Biology Tutor: Tanmay Dey

07/10/2024

BREAKING NEWS
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.

This year’s Nobel Prize honours two scientists for their discovery of a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated.

The information stored within our chromosomes can be likened to an instruction manual for all cells in our body. Every cell contains the same chromosomes, so every cell contains exactly the same set of genes and exactly the same set of instructions. Yet, different cell types, such as muscle and nerve cells, have very distinct characteristics. How do these differences arise? The answer lies in gene regulation, which allows each cell to select only the relevant instructions. This ensures that only the correct set of genes is active in each cell type.

This year’s medicine laureates Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were interested in how different cell types develop. They discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation. Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans. It is now known that the human genome codes for over one thousand microRNAs. Their surprising discovery revealed an entirely new dimension to gene regulation. MicroRNAs are proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.

Learn more
Press release: https://bit.ly/3BiM2o9
Advanced information: https://bit.ly/3N6vAtK

28/07/2024

Scientific name of this coniferous plant is Thuja sp. (Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Gymnosperms) .
The flowers consist of pollen cones and seed cones (staminate and ovulate strobili).

03/10/2023

11/09/2023

A liverwort genus (Class: Marchantiopsida).
Location: Baidyapur, Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India.

27/08/2023

Guttation is the process of liquid exudation from hydathodes situated on the tip, along the margins and adaxial and abaxial surfaces of leaves.
Hydathodes, also known as water stomata or water pores, unlike stomata, are always open representing the path of least resistance to the liquid outflow from them.
In the late night or early morning, built up root pressure causes this phenomenon, which pushes the xylem sap to move out through the hydathodes.

02/08/2023

Demonstration of opening and closing of stomata of Basella sp.
Sample- Peeling of lower epidermis of leaf.
A. Closed stomata
B. Opened stomata (Potassium nitrate treated)

Credit: 2nd semester, Dept. Of Biotechnology, BIMS, affiliated to the University of Burdwan.

It was well established that potassium ion enter into guard cell of stomata in the presence of light. Due to accumulation of potassium ion, sugar & other solutes, water potential drops in guard cell and water enter into guard cell from epidermal cell by osmosis. So, guard cells are in turgid state. Opening of stomata takes place because of differential wall thickening (pore facing inner wall is more thick than outer wall) of guard cell and turgor pressure.

15/05/2023

Admission going on B. Sc. Biotechnology & Biochemistry
https://www.bims.co.in/programs/biotech

23/03/2023

Study of Chloroplast from leaf of Hydrilla verticillata.