A Closer Look: Microbes and Microbiomes
Summaries of recent articles related to human pathogenic and commensal microbes
Organelle Biology
Anti-Aging Supplements II: NAD+ as the Key to Healthy Aging
Cellular and whole-body metabolism changes with age. An emerging idea is that preventing these metabolic changes may reduce negative effects of aging or at least delay them. Indeed, this idea is popular enough that companies are developing and selling dietary supplements intended to boost “healthy” metabolism. Many are intended to boost the amount of a … Read more
Secreted Kinases May Promote Malignancy
Protein kinases are enzymes that add phosphate groups onto specific amino acids on proteins. Most of these enzymes are active within cells. Kinases are often encoded by oncogenes, and aberrant activity of these regulatory enzymes is frequently associated with cancer. Data are emerging that kinases can also be released from cells. These secreted kinases can … Read more
Challenges in Classifying Biology
There are multiple ways to categorize nearly everything in biology. The value of an individual categorization scheme depends on the perspective of the user. As Shirley Malcom (former Director, Education and Human Resources Programs, AAAS) once said, “We [Biologists] are splitters not lumpers.” This need for classification makes consensus difficult, can limit our way of … Read more
The Central Role of Mitochondria in Red Blood Cells
Ferrochelatase in heme biosynthesis Ferrochelatase (FECH) is an enzyme found in mitochondria that adds iron ions (Fe2+) into protoporphyrin to produce heme (Figure 1). This biochemical reaction is critical for cell health. The process is tightly controlled so that cells produce the amount of heme needed and do not accumulate too much of the heme … Read more