In 2002 MIT professors started a not-for-profit called BioBricks that has collected 2, 000 biological components, including gene sequences that sense light, produce light, send messages between cells and switch cell functions on and off.
But the more functions cell phone manufacturers add, the greater the amount of power the phones use and the less practical running them on lithium batteries becomes -- so the race to find a viable alternative is on.
We are beginning to peer into the molecular domain, acquiring in-depth details of the functions of the cell and formulating theories that describe the intricate pathways of the biological universe.
If you find a key that changes basic functions of a cell and make substances that mimic these keys and locks, interesting new drugs are sure to emerge, Fujino thought.
Computers and cell phones use Java to accomplish certain essential functions when accessing the Internet.
In contrast, other genes have specialized functions, such as helping a pancreas cell make insulin.
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Some C4 plants, for example, absorb CO2 and photosynthesise it at either end of special elongated cells, instead of separating the functions out into two different types of cell.
One pertinent observation is that dolphins, whales and their kind have brains as anatomically complex as those of humans, and that these brains contain a particular type of nerve cell, known as a spindle cell, that in humans is associated with higher cognitive functions such as abstract reasoning.
And we have absolutely no way to calculate in principle all the possible interactions and functions of a single protein with the tens of thousands of other proteins in the cell!
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The Cell is too power-hungry for handheld devices, and it would need to have its mathematical functions tweaked to be really suitable for use in supercomputers.
Using these bio-transistors, researchers gain access to data not previously available (like whether an individual cell has been exposed to certain external stimuli), in addition to allowing them to control basic functions like cellular reproduction.
Phosphorylation is a type of cell regulation involving the attachment to, or removal of, phosphate groups from proteins, thereby switching their biological functions on or off, or making them more or less stable.
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