Hundreds of Washington state high school seniors are still waiting to hear if they will be getting a diploma this month. Passing the state high school biology test, which current law requires them to pass before graduating, should not hold them up. The biology testing requirement should end as many lawmakers, school administrators, Washington State Board of Education members and the superintendent of public instruction all agree. However, the other two graduation exams in math and English are worthy and should remain. The biology test is no longer a relevant part of Washingtons graduation requirements as the state has adopted new science standards and is working on a new, more general science exam. With commencement ceremonies looming, state officials and lawmakers should hurry up and work out a deal to fix that problem and allow students otherwise eligible to graduate. The problem affects few students one or two at every Seattle high school, according to the school district. This week, a spokesman for the state superintendents office said the number is about 1,000 statewide and diminishing as students meet the requirement in other ways. Students should not fail to graduate because of an outdated requirement. The state Senate already has … Continue reading →

UPDATED: Wed., June 7, 2017, 9:40 a.m. Thousands of Washington high school seniors may have to hang their hopes on the Legislature to receive their diplomas this year, after failing to pass a controversial biology assessment test required to earn the certificate. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press) As they walk across a stage in cap and gown in the coming weeks, shaking hands with school officials and smiling for their families in the audience, thousands of Washingtons high school students could be wondering for a month or more whether they will actually get a diploma. The successful completion of their high school careers will come down to one of two things: Passing a controversial biology test that theyve failed multiple times. Or a negotiated deal in the Legislature. At last count, some 3,300 high school seniors in Washington, about 4 percent of the total statewide, have been unable to pass the biology assessment test, a state requirement for graduation along with separate tests in math and English language. All three tests result in some failures, and schools have developed alternative strategies to help students meet the requirements. But the biology test causes the most problems. Statistics released in May by … Continue reading →

June 7, 2017 Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) have found that independent estimates from geology and biology agree on the timing of the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent into today's continents. When continents break up, single species are divided into two and drift apart - physically and genetically. Lead researcher Sarah McIntyre said geologic dating of the continental drift and biological dating of the genetic drift provided independent estimates of the break-up dates over the past 180 million years. "This is by far the most comprehensive comparison of genetic tree-based dates and the geological dates of the continental breakups," said Ms McIntyre, a PhD scholar at the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. "After excluding species that could easily move between continents, a new comparison of these two independent dating methods, applied to the breakup of Pangaea over the past 180 million years, finds good agreement between the two methods. "Geological dating provides important independent support for the relatively new field of using genetic trees to date biological divergences." The research is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. "In collaboration with biologist Professor Colin Groves, we came up with a vetting procedure that excluded species … Continue reading →

June 7, 2017 The mouse lemurthe world's smallest primatehas the potential to transform the field of genetics and serve as an ideal model for a wide range of primate biology, behavior and medicine, including cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers say. For decades, scientists have relied on mice, fruit flies and worms as genetic models, but despite all their success, these organisms routinely fail to mimic many aspects of primate biology, including many human diseases, said Mark Krasnow, MD, PhD, professor of biochemistry. Frustrated by the lack of a good study model, Krasnow and his colleagues turned to the mouse lemur and began conducting detailed physiologic and genetic studies on hundreds of these petite, docile creatures in the rainforests of Madagascar. Working in a Stanford-funded lab on the island country, the scientists report that they already have identified more than 20 individual lemurs with unique genetic traits, including obesity, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, cardiac arrhythmias, progressive eye disease and motor and personality disorders. Their hope is that continued study of these abundant primates could lead to a better understanding, and possibly better treatments, of these and other conditions in lemurs and humans. 'Huge potential' … Continue reading →