A follow-up to my first video, this is a quick-and-dirty look at how the DNA code gets translated to make proteins. Enjoy! Il y a des sous-titres en français disponibles en cliquant sur le bouton “CC” sur YouTube. Continue reading
Tag Archives: RNA
Cracked Science Video 1: Dogma
It has begun. I am starting a series of public science videos in which I will be explaining scientific concepts, criticizing bad science, and debunking pseudoscience. You can think of it as a video version of this blog. Before you watch the first video, a few caveats born of my self-awareness and perfectionism: 1. I … Continue reading
Jargon: Exome (All of the DNA that makes it into mature RNA)
Exome: the part of the DNA that is transcribed into RNA and that remains after the RNA molecule undergoes liposuction. Well, not actual liposuction. DNA is like a book of blueprints, each blueprint being a gene; RNA represents a photocopy of a particular blueprint. The analogy, while useful, breaks down in the following way: the … Continue reading
H-huh-N-what? The Bingo Lottery of Flu Viruses
It may seem as if flu viruses get chosen based on a sluggish and never-ending game of bingo. H1N1? … Does anyone have H1N1? The next number is… H7N9. Please check your cards, the number is H7N9…. H5N1… do we have a bingo? Please bring your card in to be validated. The prizes tonight include … Continue reading
Jargon: Central Dogma of Molecular Biology (That DNA makes RNA which makes proteins)
The central dogma of molecular biology: The idea that, within a cell, information is transcribed from DNA into RNA and is translated from RNA to proteins. The DNA molecule is essentially a book containing the blueprints to make everything; RNA is a short copy of the blueprint that is necessary at a given moment; and … Continue reading
Jargon: Gene (A stretch of DNA that can be transcribed into a functional RNA molecule)
Gene: a stretch of DNA that can be transcribed into a functional RNA molecule. This RNA molecule is frequently, though not always, translated into a protein. Genes are always referred to as “functional units of inheritance”, which is not a fantastically intuitive concept. This one was given to us by a German who used the … Continue reading
Doc, What’s Wrong with My Proteins?
A word you may keep on reading if you are a cancer patient interested in what new anticancer drugs do is “protein”. We’ve all heard of proteins in a nutritional context: we know, for example, that eating meat and legumes will greatly increase our intake of proteins, and that proteins are necessary to build muscles. … Continue reading
Cracked Science 