Wednesday Fun (or what you need to focus on)

These are the topics that you should really own during your prep for the exam:

• PCR – be able to talk me through a PCR reaction.
• Quiz #7 (not Restriction Enzyme problem)
• Restriction enzmes
• membranes – what they composed of, what crosses a lipid bilayer, what needs channels/pores
• Genetic control: DNA level
• Know the Trp Operon figure and be able to brief me on it
• Know the Lac Operon figure and be able to brief me on it
• Know the differences between DNA and RNA polymerases
• Know flavors of diffusion/transport across membranes
• Cytoskeleton: know the 3 types, the subunits, the polarity/direction, what marks + vs. – ends, what engines move toward + vs – ends.
• Know 1, 2, 3, and 4 structure in proteins.  Know the IMF and covalent interactions that drive these levels of structure.

Time will be an issue.  There will not be time to ponder my intent on wording etc – so no tricks, just up the middle definitions and concepts.

See me for AI if the Quiz 7 is not clear.

Good Luck.

Why It’s Tough to Accept New Scientific Data that Conflicts With our Learned Beliefs

Check out this absolutely amazing review in Science magazine:

Abstract

If you cannot get the full text let me know and I’ll send it out individually.

Btw, these psychologists cite Francis Crick.  Amazing.  The guy was an absolute giant.

Virus Research Paper

The course website has been updated so that the Research Paper hyperlink works.  Read the document to get an idea of what is expected of you.
Trustworthy sources — the best is PubMed, although our library’s subscription list is spotty at best so many of the papers you will try and access will be unavailable.  But that shouldn’t stop you from trying as most everything on PubMed is infinitely more trustworthy than standard Google fare.

If the lack of subscriptions is annoying you can go to PubMed Central, an online repository of public-accessible journal articles.  It’s basically PubMed without some of the newest articles.

You want to stick with reviews, at least at first (click the tab titled “Review” or include the word “review” in your search parameter, e.g. “smallpox review vaccine” or “HIV AZT review”).  Find a couple of review titles that interest you and then sit down and read them.  The danger here is that many of these reviews are very well written and you might find yourself adopting phrases and sentences rather than just adopting the ideas presented and fashioning your own interpretation and presentation of the material.

Also think of figures that you might generate to help describe the virus, the cell biology, and the biochemistry involved with that virus.  You might also choose to concentrate on therapeutics for a particular virus.  What are they?  What is the mechanism?  What is the target?  Give us molecular details.

Hope this helps.