"Monster" Goldfish

Monster Goldfish Found in Lake Tahoe
by Tanya Lewis and LiveScience
Published February 21, 2012 at ScientificAmerican.com

Goldfish are proving to cause significant problems for the ecosystem of Lake Tahoe in the United States. Aquarium dumping has released these organisms into their nonnative habitat, where they threaten the ecological organization of the lake, famous for its clear waters. Researchers study the lake recently discovered several large goldfish, measuring 1.5 feet long and weighing 4.2 pounds. According to scientist Sudeep Chandra of the University of Nevada, Reno, they have, "found a nice corners where there's about 15 other goldfish... [and there's] indication that they were schooling and spawning." The introduction of this new invasive species greatly threatens the local ecosystem. First of all, it introduces a new predator for native fish and this could lead to an increase resource competition. Secondly, the fish release certain nutrients that cause algae blooms, which can be disastrous for an ecosystem and prevent aquatic plant growth. Aquarium dumping has become a serious issue in the United States. According to researcher Sue Williams, "Globally, the aquarium trade has contributed a thirds of the world's worst aquatic and invasive species." Studies have also shown that 20-69 percent of Texan fish owners dispose of unwanted fish in local ecosystems. Aside from this, aquaculture, live seafood, live baiting, and fishing and recreation vessels are also leading to the introduction of nonnative species to local environments.
The introduction of invasive species into new ecosystems is a very serious issue which threatens the local populations. The goldfishes' presence in Lake Tahoe could prove fatal to many native organisms. Algae blooms are known for greatly harming habitats and leading to the rapid reduction of aquatic plant growth, removing a vital group from the food pyramid. Another interesting aspect of this story is the rate at which the fish adapted to their environment. Normally, the fish are very small; in Lake Tahoe, they grew to astonishing sizes, showing that significant mutations have taken place. By educating the general population about the dangers of invasive species introduction, as well as the importance of conserving local ecosystems would greatly lead to the reduction of aquarium dumping. In conclusion, the introduction of nonnative species to new environments could greatly harm the local ecosystems and actions should be taken to educate the public of those dangers. 

A new theory of genetic inheritance

"Do Plants 'veto' Bad Genes?
by Heidi Ledford
Nature: International Weekly-Journal of Science

Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana)

Studies by Dr. Susan Lolle of the University of Waterloo propose that plants may be able to reject mutated parent genes in favor of healthier grandparent genes. Her work in 2005 claimed that genes from a grandparent generation of Thales cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) appeared in grandchildren, despite them being absent from the parents genomes. Scientists theorize that the appearance of ancestral genes could come from RNA, or an outside source of DNA. However, there has been many challenges to the validity of this study after several researchers were unable to replicate Lolle's results. To combat this skepticism, she has repeated the experiment multiple times, to reaffirm her earlier findings. Another area of criticism for this experiment regards the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and its connection to possible pollen contamination. Lolle claims that they have limited the contamination for the experiments and performed enough trials to further reaffirm her data. Recently, another group of researchers has gotten the same results, though scientists are concerned about pollen contamination in regard to their experiment.

I agree with Animesh Ray of the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science who claimed that, "If we believe in the veracity of the experiments, these are very intriguing observations." These are fascinating results, that if proven could change the way we think about plant heredity and even evolution. However, further experimentation by international groups before it confirmed. Like any new study, extensive research must be conducted with a varsity of organisms to validate the results. The ability of organisms to reject mutated traits, in favor of ancestral ones is a fascinating concept that could help explain evolutionary patterns or even offer potential of helping deal with hereditary illness in a medical context. This new theory of gene selection reminds me of the article on epigenetics I wrote about last month, where organisms expressed different traits, despite having the same genetic information. In conclusion, the emergence of new theories involving genetic inheritance show great potential for explaining evolutionary patterns or helping prevent DNA-linked diseases. 

