Andreas Damianou

Dear Diary, only one week left to go :)) ... and the easter vacations are going to begin. Filling really happy about that and a little bit tired from the passed week. Looking forward to return home and give myself rest and also hard study for the June examinations. - Andreas Damianou

I chise to share this article because it is related to #BS1006 (Introduction to physiology) lectures and also the practical 1 of #BS1006. It refers to muscle contraction and the research done on this topic. Crystallographic studies showed two different structural states for myosin S1, the open (end) conformation which is characterized by the absence of nucleotide and the "closed" (beginning) state, which is favored by binding ATP or the products complex (ADP.Pi). Myosin transports actin by switching between these two states. - Andreas Damianou from Bookmarklet

very interesting and helpful - Persefoni Ioannou

Tomorrow is Monday, a new week is beginning. We are two weeks before the end and the Easter holidays. This semester is really productive and i really like its courses. I really like #BS1006 (Introduction to Physiology) lectures. Also, this week we had a practical for #BS1006 that was very interesting and not hard to go through, i am looking forward to the next practical on Thursday. - Andreas Damianou

I chose to share this article because it is related to MB1005 (Genes). This article refers to bacterial DNA genomic sequencing, and more specifically to an Escherichia coli gene, the pyruvate I gene. The oligomer walking technique was used to sequence this gene, but without resorting to cloning or to library construction. Both vivo and vitro systems were used to amplify the sequenced region by the polymerase chain reaction, transcribe and translate it. The resultant product shows that the gene encodes the type I isoform of pyruvate kinase, - Andreas Damianou from Bookmarklet

Dear Diary, the first half of the semester has ended by handing in #BS1009 (Microbiology) essay, the only thing left is #MB1005 (Genes) practical report, which has its deadline on Thursday. Hopefully i really enjoyed yesterday's #BS1006 (Introduction to Physiology) first lecture and i like this course. Do not have that many assessments to hand in this week, giving some rest to myself. :)) - Andreas Damianou

I chose to share this article because it is related to #BS1009, (Microbiology). Bacteria can cause infectious diseases and the only way to fight them is with antibiotics. Disease-causing microbes that have become resistant to antibiotic drug therapy are an increasing public health problem.Unless antibiotic resistance problems are detected by the scientists actions are taken immediately to contain them, society could be faced with previously treatable diseases that have become again untreatable, as in the days before antibiotics were developed. - Andreas Damianou from Bookmarklet

Today is Sunday. I slept well last night so as to be able to keep working for the #BS1009 (Microbiology) essay. I am still going but i am to the end. Searching for bacteria that are beneficial to human and plants and animals is very interesting. At last is true, microorganims are not as harmful as it is believed to be. :)) Also i will throw a look to #MB1005 practical, unless if i have any questions i am going to tomorrow's help session, and also to #BS1011 new assessment. - Andreas Damianou

I chose to share this article because it is related to #BS1005 (Genes) lectures. According to the article mutations are a frequent phenomenon in our genome, and are caused due to various factors, for example ionising radiation from sun or electronic goods, and also chemicals. Mutations that happen in somatic cells do not affect next generation, but if they appear in Germline they do affect it. Faults appear during the process of meiosis, an can concern either translocations, either inversions. Mutations cannot be prevented, except from some late onset diseases if they are detected early using Karyotyping or Comparative Genome Hybridisation. Also, cancers can be related to mutations, because some changes in the genome can activate oncogenes by deleting tumour suppressor genes. - Andreas Damianou from Bookmarklet

Like it :)) - Persefoni Ioannou

Today it was a long day. Was working on #MB1005 (Genes) practical report and also initiated to write the #BS1009 (Microbiology) essay. The passed week was not as difficult to go through because i started to get used to our timetable, and i am more organised this semester. I put a timetable for my assessments, when i am going to start them and what i have to do every day. That way everything seems easier and less complicated. - Andreas Damianou

That is really good for you and beneficial :)) ... - Persefoni Ioannou

I chose to share this article because it is related to #BS1009 course (Microbiology). A lot of people believe that all the bacteria are harmful. In this article it has been suspected the exact opposite; some types of bacteria may be vital for our organisms. In this case, bacteria may act as alarms informing the immune system if something seems amiss within a small intestine. In the same way, beneficial bacteria could decrease our susceptibility to various pathogenic invaders. SFB (segmented filamentous bacterium) works as an activator of T-cells (Th17 ) in the small intestine. This has been proved by comparing two samples of mice, one with and one without SFB germs. Mice with SFB found to have higher concentration of Th17. - Andreas Damianou

