/r/Biochemistry

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/r/Biochemistry

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1

what makes carbon so unique?

3 Comments
2023/03/13
13:15 UTC

3

What are Aquaporins? | Structure, Types and Functions | Biology Ideas

Aquaporins are a class of transmembrane proteins that serve as water channels, facilitating the movement of water across cell membranes in various living organisms.

Aquaporins are essential for many physiological processes in living organisms.

They play a crucial role in the regulation of water balance, facilitating the uptake and transport of water in plant roots and the reabsorption of water in the kidneys.

Read More about Aquaporins on the article:

What are Aquaporins? | Structure, Types and Functions | Biology Ideas

Aquaporins

0 Comments
2023/03/13
12:46 UTC

3

Question for postdocs

So I have decided to do a PhD, I have experience working with D. melanogaster and the PhD projects I have applied also work with D. melanogaster. BUT I was just wondering if after PhD if I wanted to learn and work with another animal model will it be possible to apply to postdoc positions that involves, for example, mice as an animal model? I understand that I might want to stick to one but I have interests in researching on different topics in the future so I just want to ask for some information. Thanks in advance to anyone with information in the comments :)

4 Comments
2023/03/12
22:57 UTC

3

Hiring - Full-time BS/MS-level Lab Technician, Small Animal Work

0 Comments
2023/03/12
20:54 UTC

1

help pls

hi everyone!

so i am majoring in biochem (or possibly biotech, I'm still deciding) and I am struggling a lot with calc and I was just curious what info from calc do I need for my major/future job. i am kinda struggling since I am basically teaching myself calc (its an online class). i really appreciate any feedback about calc and biochem.

9 Comments
2023/03/12
20:41 UTC

1

Inorganic Phosphate Glycolysis

Hey! Where does the inorganic phosphate in step 6 of glycolysis come from? Like what molecule is providing the phosphate and how does it do so?

1 Comment
2023/03/12
19:03 UTC

2

Would I need a Bachelor's degree in order to understand why and how antioxidants have worsened my vitamin B12 deficiency?

Hello,

I hope this post is ok. A few months ago I was diagnosed with a Vitamin B12 deficiency due to neuropathy (numbness/ tingling), cold hands, and fatigue. I see from reading online that the body needs B12 to make red blood cells, and red blood cells carry oxygen to the cells in my body. Not enough B12 means not enough red blood cells, which means my cells don't get enough oxygen.

My condition was improving for a couple months with daily supplementation, but a few weeks ago I started taking supplements for my digestive system which are high in polyphenols, which are a type of antioxidant, and the symptoms have returned. I can see the relationship between "antioxidants" and oxygen in the word structure, but it doesn't tell me what exactly is happening and how it happens.

I am, of course, working with medical professionals to get back on track, but I would like to understand this better myself, 1) to better manage my condition since I can't run every decision by my doctor and 2) to satisfy my own curiosity.

If you have any suggested books or topics, that would be awesome. I would love to have more power to manage my health, I just don't quite know where to start, and a lot of nutrition articles are written with a bias toward helping people who eat McDonald's 5 days a week, whereas I cook all of my own food and have a number of preexisting dietary restrictions. Therefore, I think it would be best if I treated all foods as drugs in a way, understanding what they do without a judgment as to whether they're "healthy" or "unhealthy".

Thank you so much. God bless.

7 Comments
2023/03/12
14:38 UTC

2

LAMP assay using pH dependent indicators, varying pH of matrices is a problem. More details in post.

Hello folks! I'm trying to develop a LAMP assay to detect a bacteria in multiple matrices for exemple: egg yolk, chicken meat, chicken droppings, and I would like to use a pH dependant indicator for the revelation method. The problem is that I need to bring the pH of all my matrices to something between 7.9 and 8.8 before starting the LAMP (and the matrices I intend to use have varying pH's). Can you please suggest a solution that could achieve this for all the matrices (one solution to use for all samples) ? Or any idea how to resolve this problem ?

The quantity of the samples to use would be arround 10g and the volume of the solution arround 2 ml.

Thank you in advance!

1 Comment
2023/03/12
11:44 UTC

5

Why does SDS (the detergent) have a higher solubility with NaCl then NaAc in alcohol precipitation?

I'm studying ethanol/isopropanol precipitation of DNA. The only part I do not understand is the following: It says that the standard salt is sodium acetate. So far so good. It also says that when a detergent like SDS is present (for example from cell lysis) you should use sodium chloride because it has a lower chance for coprecipitation of SDS. I get the reason. I just don't see why SDS would stay in solution when NaCl is used but not when NaAc is used. Does anyone know this or can you point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance!

