We all get sick from time to time. Wintertime, in particular, brings with it colds and flus. Rights: Image licensed through 123rf.com Sick child We all get sick from time to time and don’t feel ...
The function of the immune system is to protect an individual against becoming sick from an infection. Infections are usually caused when a pathogen such as a disease-causing bacterium, fungus or ...
Your body has a two-line defence system against pathogens (germs) that make you sick. Pathogens include bacteria, viruses, toxins, parasites and fungi. The first line of defence (or outside ...
Like other organisms, bacteria use double-stranded DNA as their genetic material. However, bacteria organise their DNA differently to more complex organisms. Bacterial DNA – a circular chromosome ...
If the pathogens are able to get past the first line of defence, for example, through a cut in your skin, and an infection develops, the second line of defence becomes active. Through a sequence ...
Recent research has revealed that the large intestine and its resident bacterial population have key roles to play in determining our health and wellbeing. It is much more than just a waste ...
Proteins are the key working molecules and building blocks in all cells. They are produced in a similar two-step process in all organisms called protein synthesis – DNA is first transcribed into ...
The discovery that genes are made up of DNA and can be isolated, copied and manipulated has led to a new era of modern biotechnology. New Zealand has many applications for modern biotechnologies ...
We can’t see them. We can’t hear them or feel them, but they are with us. There are 10 trillion (10 x 1,000,000,000,000 or a million million) cells in the average body. For every cell, we have 10 ...
The bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli for short) is crucial in modern biotechnology. Scientists use it to store DNA sequences from other organisms, to produce proteins and to test protein ...
The digestive system plays a critical role in breaking down large food molecules into smaller readily absorbable units. This animated video details how food is processed as it moves through the ...
Using modern laboratory techniques, it is relatively easy to add pieces of foreign DNA to bacteria. To do this, scientists first package their DNA of interest within a circular DNA molecule (a ...
In New Zealand, we drink a lot of milk, so you might be surprised to learn that most adults in the world are lactose intolerant and can’t consume dairy products. Inheriting lactose intolerance ...
A virus is a very simple thing – a coat of protein wrapped around some genetic code (DNA or RNA). It’s not a cell and it’s not living. Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato ...
This interactive is a simple version of the human immune response to two different pathogens.
This interactive explains the different cells, microorganisms and molecules involved in the human immune system.
Find out how and why we use bacteria to improve our lives, and discover how the DNA revolution has led to new uses for bacteria. Making use of bacteria: then and now For millennia, we humans have ...
Xenotransplantation is when living cells, tissues or organs are transplanted between species. To be successful in humans, xenotransplants must overcome issues of transplant rejection ...
Food plays an extremely important part in the lives of all humans. After ingestion, the food is mechanically broken down into smaller pieces and then chemically digested through the action of ...
All honeys have properties that help them heal wounds. But how do they do this, and what’s so unique about Mānuka honey? The problem with wounds In normal situations, like a cut finger or a ...
‘Biotechnology’ generally refers to the use of a living organism or part of a living organism or process for a specific purpose. This broad definition includes both modern and ancient ...
Bacteria can produce foreign proteins from introduced genes, using their own gene expression machinery. Producing proteins in bacteria has greatly simplified the study of how proteins work. It ...
All living organisms on Earth are made up of living cells. All cells fall into one of the two major categories: Prokaryotes – single-celled organisms such as bacteria Eukaryotes – complex cells ...
Bone marrow transplants are now routinely carried out worldwide to treat people with life-threatening blood disorders, but back in the 1950s, bone marrow transplants could only be done when the ...
