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Mycoplasma Laboratorium
''Mycoplasma laboratorium'' or Synthia refers to a plan to produce a synthetic biology, synthetic strain of bacterium. The project to build the new bacterium has evolved since its inception. Initially the goal was to identify a minimal set of genes that are required to sustain life from the genome of ''Mycoplasma genitalium'', and rebuild these genes synthetically to create a "new" organism. ''Mycoplasma genitalium'' was originally chosen as the basis for this project because at the time it had the smallest number of genes of all organisms analyzed. Later, the focus switched to ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' and took a more trial-and-error approach. To identify the minimal genes required for life, each of the 482 genes of ''M. genitalium'' was individually deleted and the viability of the resulting mutants was tested. This resulted in the identification of a minimal set of 382 genes that theoretically should represent a minimal genome. In 2008 the full set of ''M. genitalium'' genes w ...
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Synthetic Biology
Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms. It applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nature. It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad range of methodologies from various disciplines, such as biochemistry, biotechnology, biomaterials, Materials science, material science/engineering, genetic engineering, molecular biology, molecular engineering, systems biology, Model lipid bilayer, membrane science, biophysics, Biological engineering, chemical and biological engineering, Electrical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, control engineering and evolutionary biology. It includes designing and constructing BioBrick, biological modules, biological systems, and biological machines, or re-designing existing biological systems for useful purposes. Additionally, it is the branch of science that focuses on the ne ...
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Mollicutes
Mollicutes is a class of bacteria distinguished by the absence of a cell wall and its peptidoglycan. The word "Mollicutes" is derived from the Latin ' (meaning "soft" or "pliable"), and ' (meaning "skin"). Individuals are very small, typically only 0.2–0.3 micrometre, μm (200–300 nanometer, nm) in size and have a very small genome size. They vary in form, although most have sterols that make the cell membrane somewhat more rigid. Many are able to move about through bacterial gliding, gliding, but members of the genus ''Spiroplasma'' are helical and move by twisting. The best-known genus in the Mollicutes is ''Mycoplasma'', though it has been split in 2018 into several genera. Colonies show the typical "fried-egg" appearance. Mollicutes can be parasitic or saprotrophic. They can be parasites of various animals and plants, living on or in the host's cells. Many cause diseases in humans, attaching to cells in the respiratory or urogenital tracts, particularly species of ''Mycopl ...
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Alphaproteobacteria
''Alphaproteobacteria'' or ''α-proteobacteria'', also called ''α-Purple bacteria'' in earlier literature, is a class of bacteria in the phylum '' Pseudomonadota'' (formerly "Proteobacteria"). The '' Magnetococcales'' and '' Mariprofundales'' are considered basal or sister to the ''Alphaproteobacteria''. The ''Alphaproteobacteria'' are highly diverse and possess few commonalities, but nevertheless share a common ancestor. Like all ''Proteobacteria'', its members are gram-negative, although some of its intracellular parasitic members lack peptidoglycan and are consequently gram variable. Characteristics The ''Alphaproteobacteria'' are a diverse taxon and comprise several phototrophic genera, several genera metabolising C1-compounds (e.g. ''Methylobacterium'' spp.), symbionts of plants (e.g. '' Rhizobium'' spp.), endosymbionts of arthropods ('' Wolbachia'') and intracellular pathogens (e.g. '' Rickettsia''). Moreover, the class is sister to the protomitochondrion, the bacterium ...
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Pelagibacter Ubique
"''Candidatus'' Pelagibacter", with the single species "''Ca.'' P. communis", was isolated in 2002 and given a specific name, although it has not yet been described as required by the bacteriological code. It is an abundant member of the SAR11 clade in the phylum ''Alphaproteobacteria''. SAR11 members are highly dominant organisms found in both salt and fresh water worldwide and were originally known only from their rRNA genes, first identified in the Sargasso Sea in 1990 by Stephen Giovannoni's laboratory at Oregon State University and later found in oceans worldwide. "''Ca.'' P. communis" and its relatives may be the most abundant organisms in the ocean, and quite possibly the most abundant bacteria in the entire world. It can make up about 25% of all microbial plankton cells, and in the summer they may account for approximately half the cells present in temperate ocean surface water. The total abundance of "''Ca.'' P. communis" and relatives is estimated to be about 2 × ...
