In this post I will answer two questions you possible might have after reading the title of this blog post; Yes, the title is a play on the movie title “Fantastic beasts and where to find them” which btw is an…
Tailocins: when bacteria use viral weapons to their advantage
Every nook and cranny of our environment is colonised by bacteria. They cover every surface and take advantage of every conceivable food source. However, the cohabitation of all these organisms is not without conflict, competition is continuous, and bacteria are…
Math in practice: Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) – “Simple” math with important biochemistry applications.
Maybe I am a bit biased, being a mathematician and all, but math tends to be absolutely everywhere in science. Be it economics, physics, chemistry, computer science, earth science or as you may have guess by the name of the article, biochemistry. One of many strengths of mathematics lies in its…
Innate Immunity and Endometriosis: Bridging the Gap
We all know that our immune system is designed to protect our bodies from disease and illness, but what happens when our immune system fails in doing this for us? In this post, we will explore the innate immune system…
Fourier Transform: Not Just an Analyzer of Frequency
Introduction of Using Fourier Transform to Solve PDEs A guest post by iGEM NCKU Dry lab is an important part of iGEM project. Among those criteria in dry lab, model is a main part that connects wet experiment with dry…
Synthetic gene circuits
This blog was started as a collaboration between two iGEM teams (see post “What is iGEM”) with the goal of making biology as accessible and understandable as possible. Building on last week’s post, today we are going to introduce a…
Synthetic biology: is it magic?
“Life is the most potent technology on the planet. It is also the most complex. This staggering complexity presents a fantastic puzzle to those studying its mysteries; more importantly, it offers a wealth of opportunities to those seeking to use our knowledge of biology to improve the quality of life for humanity” (Brian Ingalls, 2012)
Plastic Biodegradation
What is plastic? Plastic is a synthetic organic polymer made from petroleum and is the term commonly used to describe a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that are used in a huge and growing range of applications. Everywhere…
The historical perspective of Synthetic Biology
“The important conversations about what outcomes are to be prioritised takes place in collective society and thusly sprout many possible avenues of exploration. That is why synthetic biology is such a rapidly growing field and is advancing forward and outward in very unpredictable ways.”
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
The polymerase chain reaction is a central technique in molecular biology. The technique was developed in 1984 by the American biochemist Kary Mullis. Nowadays, it is unlikely you will ever set foot in a molecular biology lab that does not…