Glycome

... genome by virtue of the fact that it combines the complexity of the genome with the complexity of the proteins which the genome specifies, ... known to science. The glycome exceeds the complexity of the proteome as a result of the even greater ...

Artificial life

... exist in one of twenty-nine states, but Von Neumann felt he needed the complexity in order for it to function not just as a self-replicating "machine", but ... attention to cellular automata. He explored and categorized the types of complexity displayed by one-dimensional CAs, and showed how they applied to natural ...

Biodiversity

... by a greater comprehension of the functions, interactions and communities. Moreover, exchanges of genes occurring between the species tend to add complexity to the inventory. Hotspots of biodiversity One definition of a biodiversity hotspot is a region with many endemic species. Hotspots tend ...

Brain

... later becomes the spinal cord . In craniates, the brain is protected by the bones of the skull . Vertebrates are characterized by increasing complexity in the cerebral cortex as one moves up the phylogenetic and evolutionary tree . Primitive vertebrates, like fish, reptiles, and amphibians ...

Evolution

... abiogenesis. Since abiogenesis is rare or impossible under modern conditions and the evolutionary process is exceedingly slow, the diversity and complexity of modern life requires that the Earth be very old, on the order of billions of years. This is compatible with geological evidence that the Earth ...

Eukaryote

... in the evolution of life. Although eukaryotes use the same genetic code and metabolic processes as prokaryotes, their higher level of organizational complexity has permitted the development of truly multicellular organisms. Without eukaryotes, the world would lack mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, ...

Fitness landscape

... . Climbing Mount Improbable . New York: Norton, 1996 . Stuart Kauffman . At Home in the Universe: The Search for Laws of Self-Organization and complexity . New York: Oxford University Press, 1995 . Melanie Mitchell . An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996 . ...

Flagellum

... extended when the bacteria moves through a favorable gradient. The bacterial flagellum is proposed by Michael Behe as an example of irreducible complexity . See also: evolution of flagella . Archaeal flagellum The archaeal flagellum is another prokaryote flagellum that is found exclusively ...

Gene

... transcripts of a gene, by keeping the exons and removing the introns . So, the DNA strand needs to be in an exon to be expressed. Because of the complexity of the splicing process, one transcribed RNA may be spliced in alternate ways to produce not one but a variety of proteins ( alternative splicing ) ...

Glycomics

... of carbohydrates in an organism is thus collectively referred to as the glycome . This area of research has to deal with an inherent level of complexity not seen in other areas of applied biology. Whereas genes have four building blocks and proteins have 20, the saccharides have a multitude of ...

Human

... forming groups based on genetic ties, affection, self-defense, or shared food gathering and distribution, humans are distinguished by the variety and complexity of the institutions that they form, both for individual and group survival and for the preservation and development of technology and knowledge ....

Immunology

... in extant and extinct species is capable of giving us a key understanding of the evolution of species and the immune system. A development of complexity of the immune system can be seen from simple phagocytotic protection of single celled organisms, to circulating antimicrobial peptides in insects to ...

Nutrition

... notion that protein, carbohydrate etc. were each obtained from one type of food (the meat and two veg model) has all but been replaced. Increasing complexity means that nutrition researchers today advocate a holistic approach. They readily admit that there are many nutrients and other factors we don't ...

Origin of life

... theory postulates complex organic molecules arising gradually on a pre-existing, non-organic replication platform - silicate crystals in solution. complexity in companion molecules developed as a function of selection pressures on types of clay crystal is then exapted to serve the replication of organic ...

Proteome

... of genes and post-translational modifications like glycosylation or phosphorylation . Moreover the proteome has at least two levels of complexity lacking in the genome. When the genome is defined by the sequence of nucleotides , the proteome cannot be limited to the sum of the sequences of the ...

Reduction

... , reduction is the process of manipulating a series of equations or matrices into a desired 'simpler' format. In computational complexity theory , reduction is the transformation of an instance of one problem into an equivalent instance of another. In cooking , reduction ...

Reverse genetics

... requiring the activity of cellular proteins and without necessarily accelerating mRNA degradation. Morpholinos are effective is systems ranging in complexity from cell-free translation in a test tube to humans. Finally, a more difficult genetics technique is the creation of transgenic organisms that ...

Systems biology

... systems , organisms etc.) it is hoped that eventually an understandable model of the whole system can be developed. Nevertheless, the complexity of even a "simple" organism like the bacteria Escherichia coli means that this goal is likely a long ways away. Some scientists have called ...

Unsolved problems in biology

... of current or past infection to discover where Ebola hides between human outbreaks? What is the origin of antibody diversity ? What leads to the complexity of the immune system ? What is the relationship between the immune system and the brain ? Humanity : Why are there drastic changes in ...

Virus

... simplified the study of bacterial genetics and have deepened our understanding of the basic mechanisms of molecular genetics . Because of the complexity of an animal cell genome, viruses have been even more important in studies of animal cells than in studies of bacteria. Numerous studies have ...