keyesrussell

Thanks that's a great help.

Short question: Just studying prokaryotic genomes and read about prophages but saw them elsewhere referred to as cryptic prophages. Are they the same thing? If not, what is the difference between them? Thank you.

In my opinion Stryer is the best one. Decent coverage, and the principles are explained very well so that you can take it forward to more advanced levels.

Hi there everyone. I'm currently in my second year of studying Biochemistry at university and was thinking of writing my third year dissertation on a particular toxin or poisonous substance, possibly examining it's mechanism of action in detail, maybe analysing possibility for therapeutic potential depending on the substance. I did a presentation on Bothrops Asper venom recently, and have been dabbling in toxicology since my first year. However, to get a start in formalising my education on this topic I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. Ideally a fairly widely known textbook, and I don't mind dishing out some cash for one. Any websites or journals would also be appreciated. Thanks

It honestly depends whether you want to work in the lab or not. A rather depressing truth is that most lab researchers get paid a fraction of what they're worth, especially so within the Civil Service, where every expense is under political scrutiny. An option you may want to consider is science policy. There's a Civil Service scheme for science graduates in particular that effectively trains you up for a career in advising the government on policies relating to that field. There's something similar in the NHS I believe, and it basically comes down to analysing the efficacy and effectiveness of various drugs and technologies and making judgements on that information and passing those judgements to the government. It makes better money than the lab researchers but I don't know exactly how much. In the end it's largely dependent on what you want to do with your life. Although I will note that the NHS is very widely respected organisation and experience there will make you very valuable to any future employer going forward.

First off I'd like to say it's very admirable that you want to learn these subjects of your own accord. Hat off to you sir/madam. I'd say you want to start with basic concepts. Even if you already know the life processes make sure you properly understand exactly what each of them entails. Then move on to evolution/natural selection and make sure you grasp that. People tend to underestimate the value of thoroughly understood foundation topics so although I know that you'd like to go straight to experimentation I would advise you make sure you get a more conceptual understanding first. Once you get the bigger general concepts, move to respiration, which is the first bit of biochemistry. Understand it at a chemical level, the equation etc., then try and use textbooks/online resources to get the entire process at a biochemical level e.g. Krebs cycle. Though now I think about it you might be better off doing photosynthesis first. You should also learn the basic biochemistry of the most important molecules in the human body such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and DNA and RNA. That should be the basic outline of biochemistry that you need and from there you can go to more advanced reactions though it will be difficult to understand at first. N.B. some basic chemistry is also required so different kinds of bonds/reactions especially organic ones would be helpful to dabble in. In terms of cellular biology, a good foundation would be learning the functions and appearances of all the cell organelles. This is where your microscope could be handy, though without a proper stain it could be hard to see anything and these are typically toxic and hard to get hold of. If you can get hold of them though, then you can experiment with different tissue samples, sliced very very finely and then carry out the stain procedure. This should cause certain features of the cell structure to show up. From organelles, different cell types would be a good direction, and you can try and grasp the different human/plant cell types and their functions. This can take a while, especially with things like nerve cells and muscle cells which have very complicated mechanisms of action. Well worth it though. Genetics and evolution are more standalone, though to really understand genetics a fairly advanced knowledge of biochemistry. You should probably start with DNA replication which shouldn't be too hard to find. From there move to the processes of transcription and translation. At this point you can do some more macroscale genetics like Mendel's crosses and pedigree charts. By this point you should make sure you have the basic definitions of all genetic concepts nailed e.g. allele, genotype, phenotype etc. You can find these through the magic of Google, though textbooks at university level tend to have their own slightly different definitions. I hope this was at least slightly helpful. Any questions feel free to let me know and I wish you all the best with your endeavours.

I would guess they're more trying to get them to keep their eyes open etc. The point being that if they close their eyes and "fall asleep" they'd lack the strength to wake up again. However, in reality I would guess that the effect of this would be minimal to non-existent. There's only so much willpower can accomplish when you're suffering from such a deadly injury to make you bleed to death.

Hi. I realise this response might be a bit late but I'll try to explain nonetheless. This molecule would be tertiary if it was only attached to three carbon atoms (you don't count the sulphur as you rightly pointed out). To be quaternary the nitrogen needs to be charged, allowing it to form an ionic bond with a negative species. This molecule is therefore quaternary. In terms of being more accurate, a molecule cannot be both tertiary and quaternary so if you were formally describing it you would be better off just saying it was a quaternary amine to avoid confusion. Hope this helped. P.S. I wouldn't be doing myself justice as a biochemist if I didn't speculate that this molecule looks like a cysteine derivative. If anyone knows what this molecule is could they post it? Greatly appreciated.