Category Archives: Chemistry of Life (Core & AHL)
Synthetic Biology – the man-made future?
Where’s the money in Biology? Probably where the future lies – genetics and synthetic biology.
As we learn more about genomes and the way different organisms (including pathogens) work, we can move towards creating targeted responses and DNA-level manipulation. Synthetic biologists take DNA and try to re-work it into a solution to a problem – by creating synthetic DNA, they hope to achieve control over the functions of the organism. They hope to generate alternative sources of fuel, targeted treatments and vaccines and many more applications.
Click on the image to the right to download a useful poster from SEED magazine.
BioBricks (company link) are a leading example of synthetic biology in action. Think of them like lego bricks or parts of standard computer code – you can take them and (theoretically) fit them into any genome. This is one of the wonders of DNA – base-pairings and the universality of the genetic code allow these researchers endless opportunities for tinkering and advancing science. Some BioBricks are ‘parts’, some are ‘devices’ and others are ‘systems’ – sections of code that increase in complexity and functionality.
There is an exciting world of information out there about this topic, and it’s well worth looking at if you think your future lies in biotechnology. It’s a discipline that pulls together Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Engineering and Programming, and the ways in are various. If you want to find out more about a career in synthetic biology, MIT are world-leaders in the field.
For a quick explanation of how synthetic biology works (and an interesting hardware/software analogy) watch the video from ScientificAmerican below:
You might also want to read ‘Prey’ by Michael Crichton for a bit of light holiday scare-mongering. Imagine ‘The Andromeda Strain‘ with nanoparticles.
And while we’re on the subject of Scientific American, you may as well check out their video channel on YouTube. It’s much like the NewScientist one.
Gene Therapy ‘Reverses Hereditary Blindness’
Awesome. And just in time for the Grade 11 Genetics unit!
Here’s the NewScientist article. And here’s an old one about gene therapy treating deafness.
Here is an article from the Guardian’s Science section that sums it up nicely.
Learn.Genetics @ Utah has loads of gene therapy interactives to learn more.
And for the hard-of-researching, here is the gene therapy wikipedia page.
Exciting times we live in.
Animal Farm (Not the Orwellian one)
A while ago I posted about glowing pigs and fish and couldn’t work out where it had come from. Thanks to stitchintime from the TES Boards, I found out it was from Channel 4’s ‘Animal Farm’ series on genetic engineering.
Here’s the first part of episode 1:
It’s probably a good idea to save all the parts of it before it gets taken down. Here’s the link.
Chromosomes, Genes, Alleles and Mutations
Chromosomes, Genes and Alleles:
Here’s a YouTube clip:
Let’s start with a tour of the basics from Learn.Genetics at Utah.
DNA coiling on histone proteins from biostudio.com
A description of chromosomes from Dexter Pratt
Zooming in to Chromosome 11 (a bit too advanced) from the DNA Learning Centre’s Gene Almanac
Transcription Java game from thinkquest.org
Mutations:
How do mutations occur? from the DNAi at the Dolan DNA Learning Centre
Evolution of Sickle Cell: Resistance to Malaria
Sickle Cell Anemia: A Mutation Story from the excellent Evolution Library.
Human Genome Project
First stop, the official website from the National Institute of Health
Here’s a great interactive from DNAi at the Dolan DNA Learning Centre
Now for some videos:
Mickey-Mouse introduction, bit of review on transcription and translation:….
If you have a spare hour (I don’t), here’s Charlie Rose interviewing Dr. J. Craig Venter:
Here’s James Watson (famous for co-discovering the structure of DNA and the first person to receive their own personal genome) chatting with NewScientist:
And don’t forget Learn.Genetics excellent site.
Digestion (Further Human Physiology) Linklist
Download it here: digestionfhp.ppt
Let’s start with the basics:
Simple Digestion animation by kitses.com
And don’t forget the excellent review materials at Click4Biology.
Fetal pig digestive system virtual dissection from Whitman College
Control of digestive juice secretion:
Straight to the Point McGraw Hill (their page on types of glands is also very helpful)
Gastric acid production by parietal cells (advanced – look at ‘normal’ only) – John Hopkins
Another Gastric acid animation (over-detailed) PPIKnow Pharmacology website
Digestion of lipids:
Good animation from Wiley.com
Control of bile secretion (advanced) from ZeroBio.com
I’m still looking for animations for the other subtopics. If you find any, let me know!
Harvard University: list of databases online
As part of the ICT requirements of IB DP Biology, you are required to access and work with a database of biological information. The department of Molecular and Cell Biology at Harvard (which is well worth spending some time looking though) has posted this extensive collection of links.
Essential Biology 03 – Chemistry of Life uploaded
Part 3 of the revision guide for 2009 session IB Diploma Biology is here:
essential-biology-03-chemistry-of-life.doc
To the right of this page there are also new updates specifically aimed at IBDP Bio – separate pages for each topic in the syllabus. I’ll try to get these as complete as possible as soon as possible, but things might be a bit quiet round here in the run-up to the exams.
If you dowload the document, let me know how you get on.
Hormonal Control – linklist
Donwload the powerpoint here: hormonal_control.ppt
Here’s a good simple overview of steroids and peptides – Wisconsin Online
Old school overview of the endocrine system:
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Mode of action of steroid hormones:
Clear explanation from McGraw Hill
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Mode of action of peptide steroids:
Short video, but clear – UC Davis
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Mode of action of thyroxine:
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Negative feedback and thyroxin secretion:
Control of the pituitary – Leif Saul (Biology in Motion – very good)
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Control of ADH Secretion:
Too simple, but good overview – BBC GSCE Bitesize
Focus on the kidney (reviewing the effect of ADH) – BiologyMad
Other useful links:
i-Biology 