A Blog Around The Clock

Massive Study Of Madagascar Wildlife Leads To New Conservation Roadmap:

An international team of researchers has developed a remarkable new roadmap for finding and protecting the best remaining holdouts for thousands of rare species that live only in Madagascar, considered one of the most significant biodiversity hot spots in the world.

Flowers’ Fragrance Diminished By Air Pollution, Study Indicates:

Air pollution from power plants and automobiles is destroying the fragrance of flowers and thereby inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to follow scent trails to their source, a new University of Virginia study indicates. This could partially explain why wild populations of some pollinators, particularly bees — which need nectar for food — are declining in several areas of the world, including California and the Netherlands.

The First Animal On Earth Was Significantly More Complex Than Previously Believed:

A new study mapping the evolutionary history of animals indicates that Earth’s first animal — a mysterious creature whose characteristics can only be inferred from fossils and studies of living animals–was probably significantly more complex than previously believed.

Playing Dead Works For Young FIre Ants Under Attack:

Pretending to be dead is an effective self-defense strategy adopted by young fire ant workers under attack from neighboring colonies. This tactic makes them four times more likely to survive aggression than older workers who fight back. As a result, these young workers are able to contribute to brood care and colony growth to ensure the survival and fitness of their queen.

Dr. Mom Was Right — And Wrong — About Washing Fruits And Vegetables:

Washing fresh fruits and vegetables before eating may reduce the risk of food poisoning and those awful episodes of vomiting and diarrhea. But washing alone — even with chlorine disinfectants — may not be enough, according to a new study by researchers in Pennsylvania.

Negligent, Attentive Mouse Mothers Show Biological Differences:

In mice, child neglect is a product of both nature and nurture, according to a new study.

Evolution In The Classroom: ‘Evolution Machine’ Lets Students See It Happen:

Evolution has taken another step away from being dismissed as “a theory” in the classroom, thanks to a new article in PLoS Biology. The research article, by Brian Paegel and Gerald Joyce of The Scripps Research Institute, California, documents the automation of evolution: they have produced a computer-controlled system that can drive the evolution of improved RNA enzymes–biological catalysts–without human input. In the future, this “evolution-machine” could feature in the classroom as well as the lab, allowing students to watch evolution happen in their biology lessons.

Migratory Birds Make Mistakes In Direction, But Not Distance:

Migratory birds make mistakes in terms of direction, but not distance. These are the findings of a team of ornithologists and ecologists from the University of Marburg, the Ornithological Society in Bavaria and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), writing in the Journal of Ornithology. The scientists assessed several thousand reports of Asian birds from the leaf-warbler and thrush families that had strayed to Europe. They discovered that the distance between the breeding grounds in northern Siberia and the wintering sites in southern Asia was often similar to the distance between the breeding grounds and Europe. The more similar the distances and the more numerous a particular species, the higher the probability of this species of bird straying to Europe.

Discovery Of Link In Mosquito Mating Mechanism Could Lead To New Attack On Dengue And Yellow Fever:

Cornell researchers have identified a mating mechanism that possibly could be adapted to prevent female mosquitoes from spreading the viruses that cause dengue fever, second only to malaria as the most virulent mosquito-borne disease in the tropical world.

Just Like Penguins And Other Primates, People Trade Sex For Resources:

Female penguins mate with males who bring them pebbles to build egg nests. Hummingbirds mate to gain access to the most productive flowers guarded by larger males. New research shows that even affluent college students who don’t need resources will still attempt to trade sexual currency for provisions, said Daniel Kruger, research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

There are 39 new articles in PLoS ONE this week – here are my picks and you go and look around for more:
The Cayman Crab Fly Revisited — Phylogeny and Biology of Drosophila endobranchia:

The majority of all known drosophilid flies feed on microbes. The wide spread of microorganisms consequently mean that drosophilids also can be found on a broad range of substrates. One of the more peculiar types of habitat is shown by three species of flies that have colonized land crabs. In spite of their intriguing lifestyle, the crab flies have remained poorly studied. Perhaps the least investigated of the three crab flies is the Cayman Island endemic Drosophila endobranchia. Apart from its life cycle very little is known about this species, including its phylogenetic position, which has remained unresolved due to a cryptic set of characteristics. Based on molecular data, corroborated by a re-analysis of the morphological make up, we have resolved the phylogenetic position of D. endobranchia and show that it somewhat surprisingly belongs to the large Neotropical repleta radiation, and should be considered as an aberrant member of the canalinea species group. Furthermore we also provide additional data on the behavior of these remarkable flies. Our findings reveal that the two Caribbean crab flies are not as distantly related as first thought, as both species are members of the derived repleta radiation. That this lineage has given rise to two species with the same odd type of breeding substrate is curious and prompts the question of what aspects of their shared ancestry has made these flies suitable for a life on (and inside) land crabs. Knowledge of the phylogenetic position of D. endobranchia will allow for comparative explorations and will aid in efforts aimed at understanding processes involved in drastic host shifts and extreme specialization.

