Designer Genes: When Drew Endy envisions the future, he sees giant gourds engineered to grow into four-bedroom, two-bathroom houses. He sees people alerted to nascent tumors in their bodies by internal biological sensors, and cars fueled by bacteria-produced gasoline. Endy, 37, is a pioneer in synthetic biology, a field that combines biology, chemistry, and engineering to remake biological systems to act according to human design. [Good]
Platypus proves even odder than scientists thought: At first dismissed as a prank, and later cited as proof that God has a sense of humour, the duck-billed platypus has finally given up its evolutionary secrets. The creature, considered one of the strangest mammals in the world, has become the latest to have its genetic code sequenced, revealing it to be a bizarre mix of mammal, bird and reptile, with very complex sexuality. [Guardian]
Why beauty is an advert for good genes: The findings back the claim that the masculinity/femininity of faces is linked with symmetry and hence advertise quality, that is good genes. [Telegraph]
May 8th, 2008 at 9:01 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
Starlings know if you are watching them: Starlings can tell if you are watching them, according to a study that has shown for the first time that starlings respond to a human’s gaze. Starlings will keep away from their food dish if a human is looking at it. However, if the person is just as close, but their eyes are turned away, the birds resumed feeding earlier and consumed more food overall. [Telegraph]
Scientists indentify new species in Brazil: A legless lizard and a miniature woodpecker are among 14 species new to science discovered in a remote region of Brazil. The animals were identified during an expedition to the Cerrado, an area of wooded grassland rated among the world’s top 50 homes for wildlife. [Times]
Giant Stingrays Found Near Thai City: After weeks of combing remote Southeast Asian rivers for giant freshwater stingrays—possibly the largest freshwater fish in the world—Hogan finally found the creature near a Thai city. To his surprise, she gave birth soon after capture. [National Geographic]
April 30th, 2008 at 8:59 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
What Genes Remember: Many geneticists now think that the behaviour of our genes can be altered by experience—and even that these changes can be passed on to future generations. This finding may transform our understanding of inheritance and evolution. [Prospect]
What are little boys made of? Scientists pinpoint bananas: Women are more likely to give birth to boys if they have a high-calorie diet in the run-up to becoming pregnant, according to a team of scientists. The finding is the first clear evidence that a mother’s eating habits around the time of conception can influence the sex of her baby. [Guardian]
April 24th, 2008 at 9:51 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
Biologists join the race to create synthetic life: Researchers will gather in London this week to outline plans to promote one of the most audacious, and controversial, scientific ideas of the 21st century - synthetic biology. The new discipline, established by scientists such as human genome pioneer Craig Venter, involves stripping microbes down to their basic genetic constituents so they can be reassembled and manipulated to create new life forms [Guardian]
Researchers find rare giant turtle in Vietnam: Researchers from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo have discovered a rare giant turtle in northern Vietnam — a find that carries great scientific and cultural significance. Swinhoe’s soft-shell turtle was previously thought to be extinct in the wild. Three other turtles of the species are in captivity, said experts from the Zoo’s Asian turtle program. [msnbc]
Birds smart enough to stand guard, say scientists at University of Bristol: Birds “stand sentry” to help other members of their group forage for food, and sing a special song to give warning of danger, researchers say. [Times]
April 21st, 2008 at 10:58 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
View from the lab: our debt to worms: If the worm didn’t turn, much of the Earth would be uninhabitable, writes Prof Steve Jones. [Telegraph]
Young fire ants curl up and (pretend) die: Opossums do it, some snakes do it and even big bison do it. Now a new study now shows fire ants do it, too. When threatened by danger, the young insects will play dead to fake out an attacker. [MSNBC]
A Mutual Affair: I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite animals: the shrimp goby. These pretty little fish lead lives of enviable indolence. As their name suggests, they live with shrimp (often, a pair). The shrimp build and maintain a burrow, which the goby and shrimp live in together. [NYT]
April 15th, 2008 at 9:01 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
What’s Making That Awful Racket? Surprisingly, It May Be Fish: Naturalists as far back as Aristotle have known that fish make sounds. But when Jacques Cousteau titled his 1956 documentary “The Silent World,” it seemed that he captured the public’s imagination about underwater life while leaving our ears deaf to fish barks, chatter, groans, drones and cries. “His diving tanks masked all the sounds in the water,” Dr. Rountree said. “In fact, the oceans are a noisy place.” [NYT]
At the Edge of Life’s Code: Using machine learning, Chris Wiggins hopes to develop models that can predict how all of an organism’s genes behave under any circumstance - and thereby explain precisely why some cells become sick or cancerous. [Scientific American]
Moth that can travel at 55mph: Moths that fly high above our heads throughout the night are not at the mercy of the wind but use a sophisticated internal compass which can help them travel up to 400 miles in a single flight, according to a study. [Telegraph]
The dolphins that woo their mates with weeds: Amazon river dolphins use lumps of waterweed or large rocks to impress their mates, much as humans might use flowers or chocolates. [Guardian]
April 8th, 2008 at 11:09 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
Efforts of Dancing Bees Are Often Wasted on Distracted Audience: Much has been made about the waggle dance, a fox trot of sorts that foraging honeybees do to tell their hive mates when they have found a good food source. The dance — a zigzagging figure eight maneuver performed in the hive — provides cues as to the direction and distance of the trove of flowers so the other bees can locate it. There is only one problem: Many bees seem to ignore the information. Instead, researchers in Argentina have found, the bees rely on their own memories of where to find food. [NYT]
Moose’s sharp hearing is attributed to antlers: They are some of the most extravagant headgear in the animal kingdom, but a moose’s antlers are not just for show. Scientists believe they act as elaborate hearing aids that help males to find calling females. [Guardian]
Scientists find that the nose knows a lot: Not only dogs and ants, but also albatrosses and fish use a sense of smell to find faraway food. [CSM]
March 25th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
HOW GECKOS LAND ON THEIR FEET: Unlike cats, geckos owe their landing prowess primarily to their tails - which can also keep them from falling in the first place. [MSNBC]
New bird discovered in Indonesia: A small greenish bird that has been playing hide-and-seek with ornithologists on a remote Indonesian island since 1996 was declared a newly discovered species on Friday and promptly recommended for endangered lists. [MSNBC]
Mighty Electric Fields Found Inside Cells: The smallest voltmeter in the world has produced a shocking revelation: Lurking deep inside an ordinary cell are electric fields strong enough to cause a bolt of lightning. [Discover]
March 18th, 2008 at 11:45 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
Alligators move lungs to catch prey: ALLIGATORS use their lungs as movable internal flotation devices, enabling them to dive, veer and barrell roll through water after prey. [Australian]
Song-Learning Birds Shed Light on Our Ability to Speak: A new study may have been for (and about) the birds, but it also hints at how humans may have developed the ability to speak, potentially paving the way to one day to identifying the causes of speech deficiencies. [Scientific American]
A Sand Dollar Riddle: The defense mechanism of sand dollars against predators is literally to split themselves in two, new research indicates. [NYT]
March 14th, 2008 at 9:40 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
Love cheats, nepotism and corruption: royal scandal in the anthills of egalitarian society: Ants may be held up as ideals of social co-operation but they can be as sneaky as humans beings and their colonies are rife with corruption – with those from the royal line the worst offenders. [Times]
The Claim: Identical Twins Have Identical DNA: It is a basic tenet of human biology, taught in grade schools everywhere: Identical twins come from the same fertilized egg and, thus, share identical genetic profiles. But according to new research, though identical twins share very similar genes, identical they are not. [NYT]
March 12th, 2008 at 9:04 am
This article is filed under Biology, Blog.
