Category Archives: Biology

A biology major at Purdue has started a petition that calls for an increase in funding for Lilly Hall of Life Sciences. According to senior Samantha Leites petition, which is titled Make Lilly Hall Great Again, the building is described as being in poor condition and lacking in sufficient resources. Leite calls for an increased investment toward updating laboratory technologies and redesigning infrastructure to create an environment more conducive to learning. The labs are far outdated and run-down, and the lecture halls barely have temperature controls, Leite said. Biology is the cornerstone of science and yet our biology majors at a top research university are using materials that are so outdated. Alexandru Ivan, a sophomore in the College of Science, agreed with Leites sentiment. Honestly, there's a lot of equipment such as the spectrophotometers which have begun to stop working on us, Ivan said. Computers are old and slow, which makes running bioinformatics programs and other high-intensity coding API's quite tedious. Leite also described how her role as an ambassador for the College of Science inspired her to start the petition. Im a biology ambassador, and I have to give tours of the building its embarrassing for me to take … Continue reading →

Just in time for Earth Day this weekend, Carson High School's honors biology course broke ground on campus Thursday morning for the school's first wildlife sanctuary. The class received approval for a $5,000 grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to cultivate an outdoor habitat. The grant requires a 10-year commitment to protect and maintain a habitat restoration and the garden must be 1,000 square feet minimum. Each section must support desert shrubs, plants adapted to wet conditions, tall grasses and wildflowers, and large trees. Honors biology teacher Julie Koop said the class went through an arduous process to receive a grant. During the grant confirmation process, the landscape of CHS was thoroughly inspected by the agency, and students were required to blueprint garden locations. They also had to accomplish growing milkweed in the classroom as an experiment. This was all done over five months. "We really wanted this," she said. "Last year, we started a similar project on our own." With the grant, students designed three gardens for butterflies, birds, and other wildlife such as rabbits and bugs. One of the main goals is to create a comfortable and healthy environment to welcome more nature over the years. … Continue reading →

Naked mole rats are tough creatures they can withstand cancer, pain, and even survive 18 minute stretches without any oxygen. And now, scientists have a better idea of how the super rodents can survive that long without suffocating. The findings, published today in the journal Science, could one day help researchers figure out how to keep humans healthy when oxygen gets cut off by strokes or heart failure. Naked mole rats are wrinkly, hairless, poop-eating, delightful creatures that live in large colonies of up to 280 animals. They spend their lives crawling through tunnel networks beneath the deserts of Africa where the air can get a little stuffy, and very low on oxygen. On the surface, carbon dioxide makes up less than one percent of the gases we breathe. But in these tunnels, carbon dioxide can account for 7 to 10 percent of the warm, close air. For most creatures, these conditions would be unlivable. We need oxygen to survive, because oxygen is key for generating the energy our bodies rely on to function. Cut off the oxygen, and we humans start hyperventilating, panicking, and having acid build up in our tissues. In the long run, we can experience serious … Continue reading →

Forbes Google Offshoot Starts A 10000-Person Study To Plumb Human Biology Forbes It's a realistic blueprint for how tech could change medicine. But it's also an emblem of how long that transformation will take. Verily, formerly known as Google Life Sciences, plans to begin a long-awaited 10,000-person study to explore the biology ... Verily Blog: Introducing Verily Study WatchVerily Blog Personalized Parkinson's Project - Verily Life SciencesVerily Baseline study - VerilyVerily MIT Technology Review all 117 news articles » Read the original post: Google Offshoot Starts A 10000-Person Study To Plumb Human Biology - Forbes … Continue reading →

Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release) Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release) The public is invited to help name five of the 10 cheetah cubs born in late March at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia. There are fewer than 10,000 cheetahs in the wild, and researchers at the Smithsonian's ... Vote to name the Smithsonian's cheetah cubsCBS News Name the cheetah cubs vote nowWTOP Saving the Panamanian Golden FrogSmithsonian Science News all 7 news articles » Read more: Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute - Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release) … Continue reading →

