Essays on Gene Expression

Abstract

The ecological settings in an ecosystem change from time to time. The changes in the ecological settings are brought about by a plethora of factors. Through evolution, the organisms that live in the ecosystem also change to adapt to the aforementioned ecological changes. The adaptation of the organisms to the ecological changes yields variations because different organisms and even organisms of the same species are exposed to the elements to different levels. Man has a significant role to play in the ecological changes. Through his economic activities, the effect on ecosystems has been both positive and negative. Urbanization as ...

Introduction

Sickle Cell Anemia or Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited blood ailment. Those suffering from Sickle Cell Disease have abnormal S/ sickle hemoglobin in the red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the protein in the blood that aids in carrying oxygen throughout the body. The ailment takes its appellation from the shape of the red blood cells of a person affected by Sickle Cell Disease, which have the shape of a sickle. They are stiff and adhesive rather than a disk like normal cells. The misshapen cells tend to get trapped in the small blood vessels hindering the movement of ...

Introduction

Cancer is a disease that is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. The Prognosis of the diseases in many of the patients is also poor (Adorno & Brownell, 2014). The Economic cost involved in treating the conditions and other factors serve as an incentive for studies into approaches for the identification of high risk people. The development of brain metastases in patients diagnosed with lung cancer further amplifies the disease burden (Adorno & Brownell, 2014). This paper summarizes two articles in which the authors present content on the use markers in the identification of high risk populations.

Summary of Articles

The article by ...

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), otherwise known as lupus, is an autoimmune disease caused by varying and often unknown sources. There are different types of lupus, with SLE being the most common. Other types include lupus nephritis, cutaneous lupus erythematosus, drug-induced lupus, and neonatal lupus. SLE can affect different organ systems including the skin, kidneys, liver, blood cells and brain. There is no direct known cause for this disease, but it is thought to be caused by a combination of factors such as certain medications, hormones, genetics and the environment. There are currently few treatments available for this disease and ...

A proposal in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Introduction Wheat (Triticum sp.), an extensively adapted crop, is one of the primitive and primary staple food crops in the world. Wheat is cultivated from temperate; dry to irrigated or rain-fed areas, to warm, humid or cold conditions. Such a high adaptability is attributed to its intricate genome (Acevedo et al., 2002). Wheat cultivation covers more land area compared to other commercial crops and endures to be an essential food grain for humans (Curtis, 2002). Estimations reveal that by 2050, the population of the world will reach 9.1 billion (34 percent greater than today); correspondingly, the food requirement and ...

Introduction

The large production of bisphenol A (BPA) in the world has been documented because of the increased usage of the same in various industries. The most critical industries that have been using this BPA include those manufacturing containers for foods and beverages, cigarette filters, thermal receipts as well as paper currency. With such a huge provision, it is critical that the basis of such developments only emanates from making the right choices over its uses because its production to a total of 2.7 million tons could be disastrous to the body. The main reasoning here is that the chemical ...

Transcriptional regulation of gene expression

Gene expression in eukaryotic cells is regulated at transcriptional, post transcriptional and translational levels (Tomizawa,  Lekstrom-Himes, and Xanthopoulos 17). Transcriptional control is the primary means of regulating gene expression. Eukaryotic transcriptional control functions at three levels: modulation of the activities of activators and repressors; variations in chromatin structure; and effect of activators and repressors on assembly of initiation complexes (Lodish et al. 368). Regulation of transcription initiation is the most widespread form of gene control in eukaryotes. However, in some cases, transcription may be attenuated and regulated at subsequent steps, such as during or after the transcription process (Cooper ...

The advances in biotechnological field have made it possible to understand the genetic role behind molecular mechanisms to large extents. This in depth understanding of biological processes has paved ways to treat the untreatable aiding the human existence in multitudes of aspects like food, health, bioremediation, mining, biopharmaceutical production and much more. This microbial world is vast and has been a platform for human beings to explore their biological systems as they are simpler cells and can be manipulated with much ease than complex systems. The DNA harnessed within the cells are the molecular entities that have been targeted ...

Introducing the Microorganism

Candida albicans is a human microbiome member. It is opportunistic in nature and exists as a non- harmful resident of the genitourinary tract in 70% and of oral cavity in 75% of humans. It has shown opportunistic behaviour leading to infections in case of individuals whose immune system is compromised (immunocompromised). C. albicans is mainly responsible for 2 types of infection: superficial candidiasis like vulvovaginal or oral infections and systemic life-threatening infections. C. albicans has been observed to cause vulvovaginal candidiasis in approximately 75% of women. C. albicans is an obligate and diploid organism possessing 8 pairs of chromosomes, ...

In their informative poster, University of Dayton’s Biology Department researchers Ankita Sarkar, Janan Bati and Armit Singh seek to explain the complex genetic hierarchy of eye development through experiments which analyze the development of the eye of a Drosophila Fruit eye from birth to adulthood. According to the experiments, significant changes occur in the eye at the beginning of the third instar stage of development. It is at the third instar stage where the fly’s retinal gene differentiation occurs. According to the researchers, “a wave of differentiation sweeps from the posterior to the anterior margin” of the ...

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Introduction

Genome imprinting is the latest technique that has genetically modified the face of infertility; it is an epigenetic phenomenon through which the parental origin of a gene is determined based on its expression. 1 There are a vast number of genes in mammals that are marked with their parental origin, and the result of this phenomenon is a single parental allele. These marked genes are known as “imprinted.” They rely on the epigenetic machinery determining their parental identity and maintaining their origin-specific gene expression. There are 100 imprinted genes estimated in human and 200 ...

The article titled “The biology of cancer testis antigens: Putative function, regulation and therapeutic potential” gives an account of Cancer Testis Antigens (CTA) and their presence in human tumors of distinct histological origin. CTA are reliable for the administration of immunotherapeutic approaches due to their restricted patterns . Several clinical trials have already been conducted for the development of CTA-based vaccination therapies. Researchers were able to discover over 70 families of CTA from 140 individuals worldwide. According to the authors, while it is possible to extract a majority of the CTA during the process of spermatogenesis, the core function of ...

Immunology

The rearrangement of T cell receptor (TCR) genes g and d occur in series of cells expressing variable Vg and Vd gene segments. The lymphoid precursor cells originate in the bone marrow and move to the thymus. Preliminary T cells are devoid of TCR, CD4 and CD8 molecules and are called double negative thymocytes . These double negative T cells may be further categorized into four phases of differentiation (DN1, CD44+CD25-; DN2, CD44+CD25+; DN3, CD44-CD25+; and DN4, CD44-CD25-) . CD44 is a cell adhesion molecule and CD25 serves as the IL-2 receptor. Passage into the DN2 and DN4 stages ...

The aging process occurs during a person’s lifespan. Nobody can escape this process and it happens to everyone. Aging is associated with maturation, growth, and discovery (Cohen et al., 2015). Many abilities of human beings peak before the age of 30, but there are other abilities that continue to grow and develop throughout the life of a person. Most people who are over the age of 65 are healthy, fully independent, and happy while others start experiencing signs of deterioration. These changes are normal and not harmful. The hair thins and start turning gray and skins thins and ...

Gene regulation involves the cellular process that aims to prevent and control the manner in which gene expression occurs. Gene regulation includes a range of mechanisms used by the cells to decrease or increase the production of specific products of the genes. Many sophisticated programs of gene expression are observed in biology that includes response to the environmental stimuli and triggering of other developmental pathways. Steps involving expression of genes can be controlled from the initiation of transcription, to processing the DNA, and to the mechanisms involved in the post translational modification of the proteins. Gene regulation is important for ...

Gene expression refers to the mechanism by which information from a gene directs the synthesis of proteins. This process is utilized by eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Gene expression involves various steps. These includes; transcription and translation. The central dogma indicates the flow of genetic information from the Deoxyribonucleic Acid to Ribonucleic Acid and synthesis of the required protein.

Transcription is the production Ribonucleic Acid copies of Deoxyribonucleic acids in the nucleus. The DNA consists of two anti parallel complementary strands, each having 5’ and 3’ ends. The strands serve as a template strand for the production of an RNA transcript. The ...

Introduction

Cloning is a term used to describe different methods of duplicating biological materials. Plasmids can be used to ‘clone in a gene’ and then express a given protein in mammalian cells. The type of protein used here is called AWP1 protein which is associated with PRK1. This type of protein is a universally expressed protein and the AWP1 gene is switched on during the early development of a being. The AWP1 may play a regulatory role in the mammalian signal transduction pathways. The AWP1 posses a conserved zf-A20 zinc finger domain at its C-terminal. When it is expressed in COS – 1 cells, the Myc-tagged ...

Introduction

Most of the world’s chronic diseases are preventable by long term dietary behavior. Out of the ten major causes of deaths for Americans, diet is a contributing factor to at least five of them. These diseases are such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. A report by the Joint World Health Organization on diet made in 2003 revealed that, most of the world’s chronic diseases can be prevented by regular physical exercise and maintenance of a healthy weight. This finding is valid up to date. According to this report, a person’s genome determined their susceptibility to disease while external ...

Lab 1: Ethical Issue in the Movie Gattaca. The epicentre of ethical issues in the movie Gattaca is the manner in which an individual ought to be judged. Should it be by the genetic composition one is born with or by the character traits, personality attributes and ambitions chosen by an individual? Vincent is born with genetic weaknesses that could result in ailments in the future. His genetic composition denies him access to his dream job despite the fact that he achieves the required grades in school and is a strong and athletic young man. As a result, Vincent designs a plan to ...

Cover Letter for National Institutes of Health Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research (NIH SIP)

Current school and grade Currently a junior at Jerome High School, I have a distinct vision and objectives about my plans for advanced education, research and a career path. Following graduation from Jerome High School, I plan to seek undergraduate and graduate education in biology and biomedical sciences to earn MD, PhD Degree. I am determined and principled to pursue a career of physician scientist. I strongly believe that the NIH Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research prepares and helps me a great deal in my future pursuits and endeavours. My exposure to biomedical sciences started early in life when professionals including ...

Introduction

Proteomics is the study of proteins in terms of their structures and functions. The term proteome refers to the entire set of proteins modified of produced by the organism. However, the interactions and modifications tend to vary with time and their distinct requirements and environmental stresses that the organism undergoes. This is an interdisciplinary domain based on research studies originally on yeast, then mice. Experiments have been forwarded describing the ways of investigating genetic interactions and various aspects of different functional proteins in genes. This essay proposes experiments that would be used to investigate a particular gene (named Without Kicking ...

Abstract

The purpose of this discussion is to determine the relationship between human papillomavirus type 16 and the incidence of cervical cancer in adult women. As such, prevalence and distribution of cervical cancer will be discussed, as will the current literature regarding the correlation between and potential causative effects of human papillomavirus type 16 on cervical cancer. Some of the studies examined in this discussion focus almost entirely on specific populations, but this discussion will focus on a more global, universal approach to the correlation between HPV-16 and cervical cancer. The literature reviewed in this discussion focuses primarily on discoveries and ...

Introduction/background

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an organism that can exist either as a singled-cell organism or as pseudomycelia. It is used in many scientific studies. It is commonly known as baker’s yeast. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely employed in scientific studies mainly due to the following reasons: it has a sequenced genome, it is easy to maintain in the lab, researchers can easily manipulate its genetics, and it grows rapidly. Saccharomyces cerevisiae can live with two genomes (diploid, n=32) or one genome (haploid, n=16). Consequently, the organism can undergo meiotic differentiation. In diploid phase, cells of the saccharomyces cerevisiae are more resistant to ...

Properties of Life

When it comes to dealing with cells as a structural and functional unit of all kinds of life on earth, it is important to understand the biological concept of what constitutes life. Most biologists, including cell biologists will agree that life is defined according to seven principles. First, that living things are composed of cells. A cell is a unit that makes up all kinds of life, whether it is a bacterial life or plant life or human life. The second principle is that there are different levels of organization in life – cells make up tissues, tissues make up organs, and so ...

Hormone Variations During Pregnancy

Hormone Variations During Pregnancy

Introduction

Pregnancy is regarded is one of the most important phase of a women’s life cycle. In addition, pregnancy also encompasses hormonal and physiological changes that are unique in the women’s life cycle. In pregnancy, women experience sudden changes, which includes progesterone and estrogen increases. This also leads to dramatic changes on hormonal functions that affects mood and creates a “glow” among pregnant women. More importantly, hormonal changes during pregnancy poses a significant effect fetal development that also manifests in the changes in physical activities. Having to mention the progesterone and estrogen, medical studies suggests that women ...

VIDEO SUMMARY 1-5

VIDEO 1 This presentation is all about gene expression in the plant especially in flowers. The main interest relates to the consequences of gene duplication on affected flowers. Gene duplication occurs in several different ways. During this occurrence of the duplication, there are some features that are related to the duplication. Some of the features are the gene loss (mutation), new function (New functionalization), and subfunctionalization. The project also talked about different part of flowers and what genes are responsible for such expression. The classes of genes that are listed are the A-class genes, B-class genes, C-class genes, ...

Introduction:

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects and a prime reason for deaths in first year of life. It accounts for about 20% of congenital defects in infants. The understanding of this study is based on evolution of heart, heart development in mammals and molecular regulation of cardiac development. Evolution of heart saw change in the number of chambers, with fishes (two chambers), amphibians (three chambers) and reptiles, birds and mammals (four chambers). During the developmental process, heart is generated from splanchnic mesoderm that contains the original cardiac cells. Mouse has a gestation period ...

