What is prion? Prion is a term first used to describe the mysterious infectious agent responsible for several neurodegenerative diseases found in mammals,including Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases(CDJ) in humans. The word itself derives from ‘proteinaceous infectious particle’; It refers to the initially heretical hypothesis is that the infectious agent causing those diseases …

Polyploid Organism bearing the exact multiple of the basic chromosome number (x) of the species. In polyploid cells and organisms, the number of chromosome sets exceeds that of diploid. Depending on the number of chromosome sets, polyploid can be classified as triploids, tetraploids, pentaploids etc. Good to know In potato, …

Karyotype Most living organisms have chromosomes as the structural and functional units of genetic information in their cells. The number and appearance of chromosomes vary species to species. A karyotype is an organized profile of total chromosomes in a species or in an individual organism. It gives a preliminary idea …

A model organism is a nonhuman species that is used as a framework to develop and standardize the analysis which is applicable to other species. It’s an in vivo model which is extensively used to study human diseases when human experimentation would be unethical.  In studying human diseases,  model organisms …

What is GMO? A Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic materials has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. A GMO is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant …

Lipids are a heterogeneous group of compounds that are related to fatty acids. They are usually esters of fatty acids with alcohols. Examples include fats, oils, waxes, and other substances. Fats (solid) and oils (liquid) = Glycerol (tri-hydroxy alcohol) + 3 fatty acids. Wax = Mono-hydroxyl alcohol + Fatty acid. …

GRE stands for Graduate Record Examination. If you are planning on getting yourself in a graduate school (doing your master’s) in mostly USA, you may need a GRE score to apply. It is the most common entrance exam and the largest assessment program for your graduate admission and students from …

Rhizoid and rhizomorphs are two common terms used in the study of fungi. Both of them are derived from the same word root. But still they maintain some differences. Rhizoid The name ‘Rhizoid’ is derived from the Latin prefix ‘rhizo’ – which means root. But it is not a root …

The vast majority of observed plant sap-feeding hemipterans colonized by primary symbionts are defined by three traits. First of all, phylogenetically as they are universally present in the host species, have much-reduced genomes and have evolved from multiple phylogenetic origins such as Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Secondly, they …

Fatty acid is an important constituent of fat and is the derivatives of hydrocarbon. It is a carboxylic acid (-COOH) with a long aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Some fatty acids may have hydroxyl group in its chain (hydroxy fatty acids) and still others may possess ring …