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"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler", Albert Einstein
Browsing All posts tagged under »DNA«
You can’t see DNA unless you look properly
We know what DNA looks like and have been looking at it for nearly 60 years. So why has a new analysis of DNA structure been reported so poorly? by Stephen Curry I’m not an angry man but a new analysis of the structure of DNA using electron microscopy made me cross yesterday. It wasn’t […]
RNA, DNA… TNA
January 8, 2012
Before DNA, before RNA: Life in the hodge-podge world Take note, DNA and RNA: it’s not all about you. Life on Earth may have began with a splash of TNA – a different kind of genetic material altogether. Because RNA can do many things at once, those studying the origins of life have long thought […]
Life in the Universe by Stephen Hawking
August 28, 2011
In this talk, I would like to speculate a little, on the development of life in the universe, and in particular, the development of intelligent life. I shall take this to include the human race, even though much of its behaviour through out history, has been pretty stupid, and not calculated to aid the survival […]
First life: The search for the first replicator
August 15, 2011
Life must have begun with a simple molecule that could reproduce itself – and now we think we know how to make one 4 BILLION years before present: the surface of a newly formed planet around a medium-sized star is beginning to cool down. It’s a violent place, bombarded by meteorites and riven by volcanic […]
DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space
August 9, 2011
NASA-funded researchers have evidence that some building blocks of DNA, the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for life, found in meteorites were likely created in space. The research gives support to the theory that a “kit” of ready-made parts created in space and delivered to Earth by meteorite and comet impacts assisted the origin […]
“The DNA Code” -Is Life Written Into the Laws of Physics?
July 12, 2011
A recent mathematical analysis says that life as we know it is written into the laws of reality. DNA is built from a set of twenty amino acids – the first ten of those can create simple prebiotic life, and now it seems that those ten are thermodynamically destined to occur wherever they can. For […]
DNA logic gates calculate square root using 130 different molecules
June 6, 2011
Biological systems have caught the attention of computer scientists, who have been turning everything fromRNA molecules to entire bacterial colonies into logic gates. So far, however, these systems have been relatively small-scale, with only a handful of gates linked up in a series. Today’s issue of Science leapfrogs past the small-scale demonstrations, and shows that a form of DNA computing […]
“Will Life Beyond Earth Have DNA Roots?” World’s Leading Authorities Say “Maybe Not”
June 5, 2011
“To the best of our knowledge, the twenty-one original chemicals chosen by known life do not constitute a unique set; other choices could have been made, and maybe were made if life started elsewhere many times.” Paul Davies -leading authority in astrobiology, director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science and co-director of the […]
December 1, 2012
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