mattbimbo

if her daddy has a loaded shotgun pointed at my crotch, it don't matter either way.

hi I.H. post script, i guess you are thinking about collision theory and reaction specificity. practically i don't know anyone who uses ligases at 40C - the reaction goes too quickly - i prefer overnight in the fridge. i like it slow. i do have a trick which i learnt from a russian 'clone anything' molecular biologist/'catch anything' fisherman and that is to include linear acrylamide in my ligations. can you guess why? i know there are commerical ligase kits which one uses for 5-60mins at room temperature. basically these high efficiency kits just have high amounts of pure enzyme rather than containing an especially efficient enzyme. maybe you are aware that with in vitro reactions with ligase there is considerable inactivation of the ligase? anyway you are sort of RIGHT! i write sort of - because there is a need to have kinetic energy for the molecules to come together...iigase, ATP, DNA molecules 1 and 2... and kinetic energy is important for the annealing of the dna molecules... also for the release of the ligated DNA molecule... so you are sort of WRONG too!

eugenics is not for me. it would be like going to heaven and finding myself trying to converse with the worst kind of prudish, boring, unimaginative, simple-minded people that i could possible imagine. come on, what would i talk about over a beer with these people? what would be written in the newspapers? even the phrase 'heaven here on earth' makes me want to puke. i did live in sweden for a while. sweden, no relation to eden, had a national eugenics policy pre-hitler. i am not sure of the details exactly but many 'mentally-handicapped' (and some artists) were sterilised. i believe sweden is now one of the countries in the world with the highest usage of anti-depressants and in vitro fertilisation. so much for eugenics, hey? yeah, i know ivf treatment is another issue. although infertility hits 10% of the population we have at present little idea what determines which 10% it hits, one example of many which reveals how the science of 'genetics' is in its infancy, if that.

going back to the 'biochemistry of love' thread, where Peon states that there are similarities in the biochemistry of the brain in individuals in love and individuals with OCD. there is no evidence i believe that ecstasy causes OCD- like behaviour. related to what aj47 said, taking ecstasy reminded me of how i felt and behaved after sex. when i said this to other people, men and women tended to agree with me, but some differed.

hi emily, in my experience unless you have certain credentials it is very hard to get reviews accepted for publications in the medical field, even if you have a good publications in other fields. in fact this is one of the reasons why i gave up a career in biophysics and theoretical biology for cell biology and immunology. the advice of a professor and long-time cancer reseacher to me was it is no good to have good ideas/criticisms if my reasoning is based on other people research, i have to do the experiments myself if i want my ideas/criticisms to be recognised. this old professor also wished that he was a bit younger so that he could help me with my research. anyway mentors are good. maybe you need to find a mentor to help you? i don't want to be negative but what is the point of writing a review if no one is going to take it seriously. just getting a paper published is no guarantee it will be taken seriously. if you don't believe me, look at the journal 'medical hypotheses', a journal full of erudite criticisms and ideas on every major disease. but 'medical hypotheses' is a minor journal, and considered a bit of a journal for loonies.

there was a thread last week on the 'biochemistry of love' - strangely no one got onto the subject of ecstasy.

there is a simple technique for stimulating lucid dreams that worked for me. it involves looking at one of your hands every 10 or so minutes - although any regular activity is supposed to have the same effect. somehow developing such a habit while concious tricks gives the concious mind that little extra self-awareness as one falls asleep and dreams that the dreams become lucid. worked wonders for a week or so until i got bored of looking at my left hand every 10 minutes.

hi again, after a few days i am now wondering what is the evidence that the biochemistry of loved up brains is similar to OCD - not Orange County Disorder which my younger sister has developed, but the other one - but thinking about can one love a TV programme?

hi, i don't know, but catalase has a very high rate of reaction, close to diffusion limited, ie 10^9 M-1.s-1. given a) the rate of O2 production for 1cm^3 of celery and b) the rate of reaction of catalase as 10^9 M-1.s-1 it is to simple to then calculate how many molecules of catalase there are in 1cm^3 of celery, but this may be cheating.

don't you want to differentiate between coli genomic and plasmid DNA? after all you won't have plasmid DNA without genomic DNA.

i wonder if the failures you speak of go beyond scientists. politicians have been failing humanity for ages. in the world of politics it is short-term policies, hyperbole, managerial inexperience, poor regulation, uncritical electorate, etc that undo any chances of good governmental practice. i find the same is true in science, despite many good intentions. and of course, the failures are even more striking when scientists and politicians are supposed to work together.

hi again, i have read research which shows that when infants are not given love before a certain age, a part of their brain, i believe part of the hypothalamus, fails to develop and ultimately these infants become people who are unloving towards others. the research was in a book by sue gerhard called why love matters, a good title i think. another piece of research which comes to mind is that in doves during the process of courting and finding their life-long partner an increase in mast cells is seen in their brain. now mast cells are weird cells with many functions and secrete many types of molecules. they are generally seen as cells belong to the immune system and are most well known for their roles in allergic reactions. this is speculation but maybe dove love involves the formation of an 'immunological' bond? some other research involves fruit flies in whom it has been shown that not only are their pheromones to help males and females successfully, their are hormones to stop them mating unsuccessfully, ie to stop males mating with males. i know this is not love but it could be that there are chemicals which stop us from falling in love and they are in an equilibria with the love-inducing chemicals. the biochemistry of love is probably a good subject to do research in, although i am not sure it is well financed at present. i can imagine meeting someone over dinner and when asked what do they do, with a big smile they say 'i am a biochemist of love' and i'd be totally envious.

what about loving pets? or loving numbers? is the biochemistry the same?

hi beachbum, what you need to do will depejnd on the chemical and the yeast you are interested in. 'spheroplasting' may be a method you will need to consider.