Spatial Relational Memory Requires Hippocampal Adult Neurogenesis:

The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is one of the few regions of the mammalian brain where new neurons are generated throughout adulthood. This adult neurogenesis has been proposed as a novel mechanism that mediates spatial memory. However, data showing a causal relationship between neurogenesis and spatial memory are controversial. Here, we developed an inducible transgenic strategy allowing specific ablation of adult-born hippocampal neurons. This resulted in an impairment of spatial relational memory, which supports a capacity for flexible, inferential memory expression. In contrast, less complex forms of spatial knowledge were unaltered. These findings demonstrate that adult-born neurons are necessary for complex forms of hippocampus-mediated learning.

An Information-Theoretic Analysis of Genetics, Gender and Age in Cancer Patients:

Germline genetics, gender and hormonal-signaling pathways are all well described modifiers of cancer risk and progression. Although an improved understanding of how germline genetic variants interact with other cancer risk factors may allow better prevention and treatment of human cancer, measuring and quantifying these interactions is challenging. In other areas of research, Information Theory has been used to quantitatively describe similar multivariate interactions. We implemented a novel information-theoretic analysis to measure the joint effect of a high frequency germline genetic variant of the p53 tumor suppressor pathway (MDM2 SNP309 T/G) and gender on clinical cancer phenotypes. This analysis quantitatively describes synergistic interactions among gender, the MDM2 SNP309 locus, and the age of onset of tumorigenesis in p53 mutation carriers. These results offer a molecular and genetic basis for the observed sexual dimorphism of cancer risk in p53 mutation carriers and a model is proposed that suggests a novel cancer prevention strategy for p53 mutation carriers.

Measles on the Edge: Coastal Heterogeneities and Infection Dynamics:

Mathematical models can help elucidate the spatio-temporal dynamics of epidemics as well as the impact of control measures. The gravity model for directly transmitted diseases is currently one of the most parsimonious models for spatial epidemic spread. This model uses distance-weighted, population size-dependent coupling to estimate host movement and disease incidence in metapopulations. The model captures overall measles dynamics in terms of underlying human movement in pre-vaccination England and Wales (previously established). In spatial models, edges often present a special challenge. Therefore, to test the model’s robustness, we analyzed gravity model incidence predictions for coastal cities in England and Wales. Results show that, although predictions are accurate for inland towns, they significantly underestimate coastal persistence. We examine incidence, outbreak seasonality, and public transportation records, to show that the model’s inaccuracies stem from an underestimation of total contacts per individual along the coast. We rescue this predicted ‘edge effect’ by increasing coastal contacts to approximate the number of per capita inland contacts. These results illustrate the impact of ‘edge effects’ on epidemic metapopulations in general and illustrate directions for the refinement of spatiotemporal epidemic models.

Bioethics Grows Up:

When I taught my first course in bioethics to first-year students at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in the spring semester of 1981, bioethics was still in its formative years. There were scant few textbooks around and even fewer anthologies, and I could not assume that any of my students had ever read anything by a bioethicist or about bioethics. The key institutions in the field at that time, the Hastings Center, then in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and the Kennedy Institute at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, were barely over a decade old, and only one journal devoted to bioethics had been publishing for a significant period of time. Most major medical and biomedical journals were wary of publishing pieces on ethics, because the editors did not think that articles on a soft and mushy subject such as ethics were appropriate for journals of medicine and science. An instructor in those days really had to scramble to find and assemble the best writings and be ready to incur a hefty Xeroxing bill.

