Thomas Robert Cech (born December 8, 1947 in Chicago) is an American chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman. They discovered that RNA was a catalyst. Cech discovered that RNA could itself cut strands of RNA, which showed that life could have started as RNA.
Cech also studied telomeres, and his lab discovered an enzyme, TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), which helps to restore telomeres after they are shortened during cell division.
As president of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, he promoted science education, and he teaches an undergraduate chemistry course at the University of Colorado.
Cech's main research area is transcription in the nucleus of cells. He studies how the genetic code of DNA is transcribed into RNA. In the 1970s, Cech discovered that an unprocessed RNA molecule could splice itself.
In 1982, Cech became the first to show that RNA molecules are not restricted to being passive carriers of genetic information they can have catalytic functions and can take part in cellular reactions. RNA-processing reactions and protein synthesis on ribosomes are catalysed by RNA. RNA enzymes are known as ribozymes and are now used for gene technology. They also cut and destroy invading viral RNAs.
Reverse transcriptase
A reverse transcriptase is an enzyme which works 'backwards' from RNA to DNA. Normal transcription involves the synthesis of RNA from DNA; reverse transcription is the "reverse" of this. It is a DNA polymerase enzyme that transcribes single-stranded RNA into single-stranded DNA. It also synthesizes a second strand of DNA complementary to the reverse-transcribed single-stranded cDNA.
Well studied reverse transcriptases include:
Reverse transcriptase was discovered by Howard Temin at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in a cancer virus. It was independently isolated by David Baltimore in 1970 at MIT from two RNA tumour viruses. For their achievements, they shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (with Renato Dulbecco).
The idea of reverse transcription was very unpopular at first because it contradicted the central dogma of molecular biology. This states that DNA is transcribed into RNA which is then translated into proteins. However, in 1970 when Howard Temin and David Baltimore both independently discovered the enzyme responsible for reverse transcription, the possibility that genetic information could be passed on in this manner was finally accepted.
Out of this work has come the idea that the first genomes were made of RNA genes. The RNA genes surviving today might be all that remain of this early condition. Reverse transcriptase might be the remnant of a stage when DNA genes were made by copying RNA genes. This theory is relevant to the earliest stages of evolution. Reverse transcription is also used by various semi-independent elements called transposons.
Stephen Turnbull
Stephen Richard Turnbull (b. 6 February 1948) is a British academic, historian and writer. He is a specialist in Far Eastern military history. He is best known for his writing about the samurai of Japan.
Turnbull earned a degree at Cambridge University.
Further studies led to his earning an MA in Theology and an MA in Military History. He was awarded a PhD from the University of Leeds.
Turnbull is a lecturer in Far Eastern Religions at Leeds.
In an overview of writings by and about Louis-Frédéric, OCLC/WorldCat lists roughly 100+ works in 400+ publications in 15 languages and 15,000+ library holdings.
Renato Dulbecco
Renato Dulbecco (February 22, 1914 – February 19, 2012) was an Italian-born American virologist who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on oncogenes. Oncogenes are genes in viruses that cause cancer when they infect animal cells.
The prize was shared with Howard Temin and David Baltimore.
Dulbecco studied at the University of Turin under Giuseppe Levi. His fellow students Salvador Luria and Rita Levi-Montalcini also moved to the U.S. with him and won Nobel prizes. He was drafted into the Italian army in World War II, but later joined the resistance.
WorldCat
WorldCat is an online catalog stystem which lists the combined collections of 70,000+ libraries in 170 countries.
WorldCat was built by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), which is a global cooperative of libraries. WorldCat is maintained by the group of libraries.
In the 1970s, OCLC grew from a regional computer system for 54 Ohio colleges into an international network.
In 1979, the first Canadian and the first international library joined OCLC.
On August 26, 1971, the OCLC Online Union Catalog, now called WorldCat, went online.
Buddha Dhatu Jadi
The Buddha Dhatu Jadi (; also known as the Bandarban Golden Temple) is a Buddhist temple. It is located close to Balaghata town, in Bandarban City, in Bangladesh. Skandha or Dhatu means material remains of a holy person. In this temple, the relics belong to Buddha. It is the largest Theravada Buddhist temple with the second largest Buddha statue in Bangladesh.
The Bandaban Golden Temple belongs to the Theravada Buddhism order, which is practiced by the Chittagonian tribal people, a dominant ethnic group of Bandarban. It was built in 2000 in Arakanese architecture, an adoption of South East Asia style.
Somapura Mahavihara
Somapura Mahavihara (Sanskrit; "Shompur Môhabihar") in Paharpur, Badalgachhi Upazila, Naogaon District, Bangladesh is among the best known Buddhist viharas in the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
Islam in the Maldives
Islam is the state religion of Maldives, and adherence to it is legally required of citizens by a revision of the constitution in 2008: Article 9, Section D "states that a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives."
Islam in Lebanon
Islam in Lebanon is divided between four Muslim sects; Shias, Sunnis, Alawites, and Ismailis including the Druze.
Muslims (including Druze) account for 59% of the total population of Lebanon, where 39% are Christians. Shiites - about 27% of the total population of Lebanon - live mostly in the northern area of the Beqaa Valley, Southern Lebanon and southern areas of Beirut. About 26% of the Lebanese population is Sunni, concentrated largely in coastal cities like west Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon. The Druze account for 5% of the population.
State of Judea
The State of Judea (, "") is a proposed halachic state in the West Bank. The idea was put forward by Israeli Jewish settlers.
Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto (Reggio Emilia, 8 September 1474 – Ferrara 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic "Orlando Furioso" (1516). The poem is a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's "Orlando Innamorato". It tells about the adventures of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks as they fight the Saracens with diversions into many side plots. Ariosto composed the poem in the ottava rima rhyme scheme and introduced narrative commentary throughout the work.
Ariosto spent the greater part of his life at Ferrara including many years in the service of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este and then of Duke Alfonso I. His poem "Orlando Furioso" is designed to exalt the Este family; in its final form it was first published in 1532. It is the greatest of the Italian romantic epics. Ariosto also wrote lyric poetry in Italian and Latin, some satires and four comedies.
Javier Bardem
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish movie, television, stage, and voice actor who is known for his roles in "Skyfall", "No Country for Old Men", "Biutiful", "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", "Before Night Falls", "Jamón, jamón" and in "". He has won an Golden Globe Award, an BAFTA Award, and an Academy Award.
Bardem was born on 1 March 1969 in Las Palmas of the Canary Islands. He has been married to Penélope Cruz since 2010. They have two children.
Defense of Marriage Act