December 25, 2018 Tuesday
Bedtime Story
16S ribosomal RNA
Some claim that the word “genome” is a
blend of the words “gene” and “chromosome” though that might not necessary be
so from the point of view of its origin and derivation.
There already exists quite a few words that
end with –ome and with –omics such as proteome and metabolomics and the suffix
–ome could just be because of the trend in genetic nomenclature.
Either way it is not a matter of grave
concern for us.
The genome of an organism can be sequenced
and read in a way very similar to the way you would read this bedtime story
written in Sanskrit needing the help of some translation on the way.
Traditional microbiology strongly
encourages isolation and usage of genetic material of specifically cloned and
cultivated organisms.
In fact isolation of microbes is the key to
the whole science of microbiology and study of bacteria.
Yet the truth is that not even 1% of the
microbes that are found in most environments cannot be cultured in isolation
with the tools that we have at present.
Once isolated then microbiologists may use
16S ribosomal RNA (or in short 16S rRNA) that is a component of 30S subunit of
ribosomal RNA to classify and identify a bacterium.
16S rRNA method is now an established and
powerful tool in bacterial taxonomic studies.
Not just that, but the sequencing of this
gene of any microbe helps place the microbiologists a microbe’s right place in
the evolutionary tree of life.
Such placing of individual species in the
evolutionary tree of life based on its 16S rRNA genetic characteristics is a
specialized science called phylogenetic study.
Why are the genes of 16S rRNA particularly
good for the phylogenetic placement of animals?
This is so because during the course of
millions of years of evolution this set of genes has shown a very gradual
change.
This was shown by the American
microbiologist Carl Woese (he passed away recently in 2012 suffering from
complications of pancreatic cancer) who has probably made more contributions to
microbiology in the twentieth century than anybody else.
It would surprise you that this man started
his college education with bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics with
“no scientific interest in plants and animals”.
I would like to share with you his
perspective on biology that he published in the journal “Current Biology” in
the year 2005”.
I think it is important that we see the
beauty of biology through the eyes of evolution and this is exactly what Woese
is trying to point out in the following passages.
He is also pointing out at the hierarchy
inherent in biology as it lies quite higher up among the foundational sciences.
We shall read Woese’s ideas in nights to
come.
Stay tuned to the voice of an
average story storytelling chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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