Biology in Action

This week we discussed the scientific method and experimental design in its traditional form.
Attached is an article from Wired Magazine that argues there are newer, more effective ways for solving problems.   What do you think?  Can science learn from Google?

Wired Article

by Laura M

There was an interesting article at ScienceNews.org about bisexual giant hissing cockroaches. Lab tests showed that twenty percent of the males attempted to court and attract other males by means of hissing gently and making thrusting gestures. Curiously enough, it was observed that this same twenty percent also mated with females with “unusual ardor.” The article described this correlation between the same-sex interaction and the “intense courtship” with females as the Libido syndrome. Results revealed that the amount of young produced tended to be substantially larger when a female mated with a bisexual male partner. David Logue leads this study at the University of Lethbridge in Canada. He hypothesizes that perhaps the resulting “abundance of young could end up explaining why this male courtship persists.” Logue suggests that perhaps this is occurring for evolutionary purposes.
    I found this article to be very interesting. I have read other articles about animals, such as giraffes, displaying homosexual or bisexual behavior. None of those articles ever discussed these behaviors from an evolutionary standpoint. This article discusses how these occurrences could possibly be positively effecting the survival and continuation of this species.

Source

Last week, we discussed the effects of tetrodotoxin which can be found in pufferfish.
Just to review tetrodotoxin is an irreversible binding biotoxin that inhibits Na+ channels resulting in paralysis.
There is no known antidote for tetrodotoxin, yet in Hati it has been rumored that certain individuals have been administered tetrodotoxin, presumed dead and then revived with local cures.

In Japan, tetrodotoxin is found in pufferfish and is carefully prepared as a delicacy.  Chefs have served fugu liver after cleansing it of its poison through a traditional method.  Still, sometimes a trace of poison remained, not enough to kill, but enough to thrill by slightly numbing the lip.  As a response, the Japanese ministry of health outlawed the preparation of fugu.  There are several cases resulting in death every year and deaths have occurred worldwide from eating improperly labeled puffer fish.  From 1974 through 1983 there were 646 reported cases of pufferfish poisoning in Japan, with 179 fatalities. Estimates as high as 200 cases per year with mortality approaching 50% have been reported. 
Heather found the following article in a recent New York Times issue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/asia/04fugu.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Scientists have worked on raising fugu without tetrodotoxin, however many believe the new form of fugu not to be safe. Others feel in its safe form, the “thrill” of this meal is lost.

This is a submission from my mom

Described as a “squished version of Jabba the Hutt,” by its finders, these frogs “are flat and have eyes that float above the water. They have skin flaps coming off their arms and legs.

The aquatic frog Barbourula kalimantanensis was found in a remote part of Indonesia’s Kalimantan province on Borneo island during an expedition in August 2007, said David Bickford, an evolutionary biologist at the Bickford was part of the trip and co-authored a paper  the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology.

Bickford said the species is the first frog known to science without lungs and joins a short list of amphibians with this unusual trait, including a few species of salamanders and a wormlike creature known as a caecilian.

“These are about the most ancient and bizarre frogs you can get on the planet,” Bickford said of the brown amphibian with bulging eyes and a tendency to flatten itself as it glides across the water.

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Consider the following:

Diffusion of Gases

I.       Respiration involves diffusion of gases across plasma membranes

A. gases are dissolved in aqueous solutions on either side of the membrane (yes, even in lungs)

B. rate of diffusion is governed by Fick’s law of diffusion:

R=D x A(Dp/d)

Where        R=rate of diffusion

                   D=the diffusion constant

                   A= the area over which diffusion takes place

                   Dp=difference in concentration between the interior of the organism and the external environment (note: for gases, this                     is the difference between their partial pressures)

                   d=the distance across which diffusion takes place

C. Different respiratory systems have evolved that optimize R by…

1.      increasing A
2.      decreasing d
3.      increasing Dp

What mechanisms in Fick’s law allow for the frog to breathe?

