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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.

But this tiny sample turned out to hold tremendous scientific value. It was from a person fortunate to survive the deadly Ebola virus outbreak of 2014. Walker and her colleagues wanted to know if they could identify some special antibodies in that person's blood. If this person had special Ebola-neutralizing antibodies, that might help explain why that person lived. The antibodies might also help provide a template for future development of a vaccine. Or, they could be the basis for genetically engineered copies that could be manufactured at large scale, stockpiled and used to rescue people newly infected in an outbreak.

2 min video A quick tutorial, showing how we use restriction enzymes to cut out a desired gene from one organism, and insert it into the plasmid of a bacterium. This allows massive production of the desired protein (in this case the hormone: insulin) in a relatively short amount of time.

Until very recently it was thought that just one bacterium was to blame for causing Lyme disease in humans. But it turns out that a second, related bug can cause it too.

Its accuracy has made DNA evidence virtually unassailable. A landmark report published by the National Research Council in 2009 dismissed most forensics as unproven folk-wisdom but singled out DNA as the one forensic science worthy of the name. Yet in recent years Hampikian and other geneticists have begun to question the technology. Thanks to a series of advances-including the polymerase chain reaction, which can multiply tiny amounts of DNA-it's now possible to detect DNA at levels hundreds or even thousands of times lower than when DNA fingerprinting was developed in the 1980s. Investigators can even collect "touch DNA" from fingerprints on, say, a glass or a doorknob. A mere 25 or 30 cells will sometimes suffice. This heightened sensitivity can easily create false positives

The team, led by senior authors Qi Zhou and Xiao-Yang Zhao, both from the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, took embryonic stem cells from mice and treated them to a series of carefully worked out steps that included first exposing the stem cells to testicular cells in newly born male mice. The scientists then recreated the chemical environment that sperm cells need to grow, including early development factors and sex hormones including testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone and a growth factor from the pituitary gland.

This interrupted case study addresses several concepts related to climate change and its effect on the American pika. Often called an indicator species for climate change, the pika has a unique set of variables specific to its environment. Factors such as temperature, snowpack, and vegetation can affect the distribution and ultimately the chances of survival. The case was designed for use in a "flipped" classroom in which students prepare in advance outside of class by filling out a worksheet while watching a video. The video, created by the author of the case, provides students with baseline information that they apply in class to come up with key ideas and predictions, followed by analysis of actual data to test the hypotheses they develop. The case study incorporates group discussion, analysis of experimental design, and data evaluation as central activities and can be taught in a single 50 minute class session. The case was designed for use in a large introductory-level class, but is also appropriate for smaller classes.

In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration) is the transfer of alleles or genes from one population to another. Migration into or out of a population may be responsible for a marked change in allele frequencies (the proportion of members carrying a particular variant of a gene). Immigration may also result in the addition of new genetic variants to the established gene pool of a particular species or population.

Last time we put a Polar Bear in the desert and we still feel bad about that, but there's a lot more going on in ecosystems than just temperature. In fact, there are so many elements in ecosystems, that if just one leaves or gets out of whack, it can be terrible for the whole thing. But today, let's talk about Spider Monkeys.

The war against malaria has a new ally: a controversial technology for spreading genes throughout a population of animals. Researchers report today that they have harnessed a so-called gene drive to efficiently endow mosquitoes with genes that should make them immune to the malaria parasite-and unable to spread it. On its own, gene drive won't get rid of malaria, but if successfully applied in the wild the method could help wipe out the disease, at least in some corners of the world. The approach "can bring us to zero [cases]," says Nora Besansky, a geneticist at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, who specializes in malaria-carrying mosquitoes. "The mosquitos do their own work [and] reach places we can't afford to go or get to."

Why elephants aren't riddled with tumors poses a weighty problem for researchers. A new study shows that the animals harbor dozens of extra copies of one of the most powerful cancer-preventing genes. These bonus genes might enable elephants to weed out potentially cancerous cells before they can grow into tumors.

This biomarker, called the KRAS-variant, is linked to more cancers than any other known inherited genetic mutation. It is present in 1 out of every 4 people with cancer, and in more than half of people who develop multiple cancers. KRAS-variant carriers tend to get highly aggressive and recurrent breast, ovarian, head and neck, lung and pancreatic cancers.

Published on Oct 14, 2015 7:50  If you take a look at an ingredients list, odds are you'll find natural and artificial flavors somewhere in there. Turns out there's a whole science to making your pumpkin spice latte taste like pumpkin spice, or your potato chips taste like pizza.

But then on Dec. 22, 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer came across a strange blue fin poking out of a pile of fish that struck her as extraordinary. With its fleshy, lobed fins and its tough armored scales, the specimen looked very unlike fish we see in our oceans today. That is because the coelacanth has managed to survive in roughly its current form for hundreds of millions of years. In the course of researching this film, we learned all kinds of amazing facts about the coelacanth. For instance, unlike most fish, they give birth to live young. They produce eggs the size of grapefruits, which then hatch internally. From video footage taken by the explorer Hans Fricke - which we used as inspiration for our sets and puppets - we know coelacanths are prone to some odd behavior. They've been spotted doing headstands underwater.

Want to know how much bacteria we host within our body and how many we encounter on a daily basis well check out this clip from Life On Us where we will see the different types of bacteria that inhabit us like Demodex Folliculorum which is a face mite...

"Thus far, the lineages of wolves that likely gave rise to dogs have not yet been discovered and it's possible that these puppies could be on that lineage, which would be very exciting," said evolutionary biologist Greger Larson, of the University of Oxford, one of the scientists behind a collaborative project aimed at finding out when and where dogs became the first domesticated animals.

You've always been told sugar is bad for you, but how bad is it really? Find out in this science music video - researched, written, sung, directed, shot, and edited by 8th graders from The Nueva School in California. This song is a science parody of "Sunday Candy" by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, featuring Chance the Rapper and Jamila Woods.

In this tutorial you will be learning about the Linnaean system of classification used in the biological sciences to describe and categorize all living things.  The focus is on finding out how humans fit within this system.  In addition, you will discover part of the great diversity of life forms and come to understand why some animals are considered to be close to us in their evolutionary history.

The mystery of where these orphan genes came from has puzzled scientists for decades. But in the past few years, a once-heretical explanation has quickly gained momentum - that many of these orphans arose out of so-called junk DNA, or non-coding DNA, the mysterious stretches of DNA between genes. "Genetic function somehow springs into existence," said David Begun, a biologist at the University of California, Davis.