The origins of flowering plants from peas to oak trees are now in clearer focus. A study appearing online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences unravels 100 million years of evolution through an extensive analysis of plant genomes. It targets one of the major moments in plant evolution, when the ancestors of most of the world’s flowering plants split into two major groups. 阅读全文 »
Cell Press News. DNA that is left in the remains of long-dead plants, animals, or humans allows a direct look into the history of evolution. So far, studies of this kind on ancestral members of our own species have been hampered by scientists’ inability to distinguish the ancient DNA from modern-day human DNA contamination. Now, research by Svante Pääbo from The Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, published online on December 31st in Current Biology, overcomes this hurdle and shows how it is possible to directly analyze DNA from a member of our own species who lived around 30,000 years ago. 阅读全文 »
From Journal of the American Chemical Society: Singapore are reporting development of a new electronic sensor that shows promise as a faster, less expensive, and more practical alternative than tests now used to detect DNA. Such tests are done for criminal investigation, disease diagnosis, and other purposes. The new lab-on-a-chip test could lead to wider, more convenient use of DNA testing, the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the Sept. 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication. 阅读全文 »
“Genetics just got personal. Don’t worry. We’re here to help.” This is a slogan for personal genomics. Over a year ago, Iceland’s deCODE Genetics kicked off a new era in personalised genetics with the launch of a direct to consumer service dubbed deCODEme. And a few days later, California’s 23andMe launched its own service. In November 2008, that company’s service was named Time magazine’s invention of the year. 阅读全文 »
A genetic study of Africa suggests that the origin of humanity lies in a sandy, inhospitable region near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola. The Bushmen, or San people, who populated in the area may be the closest thing to a biblical Adam and Eve. The research paper published in 《Science》journal. 阅读全文 »
A way to save time, money and frustration in searches for specific genes have been found by researchers at Purdue University, It can shed light on the biological processes associated with all forms of life. The work finished by Andrew DeWoody, a professor of genetics, and postdoctoral associate Matthew C. Hale, they have provided evidence that a step called normalization is no longer necessary with recent advances in DNA sequencing technology. Instead, they used a theoretical approach called rarefaction for gene discovery, a process developed for ecological surveys to determine the abundance of a species in an ecosystem. The results were published in the journal BMC Genomics. 阅读全文 »
《The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA》is writing by James Watson. Noted watson’s own personal experience in mind of major event. The book not only has scientific knowledge, there are scientific methods of work.
In 1953, by identifying the structure of DNA, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only twenty-four 阅读全文 »
Today we will discuss how can biotechnology be applied to agriculture? We have knew What is biotechnology? but it’s general, We need apply to reality. begin with genes. Genes are the pieces of DNA code which regulate all biological processes in living organisms. The entire set of genetic information of an organism is present in every cell. The most significant breakthroughs in agricultural biotechnology are coming from research into the genetic mechanisms behind economically important characteristics and from genomics. 阅读全文 »
