netwatch | Shared With: Everyone - Jul 30 2007 | science, biology, simulation, genetics, evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology
It took a century to go from Mendel's plant-breeding experiments to the genetic code. The Molecular Genetics Explorer can help biology students make the same intellectual journey by connecting changes in an organism's DNA to alterations in its appearance.
The free virtual lab comes from Brian White and Ethan Bolker of the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Students begin by setting up plant crosses and gene mutations to decipher the inheritance of color in fictional flowers. They then move to the protein level, tinkering with amino acid sequences to see how changes alter a protein's shape and the flower color it produces. The final exercises let users determine the consequences of manipulating DNA.
Volume 317, Number 5837, Issue of 27 July 2007
- netwatch | Shared With: Everyone - Jul 30 2007 | science, proteins, simulation, 3d, cgi, pov, graphics
The new Protein Movie Generator (PMG) provides an online studio for budding scientific Walt Disneys. Produced by two researchers at the University of Paris, the site makes it easy to create animations that put molecules in motion.
PMG starts with files from the Protein Data Bank or trajectories from molecular simulations. Users can then script simple scenarios, such as an enzyme pirouetting to display its active site, or more complex maneuvers, such as a ligand gliding in to dock with its receptor. If you prefer stills, you can use PMG to craft molecular graphics. This illustration, for instance, bares some of the internal structure of triosephosphate isomerase, one of the sugar-slicing enzymes of glycolysis.
Volume 316, Number 5830, Issue of 08 June 2007
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