Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, they report that they've pinpointed the bit of finch DNA behind the swift transition: a gene called HMGA2. In finches, HMGA2 seems to be the primary factor in beak size - like a really good group project leader, it orchestrates the expression of a number of other genes, each of which tweaks the size of the bird's beak. The same gene also appears in dogs, horses, even humans, holding sway over body size and stature.

Everyone hates mosquitos. Besides the annoying buzzing and biting, mosquito-borne diseases like malaria kill over a million people each year (plus horses, dogs and cats). And over the past 100 million years, they've gotten good at their job -- sucking up to three times their weight in blood, totally undetected. So shouldn't we just get rid of them? Rose Eveleth shares why scientists aren't sure.

Interactive genetics game of increasing complexit.

Scientists once shied away from naming research animals, and many of the millions of mice and rats used in U.S. research today go nameless, except for special individuals. But a look at ​many facilities suggests that most of the ​other ​891,161 ​U.S. ​research animals ​have proper names​, including nonhuman primates, dogs, pigs, rabbits, cats, and sheep​.

So how do animals play a role in this research? Well, in a couple of ways. First, the chlorotoxin in Tumor Paint was derived from scorpion venom. Second, researchers worked with dogs before moving into human trials to determine the likelihood of success. After promising results in canines, human trials are now underway at Cedars Sinai Medical Center! Right now, the study is aimed at proving that Tumor Paint is able to reach the brain tumor successfully. If all goes well, it's possible that this could lead to more successful surgical outcomes.

4:22 video Madagascar's top predator is a mysterious cat-like creature called the fossa. But dogs and humans are threatening its very existence. National Geographic's Luke Dollar investigates.

Concept maps are tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts or propositions, (indicated by a connecting line and linking word) between two concepts. Linking words on the line specify the relationship between the two concepts. Joe Novak defines "concept" as a perceived regularity in events or objects, or records of events or objects, designated by a label. Think of the concept "Dog" in your mind, what do you see? You might see a prototype shape (head, four legs etc) and typical examples (terrier, collie, sheepDog) and even be able to explain it (give a definition) in words. The label for most concepts is a word, although sometimes we use symbols such as + or %. Propositions are statements about some object or event in the universe, either naturally occurring or constructed. Propositions contain two or more concepts connected with other words to form a meaningful statement. Sometimes these are called semantic units,or units of meaning. Figure 1 shows an example of a concept map that describes the structure of concept maps and illustrates the above characteristics.

4:32 video Dr. Debbye Turner Bell profiles one 7-year-old Virginia boy who has found a creative way to improve the lives of countless Epilepsy patients and seizure sufferers.

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↓↓

In the 2013 Holiday Lectures on Science, Charles L. Sawyers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Christopher A. Walsh of Boston Children's Hospital will reveal the breathtaking pace of discoveries into the genetic causes of various types of cancers and diseases of the nervous system, and discuss the impact of those discoveries on our understanding of normal human development and disease.

Through this method, the researchers were able to identify that the frizzled-6 gene was expressed around eight times more in tumor-forming cell lines. The specific cascade initiated by frizzled-6 and how it affects the development of cancerous cells has yet to be determined. The overexpression of frizzled-6 suggests that the protein either forms tumor cells directly or is an indirect result of other mutated pathways.

Charles is an African giant pouched rat, a species endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. He's also a pioneer, one of 30 of his species that live and work here in Morogoro, a few hundred kilometers west of Tanzania's largest city, Dar es Salaam, on a program to sniff out tuberculosis (TB).

Recently, in an article in the New Republic, 'The Animals That Can Save Your Life', journalist Emma Young introduces readers to the emerging science of training animals to detect things humans cannot.

Predators don't control populations of their prey just by killing them. They also paint what is termed a landscape of fear, inhibiting prey from feeding and turning parts of their habitat into no-go zones. Now it appears that this has far-reaching effects throughout the food web.

Although rabies still causes thousands of deaths globally every year, it has essentially been eradicated from most industrialized countries. Part of the success story is due to an unusual project undertaken by the Swiss prompted by a series of large outbreaks in the 1970s: the large-scale vaccination of wild foxes to stop the epidemic. In this directed case study, students use an easily accessible MS Excel-based model to understand key epidemiological parameters of rabies outbreaks in wild foxes. The simple model allows students also to predict what proportion of foxes needs to be vaccinated to eradicate the virus from the population. The case fits into both ecological and microbiological (epidemiological) courses and offers opportunities to explore zoonotic diseases and "One Health" questions. The mathematical basis of the differential equations in the models is explained, although prior knowledge of calculus is not essential. A key learning outcome is the critical understanding of both the power and limitations of simple epidemiological models. This case was written for an online course but could also be used as a face-to-face activity if students have access to computers in class.