A Specific Case of Silencing

There are many ways to silence genes. One can fold the DNA different ways, attach molecules to it so it is not accessible, or cut a specific stretch of DNA out completely: as long as no proteins have access to the DNA to transcribe it into RNA and translate the RNA into protein, consider the gene silenced. And…

Swimming Worms: A Teaser of Monica Driscoll

How does one use C elegans to measure the effects of exercise on aging? Well for starters, one needs to be able to measure the exercise activity of microscopic worms. In Dr. Monica Driscoll’s lab this is done by placing the worms in a concoction of fluids and monitoring the way they swim for a select…

How to modify DNA without even trying: CRISPR

Just because I see this coming up in a lot of things I write about, I figure I should just do a background article on this here and then I can reference you, my lovely readers, back to it as needed. So you know all those movies and books and articles where artists worry about…