A Butterfly and Biotechnology

Oral cancer refers to cancer in any part of your mouth like tongue, lips, palate etc., Cancer may be due to various reasons like irritation due to continuous alcohol consumption, smoking, poor oral hygiene etc., And it can also happen due to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Human Papilloma Virus is a type of non enveloped virus (Papilloma) that can infect humans. They are classified generally as "High Risk" and "Low Risk" types. The high risk type HPV 16 is found to cause oro-pharyngeal cancer. Diagnosis: Generally biopsy is done where a small part of your tumor is removed and observed under microscope. The biopsy can be just cutting a small portion or it can also be done using brush for collecting the cells. After confirming the abnormality using this microscopic observation, further analysis is done for finding out the type of HPV which caused the oral cancer or to find whether the cancer is just because of alcohol/smoking. This further analysis can be d...

It was 24th December I believe! I just saw the details of the Indian Academy of Fellowship only a week before the last date. I decided to apply for it and just applied in a hurry actually, yes, it was really a hurry! I was done with everything and sent the application. I was waiting for the release of selected list of candidates from the first of March. They updated the selection list everyday but my name was not on the list till 25th of March! I used to go to the IAS website everyday and check the list, but, my name was not there in the selected list of candidates. I lost all my hope and decided that I won't get selected. But, it happened! I received a mail from the Academy after 25th of March! I was happy to the core, jumping up and down. Because, I was never out of my town from my child hood all alone. And, this fellowship was something really precious for me! I believed that this would change my destiny to a better place! I was happy till my father said "no" to th...

We are going to discuss here about three different typing! They are genotyping, phenotyping and karyotyping. Before learning about them let us learn what is genotype, phenotype and karyotype! Genotype, phenotype and karyotype Genotype refers to the genetic make up of an organism. Generally the genes of an organism. The genotype of an organism can be represented as BB or Bb or bb based on the gene. If a person is having two recessive CFTR genes, then he will be getting cytic fibrosis. Genotype of an organism has also effect over the phenotype. Thus, genotype is representing the alleles of a gene in general. Genotyping is generally done based on PCR or hybridization. Phenotype refers to the visible characters like structure, color and also the biochemical characters. This is based on the phenotype. Phenotyping can be done using biochemical assays. Karyotype refers to the number of structure of chromosomes in an organism. karyotyping is done by staining and visualising the cells...

As a biotechnology student whether I'm taking care of my meals plate or not, I have to take good care of my petriplates. I wash my petriplates better than my meals plate! Yes, we never autoclave and sterilise our meals plate, but we do for our petriplates! We ( I mean me and my friends) enjoy cleaning and autoclaving our petriplates in our  department media room. And you know, my friends always complaint that I'm never accompanying them in cleaning. Yes, I'll go, wrap my petriplates, put it in autoclave, but I find it very hard to wash! Always, I do autoclave, but, never wash after the autoclaving, I'll give that easy job to my friends :P I love my petriplates! Yes, I love them a lot. But, how do I say that I love my petriplates? I love them because I'm always with them. I love them because, even whether I do complex Genetic engineering or simple Microbiology, I always need them! And the final reason for loving my petriplates is they are so cute, especially,...

I learnt genetic engineering, and of course, about plasmids. But, when I was questioned about the types of plasmid, God, I was blinking! :( I had known plasmid only as a vector most times, I was aware of the types of vectors but, types of plasmids? :( Okay, It's not a great shame, I learnt it now! Let me share here about the types of plasmids, just what I learnt. Based on the functions of a plasmid they are classified as, Resistance Plasmids: These are the plasmids which have resistance genes. For example the gene coding beta lactamase which offers resistance against beta lactum antibodies like ampicillin. This is an important thing which is used while performing cloning experiments for checking the transformation. This was called as "R Factor" before the discovery of plasmids. Fertility plasmids (F Plasmids): And, these type of plasmids they have important genes called tra genes, never wonder, tra genes are transfer genes which are essential for the non sexua...

Fail??? "Oh, come on, you should not say like this", is this what you are feeling, after looking at this title? If so, don't worry, I'm not meaning this in a negative way as you think. "Everything in life has ups and downs. What about this field of Biotechnology? It's not preferred by many students. Yes, I agree, it is not like the IT field, you can't find a perfect job after completing just your under-graduation, even if you find a job, that won't pay you much. So, obviously, people will go for areas which would give them a bagful of money. "You think, Biotechnology is worthless then? you say, you won't get paid?", is this your next question? If so, I'm not saying that. Biotechnology, here, you can achieve heights only after years of enthusiasm and work in your laboratory. It's not the matter of earning money. This field is for people who want to achieve or discover something which is in your own body, in plants around yo...

Southern blotting is used for finding specific DNA sequence from a DNA sample by using the combination of techniques like  gel electrophoresis, capillary electrophoresis and hybridization. The DNA from the gel (after gel electrophoresis)is transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane and hybridization analysis is done for finding out the sequence of our interest using a probe) Let us discuss here the steps involved in doing Southern blotting. The steps are 1) Preparation of Sample 2) Restriction of the Sample 3) Gel Electrophoresis 4) Pre-treatment of the gel 5) Blotting 6) Hybridization 1) Preparation of Sample: (plant/animal/bacterial) For tissue or blood samples the DNA could be obtained by treating with SDS (Sodium dodecyl Sulphate) If we are going to have the DNA from a bacterial sample, there are separate protocols for extracting genomic DNA and pDNA . For extracting DNA from plants, CTAB (cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide) is used. This CTAB binds with the DNA and h...