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Tag Archives: DNA

A switch for a living computer

By Stephen Ornes / April 19, 2013

Scientists used DNA to build biological switches called transcriptors, which act like transistors found on computer chips. Credit: iStockphoto

Scientists build a transistor from DNA

Posted in Computers & Electronics | Tagged bacteria, bio chip, biochip, biocomputer, biocomputing, bioengineer, bioinvention, biological computing, biological switch, bioswitch, Cambridge, computer, DNA, DNA switch, flash memory, germ, getinvolved, Jerome Bonnet, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Palo Alto, Stanford University, Timothy Lu, topstories, transcriptor, transistor

Big squid: All one family

By Stephen Ornes / March 28, 2013

A giant squid is unloaded by fishermen at a wharf in Melbourne, Australia. Credit: David Paul/University of Melbourne

Genes show all giant squid belong to one, worldwide species

Posted in Animals | Tagged cells, Clyde Roper, Copenhagen, DNA, getinvolved, giant squid, M. Thomas Gilbert, Natural History Museum, North Atlantic Ocean, Ocean, Smithsonian Institution

Fancy feather gene

By Stephen Ornes / February 15, 2013

This Indian fantail, one of 350 breeds of rock pigeons, has a tuft of feathers called a peak crest. Scientists recently pinpointed the gene mutation responsible for this feather formation. Credit: Michael Shapiro

A tweak in a single pigeon gene causes a distinct feather formation

Posted in Animals | Tagged birds, cells, crests, DNA, feathers, genes, genetic mutations, genetics, getinvolved, Michael Shapiro, University of Utah

Genetic memory

By Stephen Ornes / February 8, 2013

A DNA molecule looks like a twisted ladder. Scientists have found a way to use the rungs of that ladder to store data efficiently. Credit: NHGRI

The stuff of genes can be used to store digital data, too

Posted in Computers & Electronics, Technology & Engineering | Tagged bioengineering, biology, computer science, data storage, deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, Drew Endy, engineering, England, European Bioinformatics Institute, genes, getinvolved, nature, Nick Goldman, nucleotides, Stanford, synthetic DNA

Cool Jobs: Delving into dung

By Roberta Kwok / January 23, 2013

Wood’s colleague, Janet Wilmshurst, studies a piece of moa poop. Credit: Jamie Wood

Scientists uncover fascinating secrets through the study of animal feces

Posted in Animals, STEM Careers | Tagged animal navigation, animal reproduction, baboons, beetles, Brazil, Center for Conservation Biology, Cerrado, chemical markers, Chinook salmon, conservation biology, cool jobs, coprolite, Dactylanthus taylorii, diet, digestion, DNA, DNA fingerprint, droppings, dung, ecology, Emily Baird, endocrinology, excretions, feature, feces, fossils, glucocorticoid, Hades flower, hormones, kakapo, killer whale, Landcare Research, Lund University, manure, moa, New Zealand, oceanography, olfaction, orca, paleontology, pollen, Pollination, poo, poop, scat, stress, Tanzania, topstories, University of Washington, Wasser, whiskers

Cool Jobs: Crime scene investigators

By Sid Perkins / December 5, 2012

The dead do tell tales — if experts care to listen. Forensic anthropologist William Bass arranges a display of how a person’s bones change year by year as we age. This information can help identify a crime victim when little else is known. Credit: University of Tennessee, Knoxville

These researchers don’t miss a clue

Posted in Chemistry, STEM Careers | Tagged blood, blowflies, bones, cadaver, cool jobs, crime scene, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, DNA, evidence, FBI, feature, fingerprints, Forensic Anthropology Center, forensics, genes, Kendall Stoner, maggots, polymerase chain reaction, Reanna Day, the Body Farm, William Bass

Healthier mice, through X-rays

By Stephen Ornes / November 29, 2012

Scientists found that sickly agouti mice, which carry a gene that colors their coat yellow, benefit from a small dose of radiation. These benefits were blocked by vitamins, though, turning conventional ideas about radiation and vitamins upside down. Credit: The Transgenic Core Facility

In sickly mice, small doses of radiation helped while vitamins harmed

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged biology, cells, DNA, epigenetics, genetics, getinvolved, methylation, radiation, topstories, toxicology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Wisconsin–Madison, X-rays

The rest of your DNA

By Stephen Ornes / September 25, 2012

An international team of scientists has determined that a good chunk of our DNA may act as switches that turn genes “on” and “off.” Credit: National Human Genome Research Institute

Surprise: Scientists find most of human DNA molecule carries out important functions

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged cells, DNA, ENCODE, Eric Green, gene, genetic material, genetics, genome, getinvolved, human genome, National Human Genome Research Institute, proteins, topstories

Python-palooza!

By Janet Raloff / August 22, 2012

Monster-sized Burmese python bearing record-number of eggs retrieved in the Florida Everglades

Posted in Animals | Tagged accelerometer, adaptations, Burmese python, Davidson College, DNA, ecology, environmental science, Everglades, feature, Florida Keys, Florida Museum of Natural History, giant snakes, GPS, Kenneth Krysko, Kristen Hart, mercury, Michael Dorcas, national park, P-52, P51, radio tracking, salt water, Skip Snow, topstories, U.S. Geological Survey, USGS

DNA hints at ancient cousins

By Roberta Kwok / August 17, 2012

By analyzing the DNA of some modern-day Africans, scientists have found that our ancestors may have mated with an unknown, humanlike species thousands of years ago. Credit: Courtesy of Sarah Tishkoff

Scientists find evidence of an extinct humanlike species within modern-day Africans

Posted in Ancient Times | Tagged Africans, Cameroon, DNA, getinvolved, Hadza, Harvard Medical School, hominids, Homo sapiens sapiens, Joseph Pickrell, modern humans, Neandertals, Pygmies, Sandawe, Sarah Tishkoff, University of Pennsylvania

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