The Stuff of Life for the Classroom
Cartoons have been around for as long as we have had moving pictures. They offer us a world where real life rules don’t exist and characters can get away with almost anything. One of the favourite themes is the ability of the characters to survive the most excruciating pain. Burning, decapitation, long distance falls, crushings, […]
Tomatoes are possibly one of the easiest things to grow and display a huge range of sizes – from tiny cherry varieties to much larger beefcake ones. They provide our salad ingredients, the base for many of our sauces and of course, tomato ketchup. But did you know that cultivated tomatoes can reach sizes up to
Tomatoes – when small means large Read More »
There are a set of instructions in your body which make a specific gate (the science name for this is “ion channel“). Around 200,000 Dinky Amigos work together to make the instructions for this gate. Some of these Dinky Amigos are not always on their best behaviour. There’s barging and shoving, swapping and disappearing altogether!
Have you seen the film “Tangled”? The bit when Flynn Ryder gets away with the tiara in the satchel? His mug shot is then stapled to trees in the hope that the public would spot him and turn him in. Or what about those films in the Wild West? The criminal Out-of-Towner comes swashbuckling into
Are you vaccinating your child against HPV? Read More »
Hi there – Alina here. We are having a makeover for our shiny new Genetics for Kids series that is out in the Autumn. A lovely man called Neil has made us a bit more cute and cuddly. We are all really pleased! Here are our “before” and “after” shots. What do you think? You
We’re having a makeover! Read More »
A while ago we looked at how the Dinky Amigos could help solve the mystery of whether a Spanish Fortune Teller was really the daughter of artist Salvador Dali. Dali’s body was exhumed and DNA from his teeth extracted and analysed. The results concluded that the painter was not Senora Pilar Abel Martínez’s father. The markers within
Victim or Vindication? Read More »
A sad week earlier this month saw the passing of Sir John Sulston. For molecular biologists, in a variety of disciplines, Sir John Sulston was a visionary who helped shape much of the science as it is practised today. He also proved that publicly-principled politics could triumph over greed and leave a vital and lasting
Sir John Sulston – A Tribute Read More »
Cheddar Man. Maybe a bit of a shocker for some and surprising for others. Either way a fabulous use of the Dinky Amigos as a window on an ancient world. Obviously we are not talking about a huge human sized piece of cheese with male features. Instead the Natural History Museum revealed the probable features
Cheddar Man – Who was he? Read More »
Shine the spotlight on another type of DNA – cfDNA. This stands for cell free DNA. It describes a group of Dinky Amigos living without the protection of their whole village – or cell. Foetal cfDNA (known as cffDNA) is found as small fragments in the maternal blood of a pregnant woman. It is shed
cfDNA – more jargon, less invasion? Read More »
As Christmas dinner looms for those celebrating, are you any different from it? Well on the face of it the answer would seem obvious. Of course you are! Apart from anything else, if you were eating a dinner that was the same as you, that would make you a cannibal. In most cultures this is
Are you different from your dinner? Read More »