Category Archives: Biology

New genetic disorders pop up all the time each one represents a child who may face incredible challenges, or even be doomed to death. A child named Bertrand exhibited some serious symptoms profound developmental disabilities shortly after he was born, and no one could figure out what was wrong with him. So they took advantage of 21st century biotechnology and sequenced his genome, and the genome of both of his parents, and asked what novel mutations the child carried. For years, sequencing was too expensive for common usein 2001, the cost of sequencing a single human genome was around a hundred million dollars. But by 2010, with the advent of new technologies, that figure had dropped by more than ninety-nine per cent, to roughly fifty thousand dollars. To reduce costs further, the Duke researchers, including Shashi and a geneticist named David Goldstein, planned to sequence only the exomethe less than two per cent of the genome that codes for proteins and gives rise to the vast majority of known genetic disorders. In a handful of isolated cases, exome sequencing had been successfully used by doctors desperate to identify the causes of mysterious, life-threatening conditions. If the technique could be shown … Continue reading →

Published: Sunday, 7/20/2014 - Updated: 1 minute ago BY MARK ZABORNEY BLADE STAFF WRITER OAK HARBOR Harold V. Ashley, a retired high school biology teacher whose interest in the natural sciences and the natural world transcended classroom and laboratory, died Thursday in Otterbein-North Shore Retirement Village. He was 90. Hed been in failing health, his son Chris said. Mr. Ashley retired in 1989 from Oak Harbor High School, where hed taught since 1963. Teaching just came naturally to him, his son said. He loved showing people what he knew about things and trying to improve them. Once he got established at Oak Harbor, that was his mission and his life calling. He loved Oak Harbor and the school. He taught biology, earth science, and general science. He played recordings of bird calls and expected students to be able to identify 30 of them. He led students on walks to collect and identify leaves. He was popular, said son Chris, a onetime student, as were Mr. Ashleys son Charles and daughter Mary. Most kids enjoyed that class. He made it fun. Mr. Ashleys wife, Virginia, was a popular English and history teacher at Oak Harbor High who later served on the … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 20-Jul-2014 Contact: Glenna Picton picton@bcm.edu 713-798-7974 Baylor College of Medicine HOUSTON (July 20, 2014) A team of scientists from around the world led by Baylor College of Medicine and Washington University in St. Louis has completed the genome sequence of the common marmoset the first sequence of a New World Monkey providing new information about the marmoset's unique rapid reproductive system, physiology and growth, shedding new light on primate biology and evolution. The team published the work today in the journal Nature Genetics. "We study primate genomes to get a better understanding of the biology of the species that are most closely related to humans," said Dr. Jeffrey Rogers, associate professor in the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor and a lead author on the report. "The previous sequences of the great apes and macaques, which are very closely related to humans on the primate evolutionary tree, have provided remarkable new information about the evolutionary origins of the human genome and the processes involved." With the sequence of the marmoset, the team revealed for the first time the genome of a non-human primate in the New World monkeys, which represents a separate branch in the primate evolutionary … Continue reading →

S0 News July 19, 2014 | Electric Biology, Storms Spaceweather http://www.Suspicious0bservers.org http://www.ObservatoryProject.com PLAYLISTS Climate Change: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHSoxioQtwZcqdt3LK6d66tMreI4gqIC- Sun Series: http://www.youtube.com/playlist... By: Suspicious0bservers … Continue reading →

Published: Sunday, 7/20/2014 BY MARK ZABORNEY BLADE STAFF WRITER OAK HARBOR Harold V. Ashley, a retired high school biology teacher whose interest in the natural sciences and the natural world transcended classroom and laboratory, died Thursday in Otterbein-North Shore Retirement Village. He was 90. Hed been in failing health, his son Chris said. Mr. Ashley retired in 1989 from Oak Harbor High School, where hed taught since 1963. Teaching just came naturally to him, his son said. He loved showing people what he knew about things and trying to improve them. Once he got established at Oak Harbor, that was his mission and his life calling. He loved Oak Harbor and the school. He taught biology, earth science, and general science. He played recordings of bird calls and expected students to be able to identify 30 of them. He led students on walks to collect and identify leaves. He was popular, said son Chris, a onetime student, as were Mr. Ashleys son Charles and daughter Mary. Most kids enjoyed that class. He made it fun. Mr. Ashleys wife, Virginia, was a popular English and history teacher at Oak Harbor High who later served on the Board of Education. Holiday season … Continue reading →

RSTOP Biology 2014_Lalala Shakira ft Carlinhos Brown (FIFA2014) Concert Part2-4/5 RSTOP performed of Dare lalala by shakira spanish ver. (FIFA world cup song 2014) at biology party season 08 on 12/07/2014 (siem reap apolo plaza) . I'm not own this song . _ RSTOP , RSFP... By: RSTOP cambodia … Continue reading →

On July 17th, 2014 the House held a hearing titled: Subcommittee on Research and Technology Hearing Policies to Spur Innovative Medical Breakthroughs from Laboratories to Patients Witnesses Dr. Harold Varmus, Director, National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) *(Really liked your DNA tie!) Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne, President and Carson Family Professor, Laboratory of Brain Development and Repair, The Rockefeller University Dr. Jay Keasling, Hubbard Howe Jr. Distinguished Professor of Biochemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; Professor, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley; Professor Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley; Director, Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center Dr. Craig Venter, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, J. Craig Venter Institute, Synthetic Genomics, Inc., and Human Longevity, Inc. This hearing featured a selection of some of the most qualified and influential professionals in the industry, all of which provided informative positions that respectfully represented the biotech industry as a whole. In general, the hearing covered ideal Federal funding for biotech, the importance of R&D and basic science research, the state of the industry in the United States and the competition with other leading nations. The witnesses shared ways to further improve the industry with … Continue reading →

Christopher Wahl This 24-year-old biology grad is luring the meme generation to science. Her own obsession began when Jurassic Park's dinosaurs terrified and enthralled her at 5 years old. Now more than 15 million users follow Elise Andrew's Facebook page, I Fucking Love Science. Her posts grab readers' attention with a photo or an illustration accompanied by a funny, often dark caption. (Picture a smiling bee with the text, If we die, we're taking you with us.) Since she created the page in 2012, Andrew has expanded to other platforms, including a stand-alone news site and an upcoming Science Channel show starring Craig Ferguson. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll beg for more sloths. Do you cover one topic more than others? I studied genetics, evolution, and biology, but I try to be as broad as possible. I do have to catch myself, because I get really excited about new findings in biology and I'll realize, oh crap, I just posted five new bio stories, I should probably post about physics. Your TV show will be an hour of live action and animation. What else can you tell us? I won't be in front of the camera, just helping guide the … Continue reading →

I dont think I will ever get tired of quoting Drew Endys keep synthetic biology weird. One of my favorite articles in the new issue of Biocoder is on the Real Vegan Cheese project. If youve ever tried any of the various vegan cheese substitutes, they are (to put it kindly) awful. The missing ingredient in these products is the milk proteins, or caseins. And of course you cant use real milk proteins in a vegan product. But proteins are just organic compounds that are produced, in abundance, by any living cell. And synthetic biology is about engineering cell DNA to produce whatever proteins we want. Thats the central idea behind the Real Vegan Cheese project: can we design yeast to produce the caseins we need for cheese, without involving any animals? Theres no reason we cant. Once we have the milk proteins, we can use traditional processes to make the cheese. No cows (or sheep, or goats) involved, just genetically modified yeast. And you never eat the yeast; they stay behind at the brewery. Once we can make cheese, we can go further: is it possible to engineer the proteins to remove allergens? Can we go a step further … Continue reading →

Coastal Conservation Biology, Summer 2014 Here is a short video chronicling my experience at Seahorse Key for a summer class! Hope you enjoy it! By: Alyssa Maxon … Continue reading →