Darwinian Evolution on a Chip:

The principles of Darwinian evolution are fundamental to understanding biological organization and have been applied to the development of functional molecules in the test tube. Laboratory evolution is greatly accelerated compared with natural evolution, but it usually requires substantial manipulation by the experimenter. Here we describe a system that relies on computer control and microfluidic chip technology to automate the directed evolution of functional molecules, subject to precisely defined parameters. We used a population of billions of RNA enzymes with RNA-joining activity, which were challenged to react in the presence of progressively lower concentrations of substrate. The enzymes that did react were amplified to produce progeny, which were challenged similarly. Whenever the population size reached a predetermined threshold, chip-based operations were executed to isolate a fraction of the population and mix it with fresh reagents. These steps were repeated automatically for 500 iterations of 10-fold exponential growth followed by 10-fold dilution. We observed evolution in real time as the population adapted to the imposed selection constraints and achieved progressively faster growth rates over time. Our microfluidic system allows us to perform Darwinian evolution experiments in much the same way that one would execute a computer program.

Rethinking Outreach: Teaching the Process of Science through Modeling:

There has been a recent call for undergraduate faculty to engage in “scientific teaching”–a way of active teaching that places equal emphasis on both the process of science and the facts of science [1]. We endorse this approach and believe that the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) SMART Team modeling program captures many of the principles of scientific teaching in a high school outreach program by exposing students to the “real world of science” as practiced in a local research lab. SMART Teams, which consist of a small group of high school students and their teacher, work with a local research lab to design and build a physical model of the protein that is the focus of the lab’s research. During this modeling project, the students learn that science is much more than just the facts documented in their textbooks. They see that science is a process whereby real people–undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and principal investigators–go about learning something about a molecular world invisible to the naked eye. And in the molecular biosciences, what they are learning can be pretty amazing. While experiencing the culture of a research lab, SMART Team students begin to imagine themselves in the roles of their scientist mentors.

How Quickly Can a Rat Perceive Novel Odors?:

Odor perception in mammals is a multistep process that begins when olfactory sensory neurons in the animal’s nose detect an odor molecule and then transmit that sensory information as an electrical signal to the brain. The first brain area to receive these signals is the olfactory bulb, where the sensory neurons end in small structures called glomeruli. Olfactory cues trigger complex patterns of activity both in the olfactory sensory neurons and in the glomeruli within the brain. How these complex patterns underlie an animal’s ability to sense and respond to odors remains obscure. In a new study, Daniel Wesson et al. shed light on how these early signals lead to odor perception and subsequent behavioral changes by investigating how quickly a rat can respond to a novel odor. The speed of response, they show, depends on how quickly the olfactory bulb receives neural information about such an odor from the sensory neurons.

Bats Play A Major Role In Plant Protection:

If you get a chance to sip some shade-grown Mexican organic coffee, please pause a moment to thank the bats that helped make it possible. At Mexican organic coffee plantations, where pesticides are banned, bats and birds work night and day to control insect pests that might otherwise munch the crop.

Animals Are ‘Stuck In Time’ With Little Idea Of Past Or Future, Study Suggests:

Dog owners, who have noticed that their four-legged friend seem equally delighted to see them after five minutes away as five hours, may wonder if animals can tell when time passes. Newly published research from The University of Western Ontario may bring us closer to answering that very question.

Birdfeeders Can Both Help And Harm Bird Populations:

Millions of people tend bird feeders in their backyards each year, often out of a desire to help the animals. But a new survey of research on the topic finds that feeding may not always bring a positive outcome for the birds.

Alligator Blood May Put The Bite On Antibiotic-resistant Infections:

Despite their reputation for deadly attacks on humans and pets, alligators are wiggling their way toward a new role as potential lifesavers in medicine, biochemists in Louisiana reported at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society. They described how proteins in gator blood may provide a source of powerful new antibiotics to help fight infections associated with diabetic ulcers, severe burns, and “superbugs” that are resistant to conventional medication.

High-flying Moths Don’t Just Go With The Flow:

Enormous numbers of migratory moths that fly high above our heads throughout the night aren’t at the mercy of the winds that propel them toward their final destinations, researchers report online on April 3rd in Current Biology. Rather, they rely on sophisticated behaviors to control their flight direction, and to speed their long-distance journeys into areas suitable for the next generation of moths.

First Lungless Frog Discovered:

Researchers have confirmed the first case of complete lunglessness in a frog, according to a report in the April 8th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press. The aquatic frog Barbourula kalimantanensis apparently gets all the oxygen it needs through its skin.

Darwin Was Right: Natural Selection Speeds Up Speciation:

In the first experiment of its kind conducted in nature, a University of British Columbia evolutionary biologist has come up with strong evidence for one of Charles Darwin’s cornerstone ideas — adaptation to the environment accelerates the creation of new species.

