Archive: 2014

In all animals, the mother fills the egg with all the proteins and mRNAs necessary for early development. In Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies), when one of these genes is missing, it can lead to severe malformations in the larval exoskeleton. The top…

Cane Toad on Grass. Image from SamFraser-Smith, National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.orgA recent publication from Harvard scientists outlines the potential of a cutting-edge technology, CRISPR, to improve on an old technology called Gene Drives in order…

 Let’s consider a virus like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). If we want to study it in a lab setting, we need an animal model, that is a living entity that we can infect and observe for a certain period of time. We cannot infect humans for obvious…

Mashed potatoes are Uncle Mike’s favorite food; at family dinners he would spoon mound after mound of them onto his plate long after everyone else was done eating. Many people seem to feel the same way about these creamy mountains of starch, but is it…

Image credit: Wikipedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AClassic_roll.jpg A study published last month suggests that the potential value of cinnamon may go far beyond tickling our taste buds. The research group reports that cinnamon was…

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been detected in a baby girl from Mississippi born with HIV and believed cured after very early treatment, disappointing the families involved and researchers. Millions of people have died of AIDS and millions…

How did groups of modern humans inhabiting high-altitude environments adapt to live in such low oxygen levels? Some, such as the Andeans, cope with these conditions by increasing their capacity for oxygen. Tibetans have adapted by doing the opposite but…

"...the effect sizes of their manipulations are extremely small, indicating a very weak effect."

Imagine you have a stream running through your property where your family regularly swims and fishes, but one day the fish and plants begin dying because of toxic waste dumping upstream.  Even if the power plant eventually pays reparation costs, the…

You might have heard something in the news recently about climate change ‘pausing’, ‘stopping’ or ‘slowing down’. While there is some truth to the phrase ‘global warming hiatus’, the issue is in fact a complex one. The hiatus represents an interesting…