Category Archives: Biology

Picture: iStock Yesterday afternoon, thousands of GCSE students were left baffled when a stupid question about Charles Darwin on the AQA Biology exam. Students taking the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) version of the GCSE biology examwere asked why a Victorian journalist had satirised Charles Darwin as a monkey. Students reported wanting questions on the menstrual cycle or photosynthesis, instead they were asked to "Explain why Darwin is drawn as a monkey". Speaking to HuffingtonPost, an AQA spokesperson said: Its completely normal for students to tweet about their exams. We only ever ask questions about things that are covered in the syllabus - but we cant ask questions about everything on the syllabus, so students will always end up revising topics that dont come up. One student tweeted: It's nice to see AQA are ruining this years GCSEs and not just last years #AQABiology. It is not the first time the AQA biology exam has angered teenagers. Last year, students were left fuming over the GCSE biology exam that contained questions about drunk rats and teenage drinking. However, students one teacher explain to the Plymouth Herald why the question was necessary. He said that the question was near the start … Continue reading →

Comments(1) Students across the country have been left dumbfounded by a strange question in their biology GCSE exam. Year 11 students took to social media to mock the paper, supplied by awarding body Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), for what appeared to be a totally random question about Charles Darwin. After revising and expecting difficult questions on topics such as the menstrual cycles and photosynthesis, students were confronted by the question: "Explain why Darwin is drawn as a monkey." The odd question about the famous biologist led students to express their outrage on Twitter, and most felt it was unfair that they had not been asked about topics they have spent months revising. One student wrote: "It's nice to see AQA are ruining this year's GCSEs and not just last year's #AQABiology" Another added: "How did you pass GCSE Biology? "Exam: Why was Charles Darwin drawn as a monkey? "Me: I'm just great at biology "#AQABiology" Another student wrote: "AQA disregarding the menstrual cycle, decay, and cloning reminds me of how my parents will disregard me on results day #aqabiology #aqab1" One very popular tweet noted: "They didn't put the menstrual cycle in #aqabiology because it made a cameo in … Continue reading →

When biology major Maggie Brown was a freshman at The College of Idaho, she was approached by Biology Professor Dr. Sara Heggland with a proposalthe chance to become involved in cutting edge research as an undergraduate on the largely unexplored topic of electronic cigarettes. I was shocked I could have a research opportunity like that, Brown said. I knew when I was looking at colleges, having the opportunity to do research was a high priority for me. The College of Idaho gave me that opportunity. Brown became one of the first students to work with Heggland researching the effects of electronic cigarettes on bone health, spending more than three years performing experiments and gathering data. Now a senior with a completed honors thesis for her undergraduate research, Brown recently won Best Oral Presentation in Cell and Developmental Biology at the 42nd annual West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference. Its great to see Maggie recognized, Heggland said. She was my first student on this e-cig project, and shes done a lot of foundational work that new students will be able to build upon. She has a great project with a compelling story, and she presents it with such passion, she … Continue reading →

ScienceBlog.com (blog) Quantum Biology and the Frog Prince ScienceBlog.com (blog) Of course, biology continues to hold many mysteries for us: Animal navigation and extraordinary knowing; the remarkable efficiency of evolution, and the related problem of the origin of life; why should microwaves cause cancer? why, indeed, should ... Original post: Quantum Biology and the Frog Prince - ScienceBlog.com (blog) … Continue reading →

Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release) Baby Boom at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ... Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release) The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is celebrating the upcoming Endangered Species Day (May 19) with a slew of new births of endangered ... Hello baby! A bunch of baby animals were born at the Smithsonian's ...Washington Post Spring Brings a Wave of Baby Animals to the Zoo | At the SmithsonianSmithsonian all 3 news articles » See original here: Baby Boom at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ... - Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release) … Continue reading →