Go at it! These are sooooo….bloggable 😉
Computer Taught To Recognize Attractiveness In Women:

“Beauty,” goes the old saying, “is in the eye of the beholder.” But does the beholder have to be human? Not necessarily, say scientists at Tel Aviv University. Amit Kagian, an M.Sc. graduate from the TAU School of Computer Sciences, has successfully “taught” a computer how to interpret attractiveness in women. But there’s a more serious dimension to this issue that reaches beyond mere vanity. The discovery is a step towards developing artificial intelligence in computers. Other applications for the software could be in plastic and reconstructive surgery and computer visualization programs such as face recognition technologies.

Irrelevant Image Of Attractive Woman Can Make A Man More Willing To Take Big Financial Risks:

Attractive women plus cool cars equal brisk sales for auto dealers as men snap up those cars, prompted–or so advertising theory goes–by the association. But is the human male really so easily swayed? Can the irrelevant image of an alluring female posing by the merchandise actually encourage a heterosexual man to purchase it?

People Accept Anger In Men, But Women Who Lose Their Temper Are Seen As Less Competent, Study Shows:

Whether you are running for president or looking for a clerical job, you cannot afford to get angry if you are a woman, Yale University psychologist Victoria Brescoll has found. Brescoll and Eric Uhlmann at Northwestern University recently completed three separate studies to explore a phenomenon that may be all-too-familiar to women like New York Senator Hillary Clinton: People accept and even reward men who get angry but view women who lose their temper as less competent.

Why Do Rats Die Younger Than Humans? Newly Discovered Biological Clock Provides Tantalizing Clues:

A New York University dental professor has discovered a biological clock linking tooth growth to other metabolic processes. This clock, or biological rhythm, controls many metabolic functions and is based on the circadian rhythm, which is a roughly 24-hour cycle that is important in determining sleeping and feeding patterns, cell regeneration, and other biological processes in mammals. The newly discovered rhythm, like the circadian rhythm, originates in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that functions as the main control center for the autonomic nervous system. But unlike the circadian rhythm, this clock varies from one organism to another, operating on shorter time intervals for small mammals, and longer ones for larger animals. For example, rats have a one-day interval, chimpanzees six, and humans eight.

Coral Reefs And Climate Change: Microbes Could Be The Key To Coral Death:

Coral reefs could be dying out because of changes to the microbes that live in them just as much as from the direct rise in temperature caused by global warming, according to scientists speaking April 2, 2008 at the Society for General Microbiology’s 162nd meeting.

Exactly How Much Housework Does A Husband Create?:

Having a husband creates an extra seven hours a week of housework for women, according to a University of Michigan study of a nationally representative sample of U.S. families. For men, the picture is very different: A wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week.

The figure included in the article states something quite different, see what Larry says about it.
Fossil From Last Common Ancestor Of Neanderthals And Humans Found In Europe, 1.2 Million Years Old:

University of Michigan researcher Josep M. Pares is part of a team that has discovered the oldest known remains of human ancestors in Western Europe.

Habitat Destruction May Wipe Out Monarch Butterfly Migration:

Intense deforestation in Mexico could ruin one of North America’s most celebrated natural wonders — the mysterious 3,000-mile migration of the monarch butterfly. According to a University of Kansas researcher, the astonishing migration may collapse rapidly without urgent action to end devastation of the butterfly’s vital sources of food and shelter.

Is DNA Repair A Substitute For Sex?:

Birds and bees may do it, but the microscopic animals called bdelloid rotifers seem to get along just fine without sex, thank you. What’s more, they have done so over millions of years of evolution, resulting in at least 370 species. These hardy creatures somehow escape the usual drawback of asexuality – extinction – and the MBL’s David Mark Welch, Matthew Meselson, and their colleagues are finding out how.

Feathered Friends Favor Fruity Flavonoids:

Fruit-eating birds actively select fruit with the highest concentrations of antioxidants — compounds that help them maintain a healthy immune system — ecologists have found. This is the first time that a group of antioxidants known as flavonoids have been found to boost the immune system in studies on living animals, as opposed to test-tube studies.

Female Veterinarians At Risk Of Miscarriage From Anesthetic Gases And Pesticides, Study Suggests:

Female vets run twice the risk of miscarriage as a result of exposure to anaesthetic gases and pesticides, suggests a study published ahead of print in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.