Exoplanet Kepler-186 F

Reflection

Exoplanets Discovery  

Kepler-186 F 

       The exoplanet Kepler-186 F was named after NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. Kepler is the first earth size planet discovered in the habitable zone orbiting a star. Astronomers believed that Kepler is at the correct distances from a star that can indicate liquid water might pond on the surface of the planet. Many other exoplanets have being found in the habitable zone before, but most of this planets were at least 40 percent larger than Earth. Kepler-185 F in the other hand is more reminiscent of Earth. Although Kepler size is known, there is still a lot more to be discovered like it's mass and composition. The exoplanets discovered are approximately 500 light-years from Earth and orbit around a star which is half the size and mass of our sun. Even though it will be far long for human kind to find or travel to another habitable planets, astronomers theorized the possibilities that maybe future generations will. For right now searching for life outside the solar system is not a priority, but finding planets with the same characteristics that mimic that Earth is the main priority after this extraordinary discovery.  

Source: Culler, Jessica. "Kepler-186f, the First Earth-size Planet in the Habitable Zone." NASA. NASA, 03 Mar. 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Enzymes of Recombinant DNA

Terminology 

A. Nucleases - Enzyme that cleaves the chains of nucleotides into smaller units.
     1. Exonuclease- An enzyme that digests nucleic acids starting from the 5' or 3' terminus.
     2. Endonuclease- An enzyme that digests nucleic acids from within the sequence.
     3. Isoschizomer- Restriction endonucleases that contain an identical site but it can be derived from different species of bacteria.
B. Polymerases- Enzyme that brings about the formation of a particular polymer, especially DNA or RNA.
     1. DNA Polymerases- An enzyme that synthesizes DNA from a DNA template.
     2. RNA Polymerase II - The enzyme that is used to transcribe structural genes that result in mRNA.
    3.  RNA Polymerase III- The enzyme that is used by the cell to transcribe ribosomal RNA genes.
    4. Kinases- Enzymes that transfer the Y-phosphate group from ATP to the 5' hydroxyl group of a nucleic acid chain.
    5. Ligases- The enzyme that utilizes the Y-phosphate group of ATP for energy to form a phosphodiester linkage between two pieces of DNA.
    6. Reverse transcriptase- Enzyme that purifies first from retrovirus-infected cells, to produce a cDNA copy from an mRNA molecule.
    7. Telomerase - A specialized DNA Polymerase that protects the length of the terminal segment of a chromosome.

Nuclear Transport

Investigation

Cell Nuclear Exportin

                           

The nuclear import complex it controls the entering and exit of large molecules through the nucleus pores. Small proteins pass easily through the nuclear pore, as for large proteins, it is more complex to enter. The transport of large proteins in either direction requires various steps. Exportin is a protein that is found in the nucleus, which it helps with the transportation of materials from the nucleus to the cytosol. For exportin to function properly, it needs the help other molecules. Exportin bounds to Ran-GTP, which eventually will cause a conformational change in exportin that causes the attachment to the nuclear export signal. The nuclear export signal is a short amino acid sequence also known as the cargo protein. Once all of these three components are attached together, these will travel than travel through the nuclear pore complex. In the cytosol, GTPase will start hydrolyzing Ran-GTP into Ran-GDP which cause the releasing of Ran-GDP fro exportin. Exportin can repeat the process again, by detaching from the cargo protein. Next exportin it travels back to the nucleus and the cargo protein stays in the cytosol. 

Resource 

"Nuclear Transport." Nuclear Transport. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2017.

Human or Pig?

Research 

 Human?Or Pig?

The power of science and medicine has come to another discovery. Scientists have presented the first successful human-animal hybrid. The project proves that the human cells can be introduced into a non-human organism to survive, and even grow inside a host animal, in this case, pigs. In the past, the United States have rejected to provide funds to projects like this one. The public opinion as well has been against the creation of organisms that are half human and half animal. The image above is a pig embryo that was injected with human cells. scientists are currently monitoring the developments of a four-week-old embryo. So far there is a lot of controversies if this project should continue or should be stopped. In the other hand, if this project is a success this could be a game changer for organ transplants in the coming future. 

Source: Blakemore, Erin. "Human-Pig Hybrid Created in the Lab-Here Are the Facts." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 27 Jan. 2017. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.