4 Comments
2023/03/12
09:56 UTC

4

Is biochemistry a good foundation to be a neuroengineer?

I've always wanted to study neuroscience but has been hesitant to pursue it because it doesn't exist here in our country. that means there are no funds to go to study abroad with my so-so grades and lack of confidence. Now, as a college student I think I want to work as a neuroengineer, working for both fields but I think I have to finish my undergrad degree and not risking to transfer into a different course.

I'm also going to post in another related sub about this matter for more opinions at hand!

5 Comments
2023/03/12
03:15 UTC

6

Could someone explain how amino acids or proteins are identified using:

  • Thin layer chromatography for AAs (are relative mobilities characteristic of certain AAs? If not how are they identified)
  • Ion exchange chromatography for AAs or proteins (Is it the concentration of NaCl needed to elute the protein/AA?)

I understand how each of the above processes separates the proteins/AAs but I don’t understand how they are identified afterwords. I’m in undergrad so if my question doesn’t make sense it’s probably because these concepts have been oversimplified for my class. I appreciate any help, thanks!

3 Comments
2023/03/12
00:21 UTC

1

Can you tell me whats happening in the brain during meditation?

A basic overview will surfice

I appreciate this is not the place to ask but id like answers anyway, you may have an angle others do not

2 Comments
2023/03/11
22:05 UTC

0

Help with understanding the function of Bimatoprost

Hello everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this (please let me know if it isn't). I've been researching Latisse and it's active ingredient Bimatoprost recently and had a few questions that I couldn't find answers to online and was hoping someone on here may know.

  1. Is undiluted Bimatoprost safe for use or does it need to be mixed with other chemicals to work.

  2. Would Bimatoprost work on the hairline (baby hairs) to promote thicker, longer, hair? I've read that they have tested it on patients with hair loss and it had little to no effect but I'm wondering if it would work on actively growing hair.

  3. What is steps are involved in the production of Bimatoprost.

Thank you for reading and please reach out if you know anything or even have any ideas! Thank you!

2 Comments
2023/03/11
21:43 UTC

7

If I want to go into medical research, is biochemistry a good major choice?

I'm almost out of high school and I want to contribute to let's say cancer research. Should I study biology, chemistry, or biochemistry?

6 Comments
2023/03/11
15:55 UTC

0

guys i need help for a project

I'm thinking of doing a science fair project on how different sources of biodiesel affect the benefits like yield, power output etc. the basic process is reacting methyl alcohol with triglycerides to get fatty acid methyl esters that apparently work like fossil fuels and are produced from fat in food. i want help in knowing how to conduct transesterification and what conditions do I need, do I need catylists or do i need special setups or maybe is the reaction a dangerous one and so on. thanks for reading all that. any help is greatly appreciated

2 Comments
2023/03/11
15:18 UTC

0

hello, excuse me for stupid question, but i was just wondering if chemical composition has a certain effect or reaction for cellular activation. and if possible, how? sorry for bad english second language.

7 Comments
2023/03/11
14:29 UTC

65

My chemistry teacher used to say: “sodium and chlorine by themselves are toxic, but if you mix them together, you can add them to food”…

I know this is true, but doesn’t the body convert sodium chloride back into their ions for different reasons? I never questioned it in early life but now that I think about it, I feel like it may have been an over-simplified statement.

12 Comments
2023/03/11
13:44 UTC

10

Mealworms and styrofoam experiments

Hi, I’m doing an exam project in which, we are working on demonstrating the use of mealworms to break down styrofoam. I’m on my last year of gymnasium (the step before university), so the project does not require any “new” research - recreating existing studies is completely fine at this level. However, this of course also means that the access to equipment and chemicals is somewhat limited.

Does anyone have any input on realistic experiments we might be able to perform, other than ones simply relating to tracking parameters like worm growth, styrofoam breakdown-rate, mass of feces etc? We are especially interested at looking at the composition of the feces and its potential use as fertiliser.

2 Comments
2023/03/10
20:54 UTC

21

Does anyone have a good mnemonic or trick for remembering the distinctions between eosinophils, basophils, neutrophils, and mast cells?

9 Comments
2023/03/10
12:06 UTC

2

Purpose of GTP in TCA

What’s the purpose of generating GTP in step 5 of the TCA cycle? Like what’s it going to be used for and what’s the significance of generating it?

8 Comments
2023/03/10
03:46 UTC

105

Graduating in may and have been job hunting for 3 months. Updated resume… is it me or the job market? Or both lol

46 Comments
2023/03/10
02:48 UTC

2

Is there a list of simple chemical reactions that are available via expression of the corresponding Amines in different cells (such as bacteria, yeast etc.) ?