Obesity in Dads May Be Associated With Offspring's Increased Risk of Disease

A new research from Duke Medicine has shown that a father's obesity may be one of the reasons the the child has a bad health to begin with, and the raised chances of getting cancer. A recent study featured in BMC medicine directly links the paternal genes to the illnesses of their children. Before, it was though that most of the genetic predispositions for such diseases were given from the mother's side, but new research shows that that is not true. Before this study, most of the offspring's health problems were correlated with the mother's behavior (such as smoking or drinking), the amount of exercise, and her environment. Now, we have understood that this is not completely accurate since a father's lifestyle can also affect the life of the children- and their health. A connection has been found that children with overweight fathers are more prone to get certain cancers- such as ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer. Also, these children are more likely to develop an eating disorder- often overeating, undereating, and diabetes. This study has showed us how it is important to take care of your health even before you are planning on having children, because an unhealthy lifestyle can directly influence them and their health. 

Desert bacteria could help boost crop yields

Name: Desert bacteria could help boost crop yields
Author: Wagdy Sawahel
Date: 06.02.2013.
Publication: Environmental News Network

Researches from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) isolated strains tolerant to drought and salt of Rhizobia - a bacteria that fixates nitrogen once it is inside the root of legumes. There is a possibility that this bacteria could help with stopping desertification in arid Middle East, as well as North Africa. It could boost agriculture in those regions as well.

The bacteria lives in a symbiosis with their host, as they exchange nitrogen produced by the plant during photosynthesis. This is used for improving the soil quality. This discovery could lead to improvement of production of leguminous plants which are common in arid environments (according to a study published by the Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture in february, carried out by researchers from the Dubai-based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science from Dubai)

This article deals with a similar topic as one of my earlier ones, and I decided to talk about it as I feel that dealing with desertification is an important issue. I'm glad that more and more countries are finding ways to stop it, and boos agriculture.

Funding for Aberdeen research using shark immune systems to develop drugs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-21352836

6 February 2013 

BBC SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT

Sharks are one of the most ancient species on the planet.
Researchers, who are investigating and finding a medical cure for cancer are now developing a new drug. Their findings are based on the shark's immune system. They found structures called variable novel antigen receptors (VNARs) which are able to help cure cancer.
The University of Aberdeen, which is working on this drug, has received financial support and backing from the Scottish Enterprise and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. They awarded them the money, 1.5 m pound, to develop man-made proteins, which are very closely related and similar to the structures found in sharks.
By now, the investigating team has created more than 10bn of the before named molecules and that their drug library is very very useful. The amount of molecules, which they produced, can be compared with the structures of 10,000 sharks. So basically, they have access to all of these molecules without having to keep on single shark in an aquarium.
Professor Andy Porter said : " We are excited and delighted with the support we have received from Scottish Enterprise and BBSRC for our research."
Professor Stephen Logan, senior vice principal of the University of Aberdeen, believes that this is a very useful and exciting research, which will help the drug discovery and of course on Aberdeen's reputation.
All of the researchers believe that the invented molecules and technology have huge potential and the only challenge which they are left with is, to create a company out of this located in Scotland
I personally believe that this is a huge development. Finding a drug which helps fight against cancer is awesome. And doing this, by not needing to keep the sharks in a small tank is even better. They can help cure cancer and at the same time they do not expose the sharks to any harm, they just had to find the molecule.

A team developing anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory drugs from research based on the immune systems of sharks has received a £1.5m funding boost.Continue reading the main story

Evidence Moles Can Smell in Stereo

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130205123011.htm

Feb. 5, 2013

It has been a long debated scientific topic and new research may suggest that many mammals may smell in stereo. It is known that many mammals, including humans, hear in stereo, but the ability to smell in stereo may explain why certain animals, such as moles, are able to rely on their sense of smell to locate their prey.

