Jméno dostal teprve v roce 1986, takže tu s námi zdánlivě není dlouho. Nevzal se ale jen tak odnikud, na člověka se přenesl ze šímpanzů na přelomu 19. a 20. století. HIV řadíme mezi lentiviry, které jsou - v širším slova smyslu - mnohem starší. V roce 2008 odvodil tým ze Stanfordovy univerzity stáří jejich předchůdců na 14 milionů let. Experti z Ústavu molekulární genetiky AV ČR je však nejnovějším výzkumem datují ještě mnohem hlouběji do minulosti. Mohl být vzdálený předchůdce viru HIV současníkem dinosaurů? Nebo je dokonce napadat? and Viktor Černoch.
his year, we celebrate two hundred years since the birth of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), one of the world's most creative and influential thinkers, and one hundred and fifty years since the publication of his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. Charles Darwin presented compelling evidence that all living species have evolved over millions of years from a few ancestors through the process he termed natural selection. In 1831, Darwin set out on a British scientific expedition around the world. In South America Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern living species. On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean he noticed many variations among plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. Darwin visited many places around the world collecting specimens to further his studies. and Stanislav Komárek.
Teploty vzduchu okolo 100 °C, erupce sopek, blesky, dopady masivních asteroidů, silné ultrafialové zářeni. Jak v takovém pekle na Zemi před čtyřmi miliardam ilet mohl vzniknou život? Otazek je více než odpovědí a pátrání po původu živoat zůstává dobrodružnou disciplínou, v níž spolu soupeří zastánci různých teorii. and Luděk Svoboda, Stanislava Kyselová.
The Algatech Centre, which is a scientific division of the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS located in the Opatovický mlýn (mill) near Třeboň in South Bohemia, focuses on the research of photosynthetic microorganisms, including algae, cyanobacteria and photosynthetic bacteria. The Laboratory of algal biotechnology studies processes and technology involved in the efficient production of algae and the use of algal biomass. It seeks new bio-active compounds in algae to be used as dietary supplements, in pharmacology and biomedicine. Scientists also carry our research into various metabolites of cyanobacteria and their effects on human cells. Special interest is paid to substances inhibiting the division of cancer cells and/or selectively inducing their apoptosis. The Laboratory of anoxygenic phototrophs is engaged in the basic research of evolutionary very old prokaryotes containing photosynthetic reaction centres composed of bacteriochlorophyll and its researchers have recently discovered an entirely new photosynthetic species - a new family of phototrophic bacteria, i.e. bacteria capable of producing energy through photosynthesis. Only three new families of phototrophic bacteria were discovered over the past 100 years.The Laboratory of cell cycles of algae aims at gaining a deeper insight into molecular mechanisms regulating the specific cells cycle in green algae hat divide by multiple fission - that is divide into more than two daughter cells. Scientists´ objective is to leam more about the regulation of cell size and division, the activity of cyclin dependant kinase and cyclin dependant kinase complexes throughout the normal cell cycle as well as their role in the cell cycle interruption in case of DNA damage. The pattern of cell cycle progression in algae can also tell us more about animal embryos, since the early phases of their growth and development are controlled by similar principles as those in green algae., The Laboratory of photosynthesis studies fundamental biochemical and molecular mechanisms regarding photosynthesis, the ways of its regulation during the day or under specific stress conditions. Special attention is paid particularly to photosystem II and researchers in the laboratory have recently made a significant step towards understanding its biogenesis. Photosystem II is a complicated protein complex present in the cells of plants, algae and cyanobacteria, the proper functioning of which is essential for photosynthesis. Research teams from the Algatech centre, together with colleagues from British universities have described the first phases of photosystem II synthesis, namely the mechanism by which chlorophyll molecules are inserted into core proteins of photosystem IIand how the functional core of this complex is assembled. Moreover, they have recently presented a substantially new view of repair mechanisms of photosystem II and the ways of recognition of its damaged protein subunits that have to be degraded and replaced. Deepening the understanding of fundamental processes in algae, cyanobacteria and photosynthetic bacteria can help use their potential in many practical applications, from biomass and biofuels to medicine., and Jana Olivová.
Since the early 20th century underdetermination has been one of the most contentious problems in the philosophy of science. In this article I relate the underdetermination problem to models in biology and defend two main lines of argument: First, the use of models in this discipline lends strong support to the underdetermination thesis. Second, models and theories in biology are not determined strictly by the logic of representation of the studied phenomena, but also by other constraints such as research traditions, backgrounds of the scientists, aims of the research and available technology. Convincing evidence for the existence of underdetermination in biology, where models abound, comes both from the fact that for a natural phenomenon we can create a number of candidate models but also from the fact that we do not have a universal rule that would adjudicate among them. This all makes a strong case for the general validity of the underdetermination thesis., Nedourčenost je jedním ze zásadních problémů filosofie vědy od počátku 20. století. Ve svém příspěvku vztahuju tezi o nedourčenosti k biologickým modelům a obhajuju následující dva argumenty: Za prvé, použití modelů v této disciplíně dodává silnou váhu tezi o nedourčenosti. Za druhé, modely a teorie v biologii nejsou determinovány striktně logikou reprezentace studovaného jevu, ale také dalšími faktory, jako jsou výzkumné tradice, background vědců, cíle výzkumu a dostupné technologie. Přesvědčivý důkaz o existenci nedourčenosti v biologii, která modelů v hojné míře využívá, pramení nejenom z faktu, že pro každý přírodní jev můžeme vytvořit velký počet alternativních modelů, ale také z faktu, že nedisponujeme univerzálním pravidlem pro výběr mezi nimi. To vše mluví ve prospěch platnosti teze o nedourčenosti., Petr Jedlička., and Obsahuje bibliografii