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@vetbifguwahati.ernet.in
- Q. How the graph of RT-PCR analysed? -Priyanka Das, AIMT, B.Sc. (BT)
Answer: A real time PCR graph is a depiction of fluorescence intensity in every cycle of PCR reaction. Often, X-axis describes the nth number of cycle, whereas Y –axis describes the level of florescence. Essentially, when a reaction is positive, the level of florescence increases with increase in number of cycles.
- Q. Why ultrapure water is used in HPLC? –Himadri Bhuyan, AIMT, B.Sc. (BT)
Answer: High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is a highly sensitive detection and purification system for different molecules of synthetic and biological origin. It is very essential that we use the grade of water which is devoid of any ions so that it does not interfere with the purification process.
- Q. Is single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) a mutational change? -Raja Chakama, AIMT, B.Sc.(BT)
Answer: Mutation is a random process. An SNP is a mutation which is present in a constant position in a significant percentage in a population. SNPs play a significant role the process of evolution.
- Q. How will one pre-diagnose the presence of STD? –Minakshi Baruah, AIMT, B.Sc. (BT)
Answer: Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) can be diagnosed in many ways, the most recent being by using molecular tools. In molecular diagnostic labs, probes are used which goes and binds with specific genes in the genome of the organism causing STD. Thus asymptomatic STDs or carriers can be diagnosed for STD.
- Q. Is it possible to encounter the control point of cancerous cells? -Minakshi Baruah, AIMT, B.Sc. (BT)
Answer: Cancerous cells are nothing but the result of accumulation of mutations in the important genes of the cell. Due to random mutation process, cells lose their control over apoptosis and start dividing in an infinite manner. Till now, it has not become very clear as how much mutation is required for converting a normal cell to a cancerous one.
