Looking for interesting analogies to explain complex biological concepts to your undergraduate students? Rachana Acharya, an Assistant Professor at Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College, Mumbai, shares some of them in this article.
Posted on in Biotechnology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Teaching, Undergraduate & Education
Cells perform a complex feat of picking and proofreading amino acids for protein synthesis. Several aspects of this translation process were shrouded in mystery for a long time. This article traverses Rajan Sankaranarayanan’s two decades of seminal research that decoded some of the checkpoints and helped biologists better understand the error-free protein translation mechanisms.
Many misconceptions can creep into an undergraduate student's mind as they study gene expression in their classrooms. In continuation with an earlier discussion on the common misconceptions in gene expression, in this article, educator Maya Murdeshwar from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai highlights some of the misconceptions around the process of translation – the process of building a polypeptide chain based on genetic information.
Posted on in Molecular Biology, Education, Teaching, Undergraduate & Education
Molecular biology textbooks teach us that during gene expression, only one strand of DNA is used to synthesize RNA. Does this mean that only one of the strands of an entire DNA duplex is functional? What does the other strand do? Which one is called the 'sense' strand? Is it the same as the 'template' strand? These are some questions that often baffle undergraduate students of biology. In this article, educator Maya Murdeshwar of St. Xavier's College, Mumbai describes how she approaches these concepts in her classroom.
Posted on in Molecular Biology, Teaching, Undergraduate & Education
The levels of nucleic acids are enhanced in the blood of individuals affected by certain diseases. This understanding can be used for non-invasive diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, cancers, genetic conditions in the fetus, and neurological disorders. In this article, Ambika Kurbet gives an overview of the use of cell-free circulating DNA in diagnosis.
Scientists are increasingly lobbying for non-animal models for biomedical research, given that subtle genetic differences between humans and animals can lead to pronounced differences in disease severity. Advanced technologies such as organs-on-chips are showing potential to make biomedical research more human-relevant. Surat reports on a recent virtual event that initiated a dialogue on the possibilities and challenges of implementing human-relevant models and frameworks in India.
Posted on in Health & Medicine, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Policy & Events
inStem researcher Minhaj Sirajuddin joins the EMBO Young Investigator network.
Posted on in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Career Development & Funding