What im thinking is a list that features various basic reactions (Imine reduction, decarboxylation etc.) and a list of Enzymes that can carry out that reaction and a list of known working substrates.

Essentially a way to scan for a way to make a certain molecule from simple starting components enzymatically, kinda like the sci finder retrosynthesis tool

3 Comments
2023/03/09
19:45 UTC

21

What is the “kinked aryl” group in this drug, can’t find an explanation anywhere

7 Comments
2023/03/09
11:36 UTC

8

Recruiting for science outreach

Hi everyone! I'm Fran a biochemist from Spain who is taking a PhD in biomedicine. I'm trying to start again my road in science outreach, using my YouTube channel and a blog as the base, but adding other social networks too.

I'm looking for people who is an eager of this topic and would like to collaborate with me. The language is not a problem at all, as I can translate the drafts and materials from English to Spanish.

I'd like to find people that are able to make drafts, videos, draws or animations about a scientific topic, like the mechanism of action of caffeine in the brain for instance, which is the one I'm preparing right now. I hope to collaborate with them. I don't need the interested people to post every week. Posting once a month or so would be nice.

Only straightforward people, please. I have had bad experiences with some people that didn't take it seriously and they wasted my time. Thanks for reading!

4 Comments
2023/03/09
07:18 UTC

2

Pharmacokinetics of Atropine & How it works in treatment of Bradycardia

0 Comments
2023/03/09
04:52 UTC

117

This is my first competent check. ( now I’m grade 12 )

12 Comments
2023/03/09
02:41 UTC

0

job market

Hello so I know these posts are really annoying. It's just a lot of my professors are straight into academy after there Phds. I only have one friends that graduate and he got a pretty good job.

I'm first gen. There is a gap in first gen like someone who is first gen and grew up middle class went to good schools will have a different experience than someone else who is 1st gen. So let me explain I grew up real poor my parents barley graduate highschool and I'm the only one out of my siblings who graduated highschool. My parents don't have chemists freinds or anything that I can ask.

I graduate in may with a BS in biochemistry. I do plan to go to grad school for chemical engineering so I have to take more classes. I want to take a 3-5 year gap (I'll get my pre reqs done in this time).

How is the market for bs biochem grads. I also want to add I know HPLC GC-ms and such. I just need to make over 50k a year. For the 1st year I could get a second job to supplement but for the rest I need to focus on my prereq. I'm looking into getting a job in lower Michigan. Think Kalamazoo/Detroit/ Ann arbor/ or Traverse city.

I've been asking my other friends I kinda use him mentor he has firsts degree in civil engineering than came back to get his second bachelor's in biochem. He can only speak for cilval engineering and he got his job way back in 2014 and he's been in school from 2018-present ( he's getting his Ms in enzyme engineering). What he tells me scares me like his starting wage was like 55k and he worked like 65 hr a week and he told me I'm not going to be able to find a job where I make above 40k. He's out of the loop so can someone help ease my anxiety?

2 Comments
2023/03/08
19:06 UTC

7

Questions about PhD in Biochemistry? (Details Below)

I am currently pursuing an undergrad in Biotechnology. I'm looking to apply to industry jobs after I obtain my bachelors but I'm increasingly becoming interested im pursuing a PhD in Biochemistry, specifically pertaining to Origin of Life (Abiogenesis). But I'm still very new to this and want to learn more from those who have pursued or are currently pursuing the same path (PhD in Biochemistry).

Question 1: What does the path of a PhD usually look like academically? Is it mostly lab work, writing research papers, or both? Is test taking more or less common than it is in undergrad?

Question 2: If I want to pursue Origin of Life research specifically, will it be difficult to find a school? Can I just get a generalized Biochemistry PhD and then focus on that research as a professor? Or do I have to actively work on that type of research as a PhD student? (Also if anyone knows any good Origin of Life university labs/professors in Southern California, please let me know).

Question 3: If I do become a professor in Biochemistry, can I construct my own course in Origin of Life/Early Earth Biochemistry to add to a particular universities curriculum? How would this process go?

Thank you so much.

20 Comments
2023/03/08
19:04 UTC

40

Is lactose the only carbohydrate synthesised by humans and all other carbs are synthesised by plants?

From what I can find Animals/humans don't synthesise carbohydrates, apart from breast milk synthesised by epithelial cells in the mammary glands (boobs). Is there any other part of the body that synthesises carbohydrates or is every other carbohydrate synthesized by a plant and then digested and used by animals but not synthesised?

I know this might be stupid but help me understand and feel free to correct me on anything I've said that's incorrect, cheers!

12 Comments
2023/03/08
12:35 UTC

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