Life Science Articles

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Structured Illumination Microscopy in Research

Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is a form of super-resolution light microscopy that enhances the resolution of the microscope. It is useful in research as it allows for high-resolution imaging of cells.

6 Sep 2018

Importance of Studying Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes

Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) facilitate the formation and break down of complex carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. Studying them gives insight into the biological processes in which they are involved.

6 Sep 2018

Planar Chromatography

Chromatography is a process by which compounds within a mixture are separated. Compounds are be separated by properties such as size, and how the compounds interact with the mobile and stationary phases of chromatography.

4 Sep 2018

What is iDISCO?

To see structure within biological tissue such as organs, it is necessary to first label the tissue. Antibodies are frequently used for this purpose, and this is known as “immunolabelling”.

4 Sep 2018

Fischer and Haworth Projections of Carbohydrates

Stereochemistry is the area of chemistry concerned with the 3D arrangement of atoms in molecules. Understanding the structure of a compound and how its atoms are arranged in space is critical for the understanding of how it behaves.

2 Sep 2018

iDISCO Applications

iDISCO is a method developed by Renier and co., whereby immunolabelling is combined with a method which effectively makes biological tissues transparent (3DISCO).

2 Sep 2018

Calcium Homeostasis in Plasmodium falciparum

Calcium is essential for the correct functioning of the cell and requires regulation to avoid high concentrations causing cell death.

2 Sep 2018

Chromatin Types and Functions

Euchromatin is the lightly packed form of chromatin, whereas heterochromatin refers to the condensed form.

30 Aug 2018

Antibody-Drug Conjugates: History and Development

A drug delivery method commonly used in oncology is antibody-drug conjugates, the first trial of which began in 1982.

30 Aug 2018

Tissue-Specific Transcriptome Analysis

Analyzing the transcriptome shows the genes which are being actively transcribed and can therefore yield highly informative results for biologists.

28 Aug 2018

Phosphosignaling in Plasmodium falciparum

Plasmodium falciparum is the parasite responsible for malaria. It uses phosphosignaling to infect host cells and propagate.

28 Aug 2018

Machine Learning in Genetics

Machine learning and artificial intelligence can be used to help with the analysis of huge data sets including data from genomic sequencing.

27 Aug 2018

An Introduction to Enzyme Kinetics

Enzyme kinetics is the study of all the reactants in a specific reaction and is used to provide information about all living organisms.

27 Aug 2018

Ptychography in Life Sciences

Cell imaging techniques often rely on the use of dyes or genetic engineering to introduce fluorescent proteins.

23 Aug 2018

Single Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) in Cell Biology

Visualising cell behaviour has been the goal of many techniques developed in the 20th and 21st century. Cells were initially visualized after removing from the organism after death.

23 Aug 2018

Essential Amino Acids

Amino acids are the monomeric compounds that combine to form proteins. Essential amino acids cannot be made by the body, so must come from our diet.

23 Aug 2018

Single Cell RNA-Sequencing

Single cell RNA-sequencing measures the distribution levels of each gene across of population of cells. This can be used to study the development and physiology of cells, as well as disease.

22 Aug 2018

Overview of Opsonization

Opsonization is the mechanism by which targeting of particles for destruction through phagocytosis becomes enhanced. Opsonins are molecules that mark foreign particles for phagocytosis. Phagocytosis is the cellular process for removes pathogens and dead or dying cells.

22 Aug 2018

Wnt Signalling Pathway

Wnt signalling is an important, evolutionarily conserved signalling pathway that determines cell fate decisions and tissue patterning during embryonic development and later development.

20 Aug 2018

Photoactivated Localization Microscopy in Research

Photoactivated Localization Microscopy (PALM) is a form of super resolution fluorescence microscopy (SR) which enables highly resolved imaging to be produced through the selective targeting of fluorescent markers within a specimen.

20 Aug 2018