The Texas State Board of Education tentatively voted to removelanguage in high school biology standards that would have required students to challenge evolutionary science. Currently, the curriculum requires students to evaluate scientific explanations for the origins of DNA and the complexity of certain cells, which some have argued could open the door to teaching creationism. Wednesday's vote, which had been preceded by a lengthy and contentious debate in recent months, would change how science teachers approach such topics in the classroom. The word "evaluate" could require another two weeks of lesson time for teachers who are already on tight schedules to cover material for the state's standardized tests, said Ron Wetherington, a Southern Methodist University professor on the 10-member committee of teachers and scientists that the board appointed in July to help streamline science standards. The committee wrote a letter last week requestingnarrower language to replace the word "evaluate," arguing it would save valuable instruction time without creating significant instructional problems. The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one. On Wednesday, board member Keven Ellis proposed two amendments that reflected this feedback and eliminated the word "evaluate" from biology standards replacing it with language requiring students to "examine scientific explanations … Continue reading →

Thinkstock Until the last couple of years transgender issues and rights were not even on the proverbial back burner. They were at best a very distant thought light years away for most. Suddenly gay marriage was the law of the land, and the push for rights for the final segments of the LGBT community became front and center. Many school districts here in New Jersey were no exception, with policies being drafted and debated everywhere. Weve heard all the arguments about keeping transgender kids to the bathrooms of the gender they were born with. Boys will pretend to be trans girls just to peep on girls. Yeah, because trans kids are never ever picked on and vilified in public schools so a boy would have no awkwardness about pretending such a thing. I dont want my daughter seeing male body parts in the school bathroom! What girls room has urinals? Theyre all inside stalls. Males can go in female bathrooms to rape females! If the much more serious criminal charge of rape vs. the lesser charge of trespass doesnt stop them, then they can already be going right in to the female bathrooms to rape all they want. The latest … Continue reading →

Fort Worth Star Telegram From 'evaluate' to 'examine': a key difference in how students will learn biology Fort Worth Star Telegram The Texas State Board of Education tentatively voted to remove language in high school biology standards that would have required students to challenge evolutionary science. Currently, the curriculum requires students to evaluate scientific ... Texas education board nears compromise on evolution standardsTexas Tribune Texas education board to consider compromise on evolution standardsBig Country Homepage Texas State Board of Education debating how evolution should be ...KXAN.com KUT all 25 news articles » See the original post here: From 'evaluate' to 'examine': a key difference in how students will learn biology - Fort Worth Star Telegram … Continue reading →

University of Oregon DNA researcher Diana Libuda, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and the Institute of Molecular Biology, has been named a 2017 Searle Scholar. The award is handed out each year to 15 exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry, according to the Searle program description. Searle scholars each receive $300,000 in flexible funding to support independent research over three years. Libudas lab focuses on how DNA is repaired during sperm and egg development to ensure genome inheritance from one generation to another and utilizes the roundworm C. elegans as a model system. Libuda was selected from a field of 196 applicants from 143 universities and research institutions. Its a huge honor, Libuda said. The people who have received this award, both here at the UO and elsewhere, is a list of very prestigious scientists. I was thrilled and excited to be recognized and in that same echelon of people. Libuda came to the UO in January 2015 after serving as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. This is an outstanding accomplishment that places professor Libuda among the top young researchers in the nation in biomedical and chemical sciences, said David Conover, the UOs … Continue reading →

Sophomore Jessica Sales does not take life for granted. She enjoys helping people in need and encourages others to do the same. She lost her grandmother to lung cancer. This showed me to live life to the fullest but always keep God first and live your life through Him, she said. One of her most exciting moments in her life was when she got saved and baptized. My best friend Cassie and I got saved and baptized on the same day and its something Ill never forget, Sales said. A student at Grainger High, she thinks hunger is one of the greatest challenges facing America today. I work closely with Second Harvest (Food Bank) and (it) is the first step to ending hunger, she said. In addition to volunteering with Second Harvest, Sales is a seven-time national champion clogger. She also models and acts for Talent Trek Agency and Miss Smoky Mountains Outstanding Teen. In her free time, she clogs, sings, plays guitar and ukulele and participates in pageants. She sees Dolly Parton as her hero because she is such a generous person. She donated thousands to the Gatlinburg relief efforts, Sales said. She (also) sings, plays guitar and acts … Continue reading →