Modern molecular biology tends to lead students to think about biology not just at the molecular level, but also at the single entity level. For example, change in promoter sequence leads to higher expression level of target protein. However, biology is an aggregated system, and is more complicated than this. Specifically, there is a sub-discipline … More Understanding biology at the systems level is the essence of systems biology

Enzyme structure determines function. Hence, conformational changes in an enzyme would affect its function. Nature has evolved a system, but which specific conformation of an enzyme is endowed with particular function. This primarily relates to the structure of the active site as well as substrate binding site. Conformational changes, for example, could alter the structure … More Enzyme regulation is mostly underpinned by action at an allosteric site

Molecular biology kickstarted modern genetic engineering work. But, most of molecular biology research pertains to events that occur at the molecular level such as the sequence that helps RNA polymerase bind to DNA. So, how do researchers in the field make their conclusions? Typically, molecular biology research hinges critically at formulating a clear hypothesis, which … More Inference lies at the heart of formulating conclusions in molecular biology research

Carbon budget refers to the amount of carbon that could be emitted into the atmosphere before a specific amount of warming takes place due to the greenhouse effect. Current discussion of global warming usually refers to a carbon budget that could limit global warming to 1.5 C above preindustrial levels. A concept that is applicable … More Difficulty in estimating the carbon budget that could help limit global warming to 1.5 C