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For years whale evolution was characterized by speculation and limited evidence. Evolution critics even focused on whales as a means to criticize evolutionary theory. Now whale evolution represents one of the best examples of "macroevolution." This "clicker case" uses this fascinating story of historical irony as a backdrop to the study of whale evolution. First, students study an array of whale fossils to learn how evolution is properly viewed as a branching, relationship-based process, not a linear, progressive, "chain-of-being." Using this view they learn how scientists seek to reconstruct past relationships and study transitional features, not search for "missing links." Students then learn that evidence for macroevolution relies on several lines of independent evidence from fossils, comparative anatomy, embryology, genetics, and paleoecology. With a focus on macroevolution, this case makes a critical contribution to evolution education. It could work well in a lower level undergraduate biology / evolution / paleontology course (non-majors or majors), or in an upper-level evolution course, perhaps early in the semester as a primer for related topics.

Dubilier is hardly alone in her plight. A heaping teaspoon of soil or a shot of ocean water may contain as many as one million bacterial species. Many of them are potential gold mines of chemicals and metabolites with medicinal, engineering, and energy applications. But when researchers have tried to culture these microbes in the lab, only a minority of cells form colonies. Clearly, nutrients, a carbon source, and time are usually not enough to coax bacteria isolated from the wild to grow in a laboratory setting. So what's the missing ingredient?

Studying odors from corpses may sound macabre, but it's actually a virtuous vocation. Researchers in this field are helping find missing bodies lost in natural disasters or hidden by murderers. ↓↓More info and references below↓↓

It is easy to miss something that is difficult to see and breast cancer tumour growth may go unnoticed. That is why knowing the early signs of breast cancer is key. For many, the first sign of breast cancer is a lump in the breast. However, breast cancer symptoms can vary widely - from lumps to some less obvious signs such as skin changes. Discovering a symptom of breast cancer does not necessarily mean it is cancer, however, it is absolutely vital to have a discussion with your doctor as soon as possible.

Most teens get between two and four colds a year. They may also get the flu if they're not vaccinated. The following activities will help your students learn the importance of protecting themselves from colds and flu so they can avoid missing class time.

When an elementary school teacher calls in sick to work, she finds out that she is not the only one who will be missing school that day.  Children from her fifth grade class have also become ill and parents are calling to report the absences. The concerned principal of the school finds out the fifth grade class had a field trip to one of the local parks the day before. The case shows the areas visited by the class and provides discussion between the principal and a physician that teaches the readers about water quality and EPA standards for bacteria levels in recreational water. The case has an optional lab component that provides the theory for three methods that can be used to conduct microbial water analyses.  Procedures are included for teachers to lead a lab activity to test water to identify which location in the park caused the illness. This case study and accompanying laboratory activity are recommended for an environmental engineering course or a lower level science course.

The Path to Myozyme Beginning in the 1960s and fueled by the biotechnology revolution in 1980s, researchers at academic centers around the world initiated work to identify a treatment for Pompe - including therapies that could replace the missing GAA enzyme in patients. Based on these early efforts, from 1998-2002 Genzyme worked to advance promising research involving four different drug candidates to treat Pompe:

[ February 17, 2008 ] People who lack a certain large segment of DNA have a previously unrecognized syndrome characterized by mental retardation, seizures, and slight physical abnormalities, according to a genetic analysis conducted by HHMI investigator Evan E. Eichler at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a team of international collaborators. The deleted DNA segment is responsible for just a small percentage of cases of mental retardation, but "when you think about how common mental retardation is," Eichler says, "this deletion has a significant impact on human health."

3:20 video Researchers are clarifying epigenetic intricacies such as missing heritability, disease markers, methylated proteins, and imprinted genes. Learn about the history of epigenetics in this timeline spanning 130 years.

Introductory Activity in evolution unit; typically adapt to design a moth (no other instructions), select a student predator, attach the moths, let the predator in, repeat twice, then design a moth and model a natural disaster by moving to a different habitat (hallway).

In the 1950s, Idaho sheep ranchers had a problem. About a quarter of their lambs were being born dead or deformed-sometimes with a single eye centered in the middle of their forehead, like the Cyclops of Greek legend, or missing their upper jaw. There were times when the pregnant ewes couldn't give birth at all, carrying the mutated fetuses until they were surgically delivered or the ewes themselves died. Unbeknownst to the farmers, the cause was a poisonous plant, western false hellebore (Veratrum californicum). Eventually, the plant would inspire a successful cancer therapy-but at the time, the sheep were what mattered.

This interrupted case study introduces basic modeling to investigate a decline in an American marten population on an island in Southeast Alaska. Two summer field technicians working on a long-term field ecology project for one of their professors notice that there are fewer marten captures this year. Through discussions with their professor, conversations with a local fur trapper, and based on their own observations, they develop a plan to model the population and the potential causes of the decline to solve the mystery. Students use Excel or other database software along with life tables and introductory population ecology to investigate three potential causes of the marten population decline. This case was developed for use in an environmental science or wildlife management course but could also be used in an advanced science high school course or general ecology course. It would be beneficial for students to have some background in statistics including how to interpret R-squared values, p-values, and 95% confidence intervals.

In a stunning discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist.