Apoptosis is a cell suicide mechanism that enables metazoans to control cell number in tissues and to eliminate individual cells that threaten the animal's survival. Certain cells have unique sensors, termed Death Receptors, on their surface, which detect the presence of extracellular death signals [...]

Hepatitis-C Virus (HCV) belongs to the Flaviviridae family and is the leading cause of chronic liver disease globally. In order to carry out its life cycle hepatitis C virus must attach to and infect liver cells. The entry of HCV into the hepatocyte begins with receptor-mediated endocytosis, in whic [...]

Mitosis is the process of cell division which separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane to form two daughter cells containing roughly equal shares of th [...]

Allergies are abnormal immune responses to allergens like pollen grains, dust, moulds and foodstuffs. Allergens cause abnormal production of immunoglobulin E (IgE). When the antigen makes contact with some part of the body, it is taken up, processed by Antigen Presenting Cell (APC) and presented on [...]

Type II Diabetes is a disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. It is the most common form of diabetes, in which either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is a hormone pro [...]

Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming gram positive, aerobic bacterium Bacillus anthracis, whose pathogenesis is primarily the result of a tripartite toxin. This toxin is composed of three proteins: the Protective Antigen (PA), the Edema Factor (EF) and the Lethal Factor [...]

Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus Plasmodium, which is transmitted from human to human by the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. There are four identified species of Plasmodium, namely, P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. ovale and P. malaria [...]

Botulinum is a bacterial toxin produced by a bacteria Clostridium botulinum that causes the most severe form of food poisoning. The disease is called Botulism, the potentially deadly food poisoning characterized by muscle paralysis. In a normal muscle, the place where a nerve ends to give the comma [...]

Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are 21–23nt dsRNA (double-stranded RNA) molecules that facilitate potent and sequence-specific gene suppression via the mechanism of RNAi (RNA interference). siRNA pathway animation gives an idea on the mechanism of gene supression by siRNA. When introduced into cultu [...]