A recent study, published in the journal “Nature Communications” on February 5^th, shows that moles do in fact use stereo sniffing to navigate and locate its prey or predators. The study was done by Kenneth Catania, a professor of biological sciences at the Vanderbilt University. Catania admitted that he was a skeptic at first. He believed it was impossible for moles to smell in stereo because of how close together their nostrils are. He also added, "The fact that moles use stereo odor cues to locate food suggests other mammals that rely heavily on their sense of smell, like dogs and pigs might also have this ability,"

Catania’s initial interest in moles started when he was studying the star-nosed a mole. The star-nosed mole is a close relative of the common mole however it uses tentacles surrounding its nose to detect food. Because the common mole is blind and does not posses a set of tentacles to help find it’s prey, Catania rightly assumed that the common mole’s ability to find prey was a lot worse than the star-nosed mole. As well as being blind, the common mole also has a poorly developed sense of touch. "I expected the common mole, which is virtually blind and doesn't have a very good sense of touch, to be a lot worse than the star-nosed mole. So I was quite surprised when they turned out to be very good at locating prey. At the time, I figured that they must be using their sense of smell, but I didn't pursue the matter."

His study consisted of a 180-degree area around an entrance where the mole would enter. The surrounding area consisted of multiple food wells with pieces of earthworm inside of them. He ran multiple trials with the food in different food wells. He found that the moles could detect the food and crawl over to it in less than 5 seconds.

He conducted a follow-up study where he placed the food directly opposite the entrance. He found that the moles went straight for the food, however when he covered the left nostril of the mole he found that it went to the right of the food. When he covered the right nostril he noticed that the mole went to the left of the food.

I found this article very interesting because it ties in with the topic that we are doing in class: evolution. Because the mole is virtually blind and has a limited sense of touch, its sense of smell is extremely developed. The mole must have lost its sight through many years of living underground where vision was unnecessary. As a result, moles have huge claws that help them burrow tunnels underground and an extremely developed sense of smell to help locate prey. 

Obesity in Dads May Be Associated With Offspring's Increased Risk of Disease

It has been recently found that a father's obesity may affect the children more than was thought before. If a father is obese, his child is in a larger risk of having either obesity, cancer, or both, according to a new research in Duke Medicine. This is the first time such diseases have been connected with the father's genes instead of the mother's. Before, studies have focused, and always connected obesity, and cancers, tumors, etc, with the mother's health and nutrition during the pregnancy. The environmental factors are always said to make an impact on the child, but science has never before thought of linking cancer or tumors with fathers and their genetic heritage. Obesity in parents has been especially connected with ovarian and colorectal cancers, showing a direct DNA link with these diseases.

Title Lake Trout Are Bad News for Yellowstone Lake
Published January 22 2013
Author Cathy Newman

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/1/130122-lake-trout-lake-yellowstone/

This article is about the lake trout invading Yellowstone Lake. With this invasion the Yellowstone cutthroat has become endangered. It is far outmatched by the lake trout in almost every way. From life span to weight to the fact that lake trout eat cutthroats. There has been a strong response by park rangers to get rid of the lake trout who have already caused the extinction of two out of the fourteen cutthroat species. Through their own system of netting the waters and employing commercial fishermen to help speed up the process the amount of lake trout has been cut down on significantly. The interesting part about this article is that no one knows how  the lake trout made it into Yellowstone Lake. There has been speculation by biologists that a fisherman introduced the fish to try and diversify the fish species in the area but there is no way of knowing for sure. This introduction of foreign species in ecosystems that they can dominate has happened again and again. There has been an introduction of invasive species in the Great Lakes that threatened the fishing economy there as well as the ecosystem. There was also a very bizarre case of sharks being introduced into a river in Riga, Latvia. These sharks soon died in their new environment in Latvia because they could not survive the change in living conditions. Overall this introduction of new species into ecosystems is very dangerous. It can pose huge risks to local ecosystems and economies that depend on those ecosystems. 

