Protofection

Protofection

Protofection is a term that refers to the transfection of foreign mitochondrial DNA to replace the original energy generators within cells. As mitochondria are damaged with age, this would be a method of rejuvenating them to original states.

This technology could similarly be applied to modified or artificial mitochondria. The intent being designing ones that do not produce as many (preferably zero) free radicals while staying as, or more efficient in generating energy in the cell. While not invulnerable to free radical damage, having less free radicals would also make such generators have longer lifespans if they could still renew at an identical rate, or at least enough to keep more healthy ones at a given time.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mitochondrial disease — Classification and external resources Micrograph showing ragged red fibres, a finding seen in mitochondrial diseases. Muscle biopsy. Gomori trichrome stain …   Wikipedia

  • Transfection — is the process of introducing nucleic acids into cells by non viral methods [http://www.promega.com/guides/transfxn guide/transfxn.pdf] . The term transformation is preferred to describe non viral DNA transfer in bacteria and non animal… …   Wikipedia

  • Synthetic life — and artificial life (not to be confused with the field of Artificial Life) are terms used for attempts to recreate life from non alive (abiotic) substances. Currently such life does not exist, and the potential for its existence is dubious. Much… …   Wikipedia

  • Mycoplasma laboratorium — is a planned partially synthetic species of bacterium derived from the genome of Mycoplasma genitalium. This effort in synthetic biology is being undertaken at the J. Craig Venter Institute by a team of approximately 20 scientists headed by Nobel …   Wikipedia

  • Artificial gene synthesis — is the process of synthesizing a gene in vitro without the need for initial template DNA samples. The main method is currently by oligonucleotide synthesis (also used for other applications) from digital genetic sequences and subsequent annealing …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”