VODKA

Vodka is a distilled beverage.

Vodka, one of the world's most popular liquors, is composed solely of water and ethanol with possible traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made from any one of these fermented substances: grain, rye, wheat, potatoes, grapes, rice, or sugar beet molasses.Vodka’s alcoholic content usually ranges between 35 to 50 percent by volume; the standard Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish vodkas are 40 percent alcohol by volume (80 proof).Historically, this alcoholic-proof standard derives from the Russian vodka quality standards established by Tsar Alexander III in 1894.

Apart from the alcoholic content, vodkas may be classified into two main groups: clear vodkas and flavored vodkas. From the latter ones, one can separate bitter tinctures, such as Russian Yubileynaya (anniversary vodka) and Pertsovka (pepper vodka).

While most vodkas are unflavored, many flavored vodkas have been produced in traditional vodka-drinking areas, often as home-made recipes to improve vodka's taste or for medicinal purposes. Flavorings include red pepper, ginger, fruit flavors, vanilla, chocolate (without sweetener), and cinnamon. In Russia and Ukraine, vodka flavored with honey and pepper (Pertsovka, in Russian, Z pertsem, in Ukrainian) is also very popular. Ukrainians produce a commercial vodka that includes St John's Wort. Poles and Belarusians add the leaves of the local bison grass to produce Żubrówka (Polish) and Zubrovka (Belarusian) vodka, with slightly sweet flavor and light amber color. In Poland, a famous vodka containing honey is called Krupnik. In the United States bacon vodka has been introduced.

This tradition of flavoring is also prevalent in the Nordic countries, where vodka seasoned with herbs, fruits and spices is the appropriate strong drink for midsummer seasonal festivities. In Sweden, there are forty-odd common varieties of herb-flavored vodka (kryddat brännvin). In Poland there is a separate category, nalewka, for vodka-based spirits with fruit, root, flower, or herb extracts, which are often home-made or produced by small commercial distilleries. Its alcohol content is between 15 to 75%. In Estonia they make Vodka with barbaris, blackcurrant, cherry, greenapple, lemon, vanilla and watermelon flavors.

Polish distilleries make a very pure (95%, 190 proof) rectified spirit (Polish language: spirytus rektyfikowany). Technically a form of vodka, it is sold in liquor stores, not pharmacies. Similarly, the German market often carries German, Hungarian, Polish, and Ukrainian-made varieties of vodka of 90 to 95% alcohol content. A Bulgarian vodka, Balkan 176°, is 88% alcohol.

A perl script for translating DNA to Protein

# a perl program to translate the DNA sequence to Protein sequence
#!/usr/bin/perl
print"________________________________________________________________________________\n\n";
print"\n\n\t ***************************DNA to Protein *********************************\n\n";
print" Script support : M.Shankar\n\n";
print"__________________________________________________________________________________\n\n";
print"This Script converts DNA to Protein\n\n";
print "Please choose one of the following for entring the DNA sequence\n";
print "Press 1 for manual entry or 2 for file\n";
   $entry=;
   chomp($entry);
   if($entry==1){
     print "enter the sequence:-\n";
   $dna=;
   chomp($dna);
    }elsif($entry==2){
   print "enter the filename(if it is in another folder please specify the path)\n";
   $dnafile=;
  open(FILE,$dnafile);
  @filecontents=;
  close FILE;
  chomp(@filecontents);
  $dna=join('',@filecontents);
  }else{
  print "please press only 1 or 2\n";
  exit;
  }
 #my $dna="TCATTCTCATTC";
 my $protein='';
 my $codon3;
 for(my $i=0; $i<(length($dna)-2); $i+=3){
 $codon3=substr($dna,$i,3);

  $protein.=  codon2aa($codon3);
   }
  print "\nThe protein is:-\n$protein\n";
  $len = length($protein);
  print "The length of the protein is:-\n$len\n";
   exit;
sub codon2aa{
my($codon)=@_;
$codon= uc $codon;
my(%genetic_code) = (
 'TCA'=>'S', #Serine
 'TCC'=>'S', #Serine
 'TCG'=>'S',  #Serine
 'TCT'=>'S', #Serine
 'TTC'=>'F', #Phenylalanine
 'TTT'=>'F', #Phenylalanine
 'TTA'=>'L', #Leucine
 'TTG'=>'L', #Leucine
 'TAC'=>'Y', #Tyrosine
 'TAT'=>'Y', #Tyrosine
 'TAA'=>'_', #Stop
 'TAG'=>'_', #Stop
 'TGC'=>'C', #Cysteine
 'TGT'=>'C', #Cysteine
 'TGA'=>'_', #Stop
 'TGG'=>'W', #Tryptophan
 'CTA'=>'L', #Leucine
 'CTC'=>'L', #Leucine
 'CTG'=>'L', #Leucine
 'CTT'=>'L', #Leucine
 'CCA'=>'P', #Proline
 'CAT'=>'H', #Histidine
 'CAA'=>'Q', #Glutamine
 'CAG'=>'Q', #Glutamine
 'CGA'=>'R', #Arginine
 'CGC'=>'R', #Arginine
 'CGG'=>'R', #Arginine
 'CGT'=>'R', #Arginine
 'ATA'=>'T', #Isoleucine
 'ATC'=>'T', #Isoleucine
 'ATT'=>'T', #Isoleucine
 'ATG'=>'M', #Methionine
 'ACA'=>'T', #Threonine
 'ACC'=>'T', #Threonine
 'ACG'=>'T', #Threonine
 'ACT'=>'T', #Threonine
 'AAC'=>'N', #Asparagine
 'AAT'=>'N', #Asparagine
 'AAA'=>'K', #Lysine
 'AAG'=>'K', #Lysine
 'AGC'=>'S', #Serine#Valine
 'AGT'=>'S', #Serine
 'AGA'=>'R', #Arginine
 'AGG'=>'R', #Arginine
 'CCC'=>'P', #Proline
 'CCG'=>'P', #Proline
 'CCT'=>'P', #Proline
 'CAC'=>'H', #Histidine
 'GTA'=>'V', #Valine
 'GTC'=>'V', #Valine
 'GTG'=>'V', #Valine
 'GTT'=>'V', #Valine
 'GCA'=>'A', #Alanine
 'GCC'=>'A', #Alanine
 'GCG'=>'A', #Alanine
 'GCT'=>'A', #Alanine
 'GAC'=>'D', #Aspartic Acid
 'GAT'=>'D', #Aspartic Acid
 'GAA'=>'E', #Glutamic Acid
 'GAG'=>'E', #Glutamic Acid
 'GGA'=>'G', #Glycine
 'GGC'=>'G', #Glycine
 'GGG'=>'G', #Glycine
 'GGT'=>'G', #Glycine
 );
 if(exists $genetic_code{$codon}){
 return $genetic_code{$codon};
 }
else{
  print STDERR "Bad Codon\"$codon\"!!\n";
exit;
  }
   }

HUNTINGTON DISEASE

In 1872 George Huntington wrote about an illness that he termed"a heirloom form generations away back in  the dim past"

Molecular Level:
 HD we can now mention this Huntington diesease as HD results from the genetically programmed degeneration of nerve cells (neurons). It mainly affects the cells of Basal Ganglia,within this basal ganglia HD targets the neurons of striatum.


Gene Level:
Gene responsible for the production of Huntingtin protein lies on the Chromosome 4 of Homo sapiens . the gene is located in the chromosome 4 which is among the 22 non- sexlinked or autosomal pair of chromosomes. So both men and women are at equal risk of acquiring the disease.


The GENE sequence for Huntingtin.