• Ontology Talk at New York Botanical Garden

    Updated: 2011-10-19 21:59:11
    EO, The Ontology of Evolutionary Processes: Philosophical and practical issues New York Botanical Garden Bronx, NY 4 November 2011 Dobzhansky’s dictum, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in light of evolution,” is recognized as a fundamental insight—an insight that the community of ontological engineers working in the life sciences has been slow to recognize. The Ontology [...]

  • Brain Evolution & New Genes on the Block

    Updated: 2011-10-19 15:23:49
    What made the human brain? According to Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, it was a giant obsidian monolith inspiring primates to use tools and weapons. Scientists have taken a more nuanced approach, looking for the biology behind the complex structures and enhanced function of the human brain. But merely comparing the genes expressed in [...]

  • The Race Between Climate Change and Evolution

    Updated: 2011-10-07 21:42:28
    The evidence for recent, accelerating global climate change is very strong, as it is for the role we humans have played in influencing our Earth’s weather. But for the most part, there have been few direct tests of how climate change could affect the organisms that inhabit our planet. Much of the evidence on this [...]

  • An eye gene colors butterfly wings red

    Updated: 2011-10-05 05:15:51
    Red may mean STOP or I LOVE YOU! A red splash on a toxic butterfly's wing screams DON'T EAT ME! In nature, one toxic butterfly species may mimic the wing pattern of another toxic species in the area. By using the same signal, they send a stronger message: DON'T EAT US! . Now several research teams that include Smithsonian researchers in Panama, have discovered that Heliconius butterflies mimic each other's red wing patterns through changes in the same gene........

  • Life-history traits may affect DNA mutation rates

    Updated: 2011-10-05 05:15:51
    Back to the main animal science blog page Subscribe To Animal Science Blog RSS Feed Life-history traits may affect DNA mutation rates A composite image of 4 of the 32 mammal species whose life-history traits and DNA mutation rates are studied in the Penn State University laboratory of Kateryna Makova . From the top left corner , moving clockwise : a wild dog , a hyrax , a bat , and an elephant . Individual images are online at http : www.science.psu.edu news-and-events 2011-news Makova6-2011. Credit : Anton Nekrutenko , Makova lab , Penn State University For the first time , researchers have used large-scale DNA sequencing data to investigate a long-standing evolutionary assumption : DNA mutation rates are influenced by a set of species-specific life-history traits . These traits include

  • Hotspots of genetic rearrangement

    Updated: 2011-10-05 05:15:51
    Scientists have zoomed in on mouse chromosomes to map hotspots of genetic recombination - sites where DNA breaks and reforms to shuffle genes. The findings of the researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USU) have the potential to improve the detection of genes associated with disease and to help understand the root causes of genetic abnormalities. The research, published online April 3 in Nature, moves researchers one step closer to understanding how mammals evolve and respond to their environments........

  • Research brings habitat models into the future

    Updated: 2011-10-05 05:15:51
    Models of wildlife habitat now can monitor changes over time more accurately and more easily, thanks to Michigan State University research. "Monitoring and projecting future changes are essential for sustainable management of coupled human and natural systems, including wildlife habitat," said Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability at MSU. "Innovative computer models are urgently needed for effective monitoring and projection"........

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