Our latest Futurography unit focused on synthetic biology. We published articles on the regulatory status of the field, the possible militarization of the natural world, and even synthetic biologys relationship to queer theory. But were also interested in what you have to say, so weve written up our survey on the topic. One of the most immediate stumbling blocks in discussions of synthetic biology comes from the difficulty of defining what, exactly, the term means. Some Slate readers agreed that it might be worth trying to clarify what were talking about. I would define synthetic biology as the engineering approach to biology, one wrote, though he or she acknowledged that this framing could potentially overlap with fields such as genetic engineering and metabolic engineering. A few suggested that we should limit the term to attempts to create artificial life, while others argued that getting scientists to agree on what their field entails would likely be futile. Or as one reader put it, Good luck! It's like pornography, you know it when you see it. Readers listed a wide range of promising possible applications for synthetic biology. One proposed that [g]ene drives to mitigate mosquito-born disease and invasive species were the … Continue reading →

Harvard Gazette Harvard's Pamela Silver recalls journey from Silicon Valley to synthetic biology Harvard Gazette Decades and many discoveries later, the same passion helped establish her as a leader in the fledgling field of synthetic biology. Silver was recently named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the Elliot T. and Onie H. Adams ... Originally posted here: Harvard's Pamela Silver recalls journey from Silicon Valley to synthetic biology - Harvard Gazette … Continue reading →

At the moment of reproductive fertilization, much of a person's health perspective is determined by the genetic and epigenetic information contained within the sperm and egg. This research finding has changed our understanding of health and disease. Wei Yan, foundation professor of physiology and cell biology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, was one of the first to validate this important finding. In recognition of his distinguished research record and paradigm-shifting discoveries, Yan, who holds a medical degree and a PhD, has received the University's 2017 Outstanding Researcher Award. Yan's research on the genetic and epigenetic regulation of human and animal reproduction is internationally recognized, and his research has been continuously supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and various foundations. Factors such as nutrition, lifestyle, or environmental exposures all impact health. But Yan's research indicates that the quality of the gametes (sperm and eggs) has a huge impact on the health perspective of the offspring. His research has discovered that environmental insults can lead to genetic and epigenetic alterations in the gametes, which not only compromise fertility, but also predispose the offspring to many common diseases, which sometimes can even be inherited across multiple … Continue reading →

Comments(6) Plymouth students were among the many across the country who were dumbfounded by a strange question in their biology GCSE exam. Twitter came alive as year 11 students mocked the paper, supplied by awarding body Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), for what appeared to be a totally random question about Charles Darwin. Expecting difficult questions on topics such as the menstrual cycles and photosynthesis, students were confronted by the question "Explain why Darwin is drawn as a monkey". The question about the famous biologist led to outrage among some students who felt it was unfair that they had not been asked about topics they have spent months revising. One Plymouth student responded: "It's nice to see AQA are ruining this years GCSEs and not just last years #AQABiology" Another added: "How did you pass GCSE Biology? "Exam: Why was Charles Darwin drawn as a monkey? "Me: I'm just great at biology "#AQABiology" In other parts of the country students were equally stupefied at what appeared to be a history question in a biology exam. One wrote: "Aqa disregarding the menstrual cycle, decay, and cloning reminds me of how my parents will disregard me on results day #aqabiology #aqab1" One … Continue reading →

*Students at Roswell High School in New Mexico were shocked to discover that one of the questions on their biology final exam was, Why are n***ers black? A screenshot of the question made its way through the high school and into the community at large, sparking outrage. When I first saw it you know, I was just taken back like. You know, this isnt right, Justice Adler, one of the first students to see the racist question, told local station KOB 4. Then I kept reading it over and over again and I just got so angry. Minorities arent just words. We are people. Like, we have feelings. KOB reports that local and state education officials said they are reviewing a student they believe altered the exam with the racial slur. KOB reporter Leonard Tapia shared with the Roswell Daily Record text messages he received from RISD officials: The Roswell ISD and (New Mexico Public Education Department) have become aware that a student altered a screen of the NM End of Course biology exam and took a picture of it to post on Facebook, said Dr. Arsenio Romero, assistant superintendent for instruction at RISD. PED spokeswoman Lida Alikhani said the … Continue reading →