by Ted

Although not a very well known weight control product L-Carnitine is one of the most powerful supplements in the Market. Having used L-Carnitine for the last few years along with my diet and exercise program I have experienced tremendous results. And you will not find L-Carnitine in any “popular” weight loss supplements. Stacker, Lipo-6, Ripped Fuel, Trim spa, Hydroxy Cut and Xenadrine are just a few of the fat burners that have cornered the market. Stating that they will make you lose weight no matter what. Any human with a bit of sense knows that weight loss in not just about increasing your metabolism, but, about eating the right foods and supplementing properly. L-Carnitine is not a stimulant, what it does do is so powerful and yet so simple. L-Carnitine helps your mitochondria metabolize fat. The effects are body fat loss and increased energy. I still scratch my head and wonder why more people are not using this supplement. I personally have used pill form but have heard amazing things about the liquid form. My trainer and World Bench-press Champion Joe McAuliffe has used L-Carnitine for years and experienced nothing but results. Besides Weight loss L-Carnitine also aids sperm production. It also has been known to provide cancer patients receiving chemo therapy an energy boost allowing them to move about some what regularly. L-Carnitine is the most powerful and NATRUL weight loss product that has been discovered. Which leaves me scratching my head as to why more company does will not use this in their weight loss supplements?

by Christine

A new study shows that when a child is born, breech delivery might occur due to heredity of both the mother and the father. 2.2 million births were observed over that last forty years that found men and women who had been born in breech position, had more then twice the risk of delivering their own children the same way.  Men delivered by breech seem to carry genes that influence breech delivery which are transferred to their children. Women may also carry other genes for physical characteristics in daughters that might lead to breech deliveries such as, the shape and size of the pelvis.  The lead author of the study claims that more research is needed before they can be certain.  But this information could be the gateway to helping women know why some deliver their children breech and why others go through normal childbirth procedures.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/health/08chil.html?ref=health

Most of you who read my humble blog are forced to as part of my curriculum for Human Biology.
While unrelated to human anatomy and physiology, this is very relevant for Biology especially in honor of earth day.

I know I mentioned in class that would no longer have graded assignments for the blog this semester, but I would be happy to hear responses to this.

I found this through Street Anatomy.
There is a 4 second clip illustrating a couple kissing. It is a unique perspective and reminds me of the DaVinci illustration presented in the reproduction lecture.
The scene comes at 1:14.

Culprit: Heart disease. Cause: Unknown. But sleuths are on the case

 by Diana

            Zookeepers have been saddened and surprised to find that their gorillas are dieing from heart failures recently. One day, a perfectly healthy gorilla, the king of his habitat, fell down after playing with his friends from a heart attack and passed away. Soon after the event took place with another gorilla. What is odd is there has been no symptoms of illness, gorillas are just dieing unexpectedly.

            Doing research into this matter many found that the scenario has been occurring in other zoo’s all around the world. It has been found that 70 percent of gorillas, over the age of 30, have passed from heart failure. Between poaching and heart failure it is said that these gorillas may go extinct by the year 2050. The great apes have been classified as critically endangered. The only great apes that may exist will only be in captivity. The one thing that this article did not explain is what may be causing the heart failure in apes and how we may be able to help. If we are not careful our old ancestors may become extinct. To learn more about this matter, visit…  

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23937517/

Study: Climate change doesn’t explain entirety of beast’s extinction

 by Diana

This article argues that Wooly Mammoths may have gone extinct with the help of humans. This article does not disagree with the fact that climate change is the reason for the mammoth’s extinction but what researchers have discovered is due to the climate change at this time, the slightest bit of hunt for a mammoth may have raced the Wooly Mammoths to their death. The main reason why mammoths died off was because of the change in climate during the end of the Ice Age. However, once humans evolved there was a significant decrease in Wooly Mammoths.

            “But climate doesn’t seem to explain the entirety of the mammoth’s extinction. These hardy animals had survived, barely, a previous interglacial period of planet warming around 126,000 years ago. Scientists have found some fossil bones from this time, so climate change didn’t completely knock out mammoths then.” Because of the change in climate, humans were able to move into North Eurasia, where the mammoths lived, and hunt the already fragile and weak mammoths. “The researchers calculated that by 6,000 years ago, an optimistic estimate of mammoth numbers would mean humans would only have to kill one mammoth each, every three years, to push the species over the brink. A more pessimistic calculation figures that even if one mammoth per human were killed every 200 years, they would still die off.” So in other words, climate did not entirely kill the mammoths off but it made them so weak and venerable that any little bit of hunt sped up the process of extinction.  

If you would like to learn more about the extinction of the Woolly Mammoths, visit… http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23902849/