Recently, I had an enjoyable chat with Graeme Hill on the subject of sleep. Also on the show was Karyn O'Keeffe, whose research interests are with the physiology of sleep (& the lack of it). My segment focused on the evolution of sleep and yes, I did quite a bit of reading in preparation! Sleep […]
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tunicates – apparent simplicity belies a complex past
Tunicates are more commonly known as 'sea squirts' – little blobby marine creatures that squirt water when you touch them (hence the name). We don't hear about them often, except perhaps when they make the news for all the wrong reasons. But from an evolutionary perspective they are fascinating little creatures – and it's largely […]
Continue readingthe bedbug genome and their bloody habits
Once upon a time, I wrote about traumatic insemination in bedbugs. (Those of my friends who are still traumatised by learning about the reproductive habits of various slug species may not wish to follow that link.) Now, two papers just published in Nature Communications describe the results of sequencing & examining the genome of the […]
Continue readingpolyps + glowing proteins + hosts = disco snails!
By now many of you have probably seen images of green-glowing zebrafish, or pigs whose snout & trotters glow in the dark. In both cases the animals are genetically modified and are expressing a fluorescent protein originally sourced from a jellyfish. (The body form of a jellyfish is a medusa, while that of sea anemones & […]
Continue readingdid Ötzi have a tummy bug?
Well, probably not1, in the sense that most would place on the term 'tummy bug' (where a close proximity to the toilet is a Good Thing), but it turns out that he did have some rather interesting intestinal bacteria. Ötzi is perhaps better known as the 'Iceman', who died around 5,300 years ago in the […]
Continue readingback from the dead? not exactly
In one of my classes we talk a bit about cloning, in the context of discussing various biotech techniques and their applications. Sometimes someone asks if I'd clone my dog (or my husband!) after they'd died, & my response is always to say 'no'. Not because I don't love them both (husband much more than […]
Continue readinga science communicator silenced by the mob
Well, this sucks, & that’s putting it mildly. From Kevin Folta’s blog, Illumination: Dr Folta has been under constant attack in recent months since it emerged that Monsanto had donated $US25,000 to fund a science outreach program he was running. Not his research, but an outreach program. He was accused of a conflict of interest […]
Continue readingyes, we have some bananas – just not gm ones (yet)
Back in 2010 I wrote a post about bananas, following on from a Schol Bio question the previous year. As well as looking at the genotypes of modern bananas, I highlighted the fact that the original wild banana was not a particularly appetising object, with little flesh and a lot of large, hard seeds. Selective […]
Continue readingrip frank’n’louie, the diprosopic cat
Seeing this image of a fish with 2 mouths reminded me that I needed to finish writing about Frankenlouie, a janus-headed (diprosopic) cat. It's funny how the mind works, because the fish definitely isn't a janus-fish: that would require the mouths to be side-by-side rather than one above the other. (While this is a rather […]
Continue readingfood matters aotearoa – an opportunity for real debate? or muddying the waters?
One of the big stories on my Facebook feed at the moment alerted me to Food Matters Aortearoa and its upcoming Wellington conference. The program for this conference has certainly generated a lot of interest among my friends. The focus of that interest lies in the line-up of speakers & the agenda of their tour […]
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