We believe that behind every invention and discovery there is always a curious mind working. This section of BioNE, is dedicated to all those young curious minds who have been thinking and working on unexplored possibilities in the horizon of biological sciences. Today’s learning process is no longer confined in books, rather it is based on questioning beyond the existing knowledge and searching for relevant answers. Here, we are inviting all those curious minds to put up questions and bring up a joint platform to share their ideas. Please mail your questions to bione@vetbifg.ac.in
Question: Why do we have Goosebumps? – Swaskita Deka, MaharshiVidya Mandir, Class VII A
Answer: Goosebumps are defined as a state of the skin caused by cold, fear, or excitement, in which small bumps appear on the surface as the hairs become erect. They are also known as goose pimples. It is a reflex action initiated by sympathetic nervous system. They are tiny elevations of the skin epithelium that are caused by a contraction of Arrector pili muscles attached to each hair. The contracted muscle creates a shallow depression on the skin surface and causes the surrounding area to stick out which we call goose bumps.
Question: Is there any alternative to SDS to mask the amphoteric nature and to give a total positive charge to the proteins while running a vertical gel electrophoresis system? – Jyotishman Sarma, B. Borooah College
Answer: Denaturing, discontinuous electrophoresis in the presence of anionic detergent SDS is a standard method for separation of protein. However, there are situations where this method produces suboptimal results and in such cases, electrophoresis in the presence of positively charged (cationic) detergents such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) or cetylpyridinium chloride may work considerably better.
Question: How Ethidium bromide can bind to RNA molecule? – Kavita Biswas, HS 1st year, Cotton College
Answer: Ethidium bromide (EtBr) is an intercalating agent and can bind to nucleic acid. Though RNA is single stranded, it usually has regions having a helical character that is mainly caused by intramolecular interactions. Due to self-complimentarity, it usually folds back onto itself and thus provides local base pairing for the dye to intercalate. EtBr binds to them and upon UV treatment in gel documentation system the RNA bands can be seen.