Introduction

Hypothyroidism is a condition mainly characterized by low concentration of serum T4 (thyroxine) hormone. When this happen during pregnancy is known as maternal hypothyroxinemia. Adequate Thyroid hormone (T4) levels are critical during first trimester of gestation when the only source of T4 hormone of the fetus comes from the mother. A deficiency of T4 hormone constitutes a risk factor in the neurodevelopment and growth of the fetus . Severe mental retardation is one of the major conditions observed in children with non sufficient levels of thyroxine (T4) hormone during early fetal developing stages. It is now well documented, that thyroid hormone ...

Most chemotherapy drugs are designed to block DNA replication; majority of the generally and successfully drugs are DNA-damaging agents. The DNA targeting has proven to result in comparatively potent and discerning distribution of cancerous cells. Compounds which are empirically identified with anticancer activity have been indicated to target DNA as the crow flies or through enzyme inhibition which controls the integrity of the DNA of offers the DNA building blocks. With the revelation of the DNA structure various therapeutic modlaities have been established namely; the antimetabolites which, depletes the nucleotides comprising folic acid, an example being methotrexate. Alkylation agents ...

Introduction:

The function of many living organisms is coupled with a vast array of cells .These units in turn serve as role playing agents for the fundamental physiology that determines the well being of organisms. However, variations in cellular environment are thought to regulate cell growth, division and survival. A network of molecular pathways or signaling events are interlinked with the cellular functions .Alterations in this specific functional aspect could lead to unnecessary complications which may lead to health abnormalities. In such context , the present description is concerned with highlighting about mTOR Signaling in Carcinogenesis. mTOR stands for mammalian target ...

The term biological marker or biomarker refers to a quantified characteristic which may act as a key indicator of a biological condition or a biological state. It can also allude to a substance whose existence indicates the presence of living organisms. In medicine the term can be used for a traceable substance introduced into the system of an organism as a way to examine aspects of health for example organ function. Clinical trials often employ the use of biochemical biomarkers chiefly by deriving them directly from bodily fluids. In genetics biological markers play quite a pivotal role as they are a sequence of DNA associated with disease causation ...

Eukaryotic organisms’ cells are composed of different types of primary and processed RNAs. These RNAs are locally found in the nucleus, cytosol or throughout the cells. To understand the function of RNA as a type of protein, RNA profiling has been carried out leading to the birth of a genomic project known as “ENCODE or the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements”. The goal of the project is to identify and characterize functional elements that are present in the genes (Djebali et al.). In the paper Landscape of Transcription in Human Cells the study tries to answer the general question: should the ...

a) Background and Significance Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disorder characterized by two main features: high blood glucose level (hyperglycemia) and insulin resistance. The disorder was formerly referred to as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The pathophysiology of type 2diabetes is progressive, characterized by decreased insulin sensitivity, deteriorating cell function, and decreased incretion function (Phielix and Mensink, 2008; Misra, 2008). In human studies, people with type 2 diabetes have a decreased PGC-1α expression compared to healthy subjects (Wagner et al., 2008; Cantó and Auwerx, 2009; Kang, 2012). The skeletal muscles of people with type 2 diabetes and those of their ...

Introduction

Scientists have discovered a way of turning off genes so as to provide room for studying how cells work and other aspects of the cells. The discovery has been deemed to be a major success towards a news technology in studying the biochemical pathways and interactions that occur in cells hence facilitating normal development as well as disease progression. Norris (Para. 1) points out that, scientists at UC San Francisco have made this major breakthrough of turning off genes in cells. They indicate that the ability to turn off genes will pave way to increase in research and making of discoveries in ...

Analysis of Culture Cell KU812F with Three Protocols

Abstract Protein analysis for cancer cell research has been found to be extremely reliable. The culture cell KU812F (chronicle myeloid leukemia cell line) was used for this laboratory. Globin gene switching was observed by evaluating the gene expression in the cells. Gene expression and protein folding were provoked. Gene expression is the process of transcribing DNA to cDNA and then used qPCR to study gene expression. cDNA was translated into mRNA which in turn is translated into a protein. mRNA concentration was analyzed. The three protocols were Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), Enzyme-Linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA), and ...

Introduction

Gene expression is the process through which the information that has been encorded in the gene is firstly converted into messenger RNA and then finally to a protein. The study of gene expression is critical especially to the biological student and more so to one who would like to study biology related course like microbiology in future. Therefore, it is important to note that we study gene expression in order to determine how the genes and the proteins which they encode functions in the intact organism. Zhang (2006), Another reason why we study gene expression is in order to ...

