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+The single most important property of enzymes is the ability to increase the rates of reactions occurring in living organisms, a property known as catalytic activity. Because most enzymes are proteins, their activity is affected by factors that disrupt protein structure, as well as by factors that affect catalysts in general. Factors that disrupt protein structure, as we saw in Section 18.4 "Proteins", include temperature and pH; factors that affect catalysts in general include reactant or substrate concentration and catalyst or enzyme concentration. The activity of an enzyme can be measured by monitoring either the rate at which a substrate disappears or the rate at which a product forms. + +
+Cell, in biology, the basic membrane-bound unit that contains the fundamental molecules of life and of which all living things are composed. A single cell is often a complete organism in itself, such as a bacterium or yeast. Other cells acquire specialized functions as they mature. These cells cooperate with other specialized cells and become the building blocks of large multicellular organisms, such as humans and other animals. Although cells are much larger than atoms, they are still very small. The smallest known cells are a group of tiny bacteria called mycoplasmas; some of these single-celled organisms are spheres as small as 0.2 μm in diameter (1μm = about 0.000039 inch), with a total mass of 10−14 gram—equal to that of 8,000,000,000 hydrogen atoms. Cells of humans typically have a mass 400,000 times larger than the mass of a single mycoplasma bacterium, but even human cells are only about 20 μm across. It would require a sheet of about 10,000 human cells to cover the head of a pin, and each human organism is composed of more than 30,000,000,000,000 cells. + +
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+To defend the body, the immune system makes proteins known as antibodies that latch onto +the perceived threat, be it HIV, the new coronavirus or, as is the case in autoimmune disease, part of the body itself. In a new proof-of-concept study in ACS Sensors, researchers describe a new system for detecting antibodies within a pinprick of blood within minutes, using an unlikely combination of cotton thread, glowing proteins and a smartphone camera.
While some tests simply detect the presence of an antibody, sometimes doctors want to know how much is circulating in the blood. Such quantitative tests are used to diagnose a number of conditions, including infections and autoimmune diseases. Although a quantitative antibody test is not yet approved for use in the U.S., such a test could potentially aid in assessing immunity to SARS-CoV-2. However, quantitative testing currently requires expensive, sophisticated instruments in labs, and efforts to make it more accessible have had only limited success. So, Maarten Merkx, Daniel Citterio and colleagues tested an approach that could provide a small, inexpensive alternative.
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By its very nature, science rarely offers a quick fix. New technologies and medicines often take years to prove that they are safe and effective. Yet the surging COVID-19 pandemic is forcing scientists to condense this process to mere months. Researchers are working at breakneck speeds to meet the challenge, according to a series of articles in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. + +
While many scientists are testing existing drugs, others are working to develop brand-new diagnostics, treatments and vaccines fine-tuned to fight the novel coronavirus. Many of these strategies involve relatively new technologies, like gene-based vaccines or the gene-editing tool CRISPR, according to Senior Correspondent Lisa Jarvis. Because of the urgency to get new tests, therapies and preventions into the clinic amid a pandemic, many of these approaches are undergoing a trial by fire, Jarvis writes.
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