Category Archives: Biology

The UKs Wellcome trust has selected 22 pictures and images that capture the wonders of the life sciences. Theyre now on exhibition in the UK and Ireland. The Wellcome Image Awardscelebrates this year 20 years of bringing us the best biology images around the world. Theawards are destined to visual masterpieces that communicate key aspects of the world of biomedical science and healthcare. One of the most successful images has been a close-up of an intraocular lens iris clip, taken in Cambridge by Mark Bartley. This small lens is fixed to the iris with a tiny surgical incision, 3mm long, and is used to treat myopia and cataracts. The patient of whom the picture was taken from, regained almost full vision thanks to the clip. Going down to the microscopic level, another of the winning images depicts a synthetic polymer created at MIT with the aim ofenabling the delivery of microRNA therapeutics to cancer cells. Taken using fluorescence microscopyby Joo Conde, Nuria Oliva and Natalie Artzi, the picture directs our attention to the huge breakthroughs in medicine that biotechnology is bringing. But the overall winner this year is Stickman, an image depicting an alter ego from the artist, Spooky Pooka, … Continue reading →

Many global enterprises today have succeeded by following a simple recipe: procure, manufacture, and assemble in the lowest-cost locations; link these using reliable, standardized logistics and information technology; market the resulting products globally; and book profit in low-tax havens. This powerful formula for economic arbitrage enabled by technology and supported by the politics of open borders is the fruit of several decades of globalization. Today, all three elements of the equation not only are changing, but also are subject to unprecedented levels of uncertainty. Multidimensional uncertainty has profound implications for the standard operating model of global business. First, the potential for economic arbitrage is decreasing as a result of narrowing labor cost differentials across nations and increasing capital intensity of production, leading to a discernible trend of reshoring production. Direct-cost differentials in manufacturing between the US and the Yangtze River Delta in China, for instance, are now estimated to be only 1%. When indirect costs such as logistics are considered, many goods destined for the US market can now be manufactured more cheaply in the US. Whether this trend will persist or strengthen, however, is impossible to say given other uncertainties. Second, technology promises to reshape further the conventional wisdom … Continue reading →

Biochemists have seen the light in developing a new way to control biology at the cellular level. Researchers at the University of Alberta have developed a tool called a photocleavable protein that breaks into two pieces when exposed to light, allowing scientists to study and manipulate activity inside cells in new and different ways. The scientists first used the photocleavable protein to link cellular proteins to inhibitors in a process known as caging, preventing the cellular proteins from performing their usual function. "By shining light into the cell, we can cause the photocleavable protein to break, removing the inhibitor and uncaging the protein within the cell," lead author Robert Campbell, professor in the Department of Chemistry, said in a statement. Once the protein is uncaged, it can begin to perform its normal function inside the cell. The tool is relatively easy to use and widely applicable for other research that involves controlling processes inside a cell. According to Campbell, the power of light-sensitive proteins is that they can be used to study the inner workings of any living cell. For example, ontogenetic tools are widely used to activate brain activity in mice. "We could use the photocleavable protein to study … Continue reading →

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE Soil biology is important to plant growth, participants learned during a Wednesday, March 1 gardening by the seasons presentation by Linda Conover, Rutgers master gardener. During the presentation, participants learned how soil biology relates to plant health and how to improve their garden by improving their soil. Additionally, Rutgers master gardeners helped identify the participants' soil. The next workshop in the gardening by the seasons series is Herbs: Folklore, Uses and Cultivation, planned from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 27 at Rutgers Cooperative Extension, 355 Courthouse - South Dennis Road, Cape May Court House. Jennifer Matthews, owner of Stone Circle Farm, will present a program that demonstrates the historic importance of herbs, how to grow herbs in a garden, how to preserve herbs, and the culinary and home uses for herbs. Workshop cost is $25 and includes dinner. For more information, call 609-465-5115, ext.607. See the original post: Gardening program shows importance of soil biology - Shore News Today … Continue reading →

In the biological sciences we seem obsessed with simple solutions and questions directed towards simple answers and neat headlines. However, biological systems are complex. Can we really expect to gain simple solutions and are we as humans even capable of fully understanding them? Here to explore this topic is guest blogger Ferdi L. Hellweger. Ferdi L. Hellweger 16 Mar 2017 Are biological systems too complex for the human brain? Pixabay The biological sciences are experiencing rapid change, including omics-scale experimental; observational and computational tools; and the migration from a reductionists to a holistic approach (systems biology). However, one thing that remains constant is that we still seek simple explanations of complex systems. We continue to operate under the assumption that the final product of our work the understanding of the system behavior is something our brains can grasp, and we can convey in a paper or discussion. Our inability to make predictions for real systems like lake ecology or human health lays bare the limitation of this approach. Other people, from car mechanics to climate scientists, have learned to delegate understanding to computers. If the goal is to make predictions of complex system behavior, biologists will have to follow suite. … Continue reading →

Coined by African American women in 1994, the phrase reproductive justice aimed to challenge how inequality shapes peoples decisionmaking about childbearing and parenting. By making visible the web of apparently disparate policies that together form a totalizing system of containment, those of us who framed this phrase expanded the meaning of population control to recognize practices thatregardless of intentlimit reproductive options for women of color, indigenous people, immigrants, and other marginalized communities. Nonbiological public policies that have an economic impact, particularly on vulnerable women, are rarely explored in the over-simplified debates on abortion. In contrast, the reproductive justice framework highlights economic reproductive oppression. As this framework has grown in popularity and use, analysts have used reproductive justice standards to offer strong policy proposals for integrating progressive values into public health policies. Heidi Williamson, Kate Bahn, and Jamila Taylor at the Center for American Progress, for example, do just that in their new 2017 report, The Pillars of Equity: A Vision for Economic Security and Reproductive Justice. Reproductive justice is about three interconnected sets of human rights: 1) the right to have children; 2) the right not to have children; and 3) the right to parent children in safe and healthy … Continue reading →

Researchers at the University of Alberta have developed a new method of controlling biology at the cellular level using light. The tool -- called a photocleavable protein -- breaks into two pieces when exposed to light, allowing scientists to study and manipulate activity inside cells in new and different ways. First, scientists use the photocleavable protein to link cellular proteins to inhibitors, preventing the cellular proteins from performing their usual function. This process is known as caging. "By shining light into the cell, we can cause the photocleavable protein to break, removing the inhibitor and uncaging the protein within the cell," said lead author Robert Campbell, professor in the Department of Chemistry. Once the protein is uncaged, it can start to perform its normal function inside the cell. The tool is relatively easy to use and widely applicable for other research that involves controlling processes inside a cell. The power of light-sensitive proteins, Campbell explained, is that they can be used to study the inner workings of any living cell. For example, optogenetic tools are widely used to activate brain activity in mice. "We could use the photocleavable protein to study single bacteria, yeast, human cells in the lab or … Continue reading →

Maintaining a Science Library Case Study: Why Are There No Male Calico Cats? Investigation: Habitat Selection in Flour Beetles Inquiry in Genetics Using Wisconsin Fast Plants Meiosis Case: SRY not SRY Zoobiquity Review and Discussion Questions My classroom has a collection of science themed books that are not textbooks that I periodically share with my students. For example, when discussing biochemistry at the beginning This presentation case study asks two important questions regarding cat coloration: Why are there no male calico cats? Why is it that clones of calico cats do not look This activity was modified from an Advanced Placement Investigation for use with freshman classes. The instructions are clear and require students to examine data and create a graph. Genetic Experiments can be intimidating for teachers due to the time and cost of breeding plants or animals in a classroom. These issues are further complicated in a public Are your students fascinated by the idea of hermaphrodites? Every year when I talk about worms and other organisms that have both sperm and eggs, I get tons I try to read at least one non-fiction book per year to try to keep myself up to date and inspired with … Continue reading →

MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017, 6 A.M. NATURE -- "Basic Butterfly Biology" and spotlight on five Eastern Washington species of conservation concern will be presented in a free program by members of the Washington Butterfly Association, 6 p.m., Wednesday, Room 1A, Downtown Public Library, 906 W. Main St. in Spokane. One of the exciting announcements on our upcoming meeting will be regarding treasure hunting. Our March 15th meeting will cover five Eastern Washington Butterfly Species of Conservation Concern, and what we are doing to track them! It will be followed by an introduction on DVD by noted lepidopterist Jonathan Pelham on Basic Butterfly Biology Ann Potter and Wendy Connolly will discuss a new citizen science project in which WBA members are partnering with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to complete through the next several seasons to track the populations of five butterfly species. The program also includes butterfly expert Jonathan Pelhams fast paced and humorous introduction to butterfly biology, recorded from a presentation he gave to Seattle members. Continue reading here: 'Butterfly Biology 101' topic of program at library - The Spokesman-Review (blog) … Continue reading →

The Wellcome Trust is a major funder of biomedical research in the UK. But part of its remit is improving the public's understanding of health and medical research. This mostly means educational and public outreach efforts. But each year, the Trust also runs a contest that recognizes the best images of all things biological. The winners run from the microscopic to the every day. Many of the winning images aren't clearly medical in nature (unless you plan to practice medicine on a squid). But the compelling visuals may just be enough to induce someone to want to learn more and start searching the Internet for details. And, if so, that'll be in keeping with the Wellcome's mission. Those of you familiar with biology will know you're looking at an eye. But it's the process that created this eye that's amazing. These are the blood vessels that supply the eye, imaged after a contrast agent was injected into them. The images were used to create a 3D model, which was then printed to produce this. This is the aftermath of a cell division, in which the DNA, condensed into thick rods during division, unwound again and distorted the membranes that contain … Continue reading →