Blog | Simply Genetics

2 min read

Back to Basics: What on Earth are Genes?

I am sure you have heard the terms “genes” or “chromosomes,” but maybe you are not 100% sure what they actually mean. Well, let’s start...

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Sinead Mackintosh

1 min read

Back to Basics! A Mini Series

As part of my honours degree, I get to assist with the first-year genetics tutorial classes. It aims to teach the honours students how to...

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Sinead Mackintosh

1 min read

Spider Goats!

Spider goats! This sounds like a rip off of a superhero character, but unlike the friendly neighbourhood spider-man, spider goats...

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Sinead Mackintosh

2 min read

DNA Extraction!

So, for the past few weeks I’ve been busy testing out some DNA extraction kits to see which works best for the dung samples I’m working...

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Sinead Mackintosh

1 min read

Arabidopsis!

Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering weed that is a key model organism used across scientific disciplines. Its genetic makeup is...

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Sinead Mackintosh

2 min read

Dinosaurs Among Us!

Dinosaurs amongst us. Crocodiles are ancient and fierce reptiles that have ruled both salt and fresh waters for 100s of millions of...

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Sinead Mackintosh

1 min read

Fungi

Fungi, we normally think of the edible mushrooms we put in our food, but the world of fungi is incredibly diverse. They come in all sorts...

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Sinead Mackintosh

2 min read

St Patrick's Day Special!

St Patrick’s Day! A good excuse to wear green and go partying! I have always heard that more people say that they are Irish than there...

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Sinead Mackintosh

2 min read

Cradle of Humankind Part 2

(Skull on the far left). In Africa, roughly 3.3 million years ago Australopithecus africanus roamed the lands. They were small ape like...

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Sinead Mackintosh

2 min read

Cradle of Humankind Part 1

I recently paid a highly anticipated visit to the Cradle of Humankind here in Gauteng South Africa. There is an amazing interactive...

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Sinead Mackintosh

1 min read

Everyday Science

What is “science”? It seems like a pretty straightforward question, but when it was posed to my honors class on our first day the answers...

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