Protein turnover is the continual synthesis and breakdown of protein in the body. This is a core process in biology and many talents have attempted to measure this in the whole body .The use of radio labelled amino acids requires a model system to enable calculations. Q = I + B + N = S…
Read moreThe large studies of human genetic variation have concentrated on understanding the pattern and nature of single- nucleotide differences within the human genome. There are larger polymorphisms for example insertions, deletions and inversions, Which leaves much to be studied .in human structural genetic variation. The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI propose to sequence large-insert…
Read moreStamina and Juvenile football teams I have a grandson who plays in an under 10 year old football team. The boys include several who are included in a Scottish Premier Division Football Academy.They play with all the commitment and activity of little boys b they always flagged in the second 25 minute half. This left…
Read moreNutrition has had to come to terms with the domination of science by molecular biology. Can Nutrition find a place in the science of the post translational events by providing substrates for the modulation of these genetic metabolic programme?.Hints are given by studies describing small molecular transfer reactions.Acetylation as a regulatory post translational modifier. The…
Read moreMortality in children under 5years is a sensitive index of the well being of a society.In Thailand there is a National project to reduce mortality in under 5 year old.In the 1950s and 60s the under 5 year old mortality was 160 per 1000 and this had been reduced to under 40 by 1990. Since…
Read moreDietary supplement survey. Harrison et al Brit Journal Nutrition 2007, 91, 617-23. The authors of this paper surveyed 21923 adults asking them of their usage of dietary supplements along with a self assessment of health and twelve item general health questionnaire in the Bolton and Wigan area of Lancashire. They were also asked about exercise,…
Read moreKnut Schmidt-Nielsen, one of the all-time greats of animal physiology, died on 25 January 2007 aged 92..He studied life in deserts, where heat and drought makes survival difficult. The most effective means of keeping cool depend on evaporation of precious water, either in the breath or as sweat, but kangaroo rats survive in the Arizona…
Read moreAutophagyAutophagy occurs when cells need to degrade their constituents. This occurs in most normal cells to prevent the accumulation of protein aggregates and defective cellular substructures. During starvation, high temperature, low oxygen, hormonal stimulation or intracellular stress (damaged organelles, accumulation of mutant proteins, microbial invasion) there is activation of signalling pathways that increase autophagy.The enzyme…
Read morePolypeptides after synthesis on the cell’s protein-assembly apparatus require further elaboration for use. Both the peptide backbone and its side chains may need to be altered by post-translational modifications , the covalent attachment of chemical groups that change the properties, and hence the function, of newly generated proteins. Post-translational modifications also control the degradation of…
Read moreThe Southern Ocean plays a major role in the climate system, and is recognized as the ocean most sensitive to climate change . The control of biological productivity e.g. the phytoplankton community by iron in the Southern Ocean has been shown by iron adding experiments.The availability of iron limits biological productivity and the associated uptake…
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