Environmental Ad Campaign Encourages Turning Shower Off After Showering

Marko Jovsic
1/28/2013

Article title: Environmental Ad Campaign Encourages Turning Shower Off After Showering

Source: http://www.theonion.com
Article summary:
This article talks about a completely ridiculous topic. Supposedly citizens of the United States of America have been wasting 20 billion gallons of water weekly by leaving their showers on after leaving the shower. But that is not the worst part of this whole situation there is a actual ad campaign to warn people that leaving their showers on after leaving them is bad. This ad campaign has been put out by EPA (environmental protection agency) . According to EPA website a average American family uses 400 gallons of water weekly and 28% of that water is used in the bathroom that means that 108 gallons are used per family just for the bathroom.  “Nobody likes the inconvenience of having to manipulate a faucet first thing in the morning, of course, but we want to show people how the pluses of not leaving the water running all the time really can outweigh the negatives.”  This is legitimately part of the campaign. I cant think of one positive for leaving you shower on all day and al night. Honestly I just hope that this is just a joke that some people took to seriously but the thing is I cannot tell.


My opinion on the article:
Like I said  I seriously hope that this was a joke. The thing is that if people are leaving there showers one just so that they don’t have to turn them on the next day then this planet and all the people on it are just not worth it. If we as a society have come to the point of laziness that we would rather waste resources and money then spending about 20 seconds adjusting then we really have come to the end.

Latest Study Finds Cancer Cells Now Cruelly Mocking Researchers

Marko Jovsic
1/28/13

Current events

Article title: Latest Study Finds Cancer Cells Now Cruelly Mocking Researchers

Source: http://www.theonion.com

Article summary:

“By mounting comprehensive and systematic attacks on malignancies with emerging technologies such as low-cost genetic sequencing, artificial intelligence, and monoclonal antibody treatments, what we’ve discovered is that cancer cells are little pricks that think they’re the king of the fucking world,” lead author Dr. Charles Sepkowitz. I feel as if this is a valid summary of this article but it could use some expansion. Basically scientists are having difficulties with cancer cells in the sense that now we know exactly how they work and how they spread but we are unable to eradicate them because they metastasize so fast. In layman’s terms this means that using the blood stream and lymphatic vessels cancer spreads too quickly. Scientists say that myeloma cancer cells are even more difficult to treat because it seams to be completely resistant to the most commonly used drug Velcade.

My opinion on this article:
I think that this article was interesting to say the least. I have always been interested in medicine and I think that’s why I’m drawn to this article but the article itself was written in a slightly confusing way.  This article was about another article which I couldn’t find. But the information that I could get from the article was interesting.

Title Super Bowl Caps Banner Season In NFL Green Drive
Authors Marianne Lavelle, Amy Sinatra Ayres, and Jeff Barker
Published February 1st, 2013
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/02/pictures/130201-super-bowl-xlvii-nfl-green-drive/

This year the Super Bowl, the final game of the NFL season was held once again in New Orleans. This national geographic article is about the efforts of the NFL to promote green energy. This stadium and promotion of green energy seems to be a part of a larger movement towards more renewable energy practices in stadiums all across the world. The Mercedes Benz stadium in New Orleans has many positive aspects of green energy as explained in the article, "(the stadium)... is now buttressed with protective and energy-saving features. The stadium's outer wall is a specially designed double barrier system with improved insulation and rainwater control. The Mercedes-Benz Super dome  as it is now known, is ringed with 26,000 LED lights, covering two million square feet and supported by five miles of copper wiring, but which draw only ten kilowatts of electricity—as much as a small home." The article goes on to talk about the various small programs the super bowl has instituted to protect the environmental from taking unused food and donating it to recycling banners into souvenirs. Overall this article is seems to represent the important steps that major events like the Super Bowl are now taking to promote renewable energy and with it being the most viewed event on TV in the entire year this is a great way to reach the general public.