Compare and Contrast On IPS Papers

All the four papers Takahashi-miPS, Takahashi-hiPS, Park-hiPS and Yu-hiPS respectively induced the four genes (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and MYC) and reprogramming the differentiated somatic cells to produce IPS pluripotency cells. In the first paper, the authors found a combination of factors to make the IPS cells. The authors selected the 24 genes for factors that induce pluripotency in somatic cells. Afterwards, all the 24 genes were inserted into the mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEFs) by using retroviral transduction. The cells were cultured on STO feeder cells in ES cell medium containing G418. The authors obtained 24 colonies, and then the authors ...

Article 1: Deriving Trading Rules Using Gene Expression Programming.

This paper demonstrates how trading rules are derived using gene expression programming with an explicit system. In this paper the various market concepts are brought to discussion and market examination is conferred with much weight put on the technological analysis and quantitative techniques. In deriving trade rules, this paper shows how genetic algorithms are used. In this article, Gene expression programming is used in areas where the multiple forms of operators and mechanisms are applied. These in the end generate several gene perspectives and allusion between the genes in a way that keeps the linear composition of the gene ...

Abstract

The subject of evolution is one that finds substantial amount of conflict from various fronts. Much of this conflict comes from theological stance where the story of creation is consistently quoted as the viable source that defines the origin of living and non-living things. However, the creation story lacks tangible evidence as compared to the story of the evolution. There is an overwhelming body of research works and evidence that clarify this. However, despite all the evidences provided, there exists some confusion as to the origin of the earth. A quick look at various academic books used especially in ...

Malaria is a tropical disease that has claimed many lives over the numerous centuries gone by (reference). It usually caused by the genus Plasmodium. The vector for this parasite is a female Anopheles mosquito which transmits the pathogen through bite (reference). One of the major challenges in disease vectors is insecticide resistance. Vector-borne diseases are usually a burden in developing countries because it is not easy to reduce/control disease. In many parts of Africa, Anopheles gambiae has developed resistance towards pyrethroid insecticides which is used to control the malaria vector (Kumar, Dudley, 2007). It is feared that there are high chances of ...

Article 1

This article is basically a review of microRNAs and their role in cancer. It briefly introduces miRNAs and focuses on miRNA biogenesis and mode of action. It then looks at the functions of miRNAs with respect to their involvement in cancer, and their potential use in clinics. My literature review topic is about the role of miRNAs in tumorigenesis while this article is about the role of microRNAs in cancer. These two topics are technically the same. My review topic therefore shares a lot in common with this article, such as the miRNA biogenesis and mode of action and the ...

Mental disorders are a common illness in the society. Scholars and medical practitioners have taken time and effort in attempting to understand the causes and treatment methods for these conditions. However, since the biological processes that leads to mental illnesses are quite difficult to understand, several hypotheses have developed to assist studies. Genetics and other environmental factors have been associated with numerous mental disorders. This paper first evaluates the issues of mental disorder such as depression and provides review into the genetics involved. Then the paper reviews studies into twin cases, association and neurodevelopment disorders. The research will then argue ...

When people become sick with dermatomyositis (DM) they have an inflammatory skin rash and inflammation of the voluntary muscles. The patients experience muscle weakness which gets worse.

The DM most often starts with a speedy, severe onset of symptoms. Patients eventually become so weak they have trouble with daily routine activities such as standing up after sitting down, climbing stairs or lifting objects. Other organs such as the lungs may also become diseased.

The symptoms are often treated with prednisone which is a corticosteroid drug used to decrease the inflammation. Other corticosteroid drugs can be used but that family of drugs ...

"Are Protein-Protein interactions likely to be valid therapeutic targets for cancer therapy?" In her paper entitled “Protein-Protein interactions and cancer: small molecules going in for the kill” Michelle Arkin raises questions regarding the grooved and linear regions that permit protein-protein bonds, the binding peptides also found in those regions, if those interfaces are tractable for small molecule discovery and what compounds might serve as bonding agents. Further investigation of compounds would include if they are active, inhibiting, and do they help further characterize the target. She documents tubulin and several others that have potential. Her conclusion confirms that ...

I. Introduction to exercise

Every year, nearly over 300,000 deaths are accredited to inappropriate diet and devoid of exercise, and a sedentary lifestyle has for long been recognized as an autonomous risk dynamic for cardiovascular disease. Even though physical dormancy escalates risk for both morbidity and all-cause mortality, it is one influence wherein alteration can create dramatic enhancements in health. Systematic exercise has been revealed to develop lipid aberrations, diabetes mellitus, obesity and hypertension control, with the paramount benefits recognized by sedentary persons who start to exercise (Braith et.al, 1995). Nonetheless, reactions to exercise interventions are regularly extremely adjustable among persons, and research ...