that absorbance value. An instrument (a spectrometer) for measuring…

An enzyme unit defined as the number of moles of substrate converted to product by an enzyme preparation per unit time under specified conditions of pH, substrate concentration, temperature, etc. Specific enzyme activity units may be expressed as: moles of product produced/minute/mg of protein used (or mole of enzyme used if the preparation is pure).…

Refers to a compound (e.g., a protein) or a disease (e.g., a viral infection) or some other effect that only acts in/on one specific species of organism. For example, the antibiotic penicillin kills bacteria by blocking an enzyme which is critical for growth and repair of the bacterial cell wall (i.e., peptidoglycan layer), but penicillin…

Glycine max (L.) Merrill. A green, bushy legume that is the world’s single largest provider of protein and edible oil for mankind’s use. This summer annual plant varies in height from less than a foot (0.3 meter) to more than three feet (1.0 meter) tall. The seeds (soybeans) are borne in pods, and historically have…