DNA Barcoding DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. Everyone is familiar with industrial barcodes as unique identifiers for commercial products. Similar to these industrial barcodes, short gene segments – known as DNA barcodes – are unique …
Read More »Genetic Markers: Key Tools in Modern Genomics
What is “A Marker”? A marker may be defined as a “Mark of identification”. In Biology three major types of markers are used: Morphological markers (also called “classical” or “visible” markers) which are phenotypic traits. Biochemical markers- called isozymes-are multiple forms of enzymes, including allelic variants of enzymes. A genetic …
Read More »Importance And Threats To Biodiversity
Importance Of Biodiversity Ecosystems and their species perform important biological services, for example, green plants remove carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere, which helps keep the environment healthy and fit for human life. Economic arguments also provide compelling reasons for conserving species. Biodiversity has a number of functions …
Read More »The Structure Of DNA and RNA
One of the features of the ‘genetic molecule’ would have to be the ability to carry instructions – a sort of blueprint – for the construction and behavior of cells and the way in which they grow together to form a complete living organism. Another would be the ability to …
Read More »Defense Against Disease : Active And Passive Immunity
We now want to tell in detail something that was too important for our immune system. Our ability to defend ourselves against infection by pathogens (disease-causing organisms). We have seen that some people experience few or no symptoms when exposed to certain infectious diseases. Even though a person may be …
Read More »Enzyme & Their Substrates: Mode of Action
Enzymes are protein molecules that can be defined as biological catalysts. A catalyst is, “A molecule which speeds up a chemical reaction but remains unchanged at the end of the reaction“.Virtually every metabolic reaction which takes place within a living organism is catalyzed by an enzyme and enzymes are therefore …
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