Very interesting topic :) !!! - Persefoni Ioannou

Tutorials are just so helpful and also interesting :)) - Persefoni Ioannou

Totally agree with you ... Chemistry teaches us about molecules, chemical compounds and so on... If you have no idea of them you cannot study biology.... - Persefoni Ioannou

I agree - Shubnum Razak

if you want to understand your body you must fisrt understand the structure of all the Component. - Andreas Damianou

I chose to share this article because it is relevant to #BS1015, furthermore with the lectures for proteins functions as antibodies. Also it refers to HIV one of the untreated viruses. Scientists were trying for years produce antibodies to be ineffective in blocking infection. This could not happen due to the fact the antibodies could not actually ‘’see’’ HIV before infect healthy cells. Previous studies revealed two types of antibodies (2F5 and 4E10) that attack the HIV in a specific region called as "Achilles heel" of the AIDS virus. New revealed researchers showed that unfortunately the virus creates 2 versions of "Achilles heel". One version is for these rarer, broadly-neutralizing antibodies, and the other is for the more abundant, first-responding antibodies that won't be able to do much good because the Achilles heel isn't detectable to them until the virus has already gained entry. This can help scientists to understand better the HIV virus and finally a treatment can be... - Andreas Damianou

Sounds interesting :)) .... - Persefoni Ioannou

I chose to share this article because it is related to #BS1015 lectures for proteins, their function and their importance. Kinesin, according to this article are motor proteins that are able to move along microtubule by hydrolyzing ATP. The article deals with the two types of kinesin, the monomeric and the dimeric kinesin, and the models for their processive movement. These models were created to help the understanding of the mechanism on how kinesin molecules convert chemical energy of ATP hydrolysis into mechanical energy to active their proceesive movement along MT (monomeric mechanism). Two models make the description of the mechanochemistry of monomeric and dimeric kinesin molecules better than the others, the FGLP and THI-NLD models. The basis for the two models is that the conformational change of MT induced by the strong interaction with kinesin plays a critical role in the kinesin motility. Future studies will focus on the study of more detailed and subtle kinetic and... - Andreas Damianou

Interesting :)) - Persefoni Ioannou

i chose to share this article because it is related to the summary that we have done in Medical Bioscience ( BS1030). According to this article eukaryotic cells cannot enter mitosis process in the absence of mitotic spindle. Mitotic spindle's function it to separate daughter chromosomes to the daughter cells in the correct number. In Fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, mitosis is “closed”: that is, the nuclear envelope does not break down, and the mitotic spindle forms within the nucleus. A new research shows that some Yeast cells can be divided without this spindle. This nuclear division process is called “nuclear fission”. - Andreas Damianou

Nice article :)) - Persefoni Ioannou

I choose to share this article because it is related to #BS1015. During the lectures of this course we were talking about RNA and DNA structure and function. According to this article there exist some enzymes, the telomerases,that maintain the DNA at the ends of the chromosomes, the telomeres. When telomerase do not act, every time our cells divide our telomeres get shorter. Most cells in the human body do not have much active telomerase so this is part of the aging process. These DNA-containing telomeres act as protective caps at the ends of chromosomes and become so short that the cells die. In some cells, such as cancer cells telomerase adds telomere DNA, telomere does not get shorter and the life of the cell extends. Feigon laboratory and UCLA faculty make continuous researches on the 3D structures of DNA and RNA and how proteins and DNA and RNA recognize one another to swich genes on and of n cells. - Andreas Damianou

Really interesting :) - Persefoni Ioannou

I will agree that what some molecules can do and how that affects everything on the worldi s with one word : amazing...!!! :) - Persefoni Ioannou

Sounds interesting, searching for malaria desease... I don't have this course on my programme but it seems to be interesting.... I wish i will have the opportunity to deal with this theme (malaria) but also other relevant themes in the future ... - Persefoni Ioannou

Hi, i like the post, and I think we are both in group 45 for the #BS1010 Google docs, so we need to try get the group together at some point this week. I shall look forward to hearing from you! - Oliver Charity

This article is very interesting. I chose to share it because it is relevant to the assessment that we have to write for #MB1030, dealing with malaria. It is not directly connected to the questions of the assessment but it gives you a different view on how scientists treat this disease, and on the other hand you can understand how important the genetic material for each specie is. This article reffers to a research that Imperial College London carries out at two strains of the Anopheles gambiae mosquito (the mosquito that carries the desease). They conclude that unfortunately there exist two different species and they will have to deal with them both. - Andreas Damianou