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Science (journal)
''Science'' is the peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals. It was first published in 1880, is currently circulated weekly and has a subscriber base of around 130,000. Because institutional subscriptions and online access serve a larger audience, its estimated readership is over 400,000 people. ''Science'' is based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a second office in Cambridge, UK. Contents The major focus of the journal is publishing important original scientific research and research reviews, but ''Science'' also publishes science-related news, opinions on science policy and other matters of interest to scientists and others who are concerned with the wide implications of science and technology. Unlike most scientific journals, which focus on a specific field, ''Science'' and its rival ''Nature (journal), Nature'' cover the full range of List of academ ...
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Model Organism
A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are widely used to research human disease when human experimentation would be unfeasible or unethical. This strategy is made possible by the common descent of all living organisms, and the conservation of metabolic and developmental pathways and genetic material over the course of evolution. Research using animal models has been central to most of the achievements of modern medicine. It has contributed most of the basic knowledge in fields such as human physiology and biochemistry, and has played significant roles in fields such as neuroscience and infectious disease. The results have included the near- eradication of polio and the development of organ transplantation, and have benefited both humans and animals. From 19 ...
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Antibiotics
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy, treatment and antibiotic prophylaxis, prevention of such infections. They may either bactericide, kill or bacteriostatic agent, inhibit the growth of bacteria. A limited number of antibiotics also possess antiprotozoal activity. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as the ones which cause the common cold or influenza. Drugs which inhibit growth of viruses are termed antiviral drugs or antivirals. Antibiotics are also not effective against fungi. Drugs which inhibit growth of fungi are called antifungal drugs. Sometimes, the term ''antibiotic''—literally "opposing life", from the Greek language, Greek roots ἀντι ''anti'', "against" and βίος ''bios'', "life"—is broadly used to refer to any substance used against ...
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Cell Culture
Cell culture or tissue culture is the process by which cell (biology), cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. After cells of interest have been Cell isolation, isolated from living tissue, they can subsequently be maintained under carefully controlled conditions. They need to be kept at body temperature (37 °C) in an incubator. These conditions vary for each cell type, but generally consist of a suitable vessel with a substrate or rich growth medium, medium that supplies the essential nutrients (amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals), growth factors, hormones, and gases (Carbon dioxide, CO2, Oxygen, O2), and regulates the physio-chemical environment (Buffer solution, pH buffer, osmotic pressure, temperature). Most cells require a surface or an artificial substrate to form an adherent culture as a monolayer (one single-cell thick), whereas others can be grown free floating in a medium as a suspension culture. T ...
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Molecular Biology
Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. Though cells and other microscopic structures had been observed in living organisms as early as the 18th century, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms and interactions governing their behavior did not emerge until the 20th century, when technologies used in physics and chemistry had advanced sufficiently to permit their application in the biological sciences. The term 'molecular biology' was first used in 1945 by the English physicist William Astbury, who described it as an approach focused on discerning the underpinnings of biological phenomena—i.e. uncovering the physical and chemical structures and properties of biological molecules, as well as their interactions with other molecules and how these interactions explain observ ...
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Commensalism
Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit from each other; amensalism, where one is harmed while the other is unaffected; and parasitism, where one is harmed and the other benefits. The commensal (the species that benefits from the association) may obtain nutrients, shelter, support, or locomotion from the host species, which is substantially unaffected. The commensal relation is often between a larger host and a smaller commensal; the host organism is unmodified, whereas the commensal species may show great structural adaptation consistent with its habits, as in the remoras that ride attached to sharks and other fishes. Remoras feed on their hosts' fecal matter, while pilot fish feed on the leftovers of their hosts' meals. Numerous birds perch on bodies of large mammal herbivo ...
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Parasitism
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson characterised parasites' way of feeding as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the broomrapes. There are six major parasitic strategies of exploitation of animal hosts, namely parasitic castration, directly transmitted parasitism (by contact), trophicallytransmitted parasitism (by being eaten), vector-transmitted parasitism, parasitoidism, and micropredation. One major axis of classification concerns invasiveness: ...
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