Nobel Prize in Medicine Recognizes Achievements in Cellular Transport

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2013/press.html

Date: October 7th 2013
Source: Nobelprize.org
             
                  This article shows the study of this year's Nobel Prize winners in Physiology or Medicine. The scientists, James Rothman, 62, Randy Schekman, 64, and Thomas Sudhof, 57, "Have discovered the mystery of how cells organize their transport system".
                    They learned about how cells keep track of and regulate the vesicles that are in charge of the system. They studied how cargo is moved around in a cell, and how traffic "congestion" is caused by mutated genes and basically leads to buildup of vesicles in certain areas. Also, the nature of the transport system which talks about the fusing of protein molecules to target membranes, and the specific combinations of these fusions. One particular scientist investigated how cells communicate with each other with signals, and realized that everything was very controlled and precise and timing was very important. They also used the information they gathered to benefit disease research for neurological and immunological diseases as well as diabetes and how without the cells intricate transport system the cell would collapse.The three scientists did most of this work separately, but each in turn helped the others.
                       This pertains to our study of cells in class, but it dives further into the complexity of how cells work and are so self sufficient.

Biodiversity in Balance, How is it Maintained?

Link: sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140903162635.htm

Date:September 3, 2014
Source:International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Anna Rychlik

    This article is about new studies on biodiversity that ask "what relating to biodiversity exactly do we need to protect? The article writes that even though we are taught in biology that 2 species cannot occupy the same niche(what we learned in class), this is not true. It gives an example by talking about 2 fish in the Baltic sea that survive in the same niche. 
    It explains the possibility for this with a theory called "Relative Nonlinearity of Competition" that explains that 2 species can occupy the same niche because of how the 2 species react differently to density dependent, density independent, and other limiting factors found in nature. 
    If this theory would prove true, it would completely disprove and contradict everything we learned about biodiversity in our unit on ecology. 

Stem Cell Breakthrough for 'Cinderella Cells'

Author: David McNamee
Published: August 27th, 2014

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/281557.php


In this article, the author, David McNamee, talks about how scientists have recently discovered a new way to create the cells that make up the spinal cord, muscles, and the skeleton. Before, they used stem cells to grow these cells. However, these cells that are developed from stem cells are not very accurate, because they do not occur naturally. Fortunately, scientists have found a much better way to achieve this goal. The cells of bone, tissue, and nerves are formed by specific cells, called neuro-mesodermal progenitors. Although they have been discovered for over 100 years, these NMPs have just recently been realized as crucial for the development of spinal cells. After this, scientists immediately started to try to find a way to create them, and now, they have. With this new discovery, a great leap has been taken toward creating spinal cells, something that has been eluding science for years.

This article relates to our textbook because it gives an example of a way that cells can be used to replace damaged cells in order for an organism to continue to function properly. Being able to create the cells that make up parts of our body is important because when the cells of these organs get damaged, we can replace them with fresh, healthy cells to keep our bodies working properly. Our textbook also explains this on page 180.

Repeated Evolution in Nicaraguan Fish

Date:

October 28, 2014

Source:

University of Konstanz

Student: Logan Penney

Article url: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141028082353.htm

Summary: 

This article is about a type of Nicaraguan fish called the cichild. What the interesting thing is about these fish is that they live in completely isolated little lakes called crater lakes. Over 10,000 years ago they were a single species, but since then have been separated into similar environments. Even though they had no contact with each other in over 10,000 years since they have been separated they have evolved many similar characteristics. The interesting thing is that even after all that time apart they have evolved much to the same extent. In a Konstanz university study the found proof that shows that evolution of a species can be repeated going against many other theories that state that each species evolution is unique.

Relevance:

 The relevance of this story to our unit is the evolution as well as the biodiversity. This story is proving that cells and cell structures when in similar conditions can change in very similar ways. It also kind of goes against they way people like to think of how life started. People believe that one single organism has evolved into all others. But this finding might suggest that this might not necessarily be true and it would have taken several different life forms to create all the biodiversity on earth. Because with only one they think that it would have evolved very similarly and would have repeated its self.

 

 

Lizard Stowaway Revise Principle of Ecology

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lizard-stowaways-revise-principle-of-ecology/

Lizard Stowaway Revise Principle of Ecology

Emily Singer

10 October 2014

By mapping out the locations of exotic lizards in the Caribbean, a team of scientists have changed the theory of  island bio geography.  The old theory was that size and distance from the mainland were the two most influential factors of biodiversity on an island.This is because there are only two ways for a new species to integrate into  an ecosystem, either through migration or long term development (evolution). Since larger islands have more habits for species to both arise from and for immigrating species to survive in,  geographical size has been a key factor in predicting the richness of species. The second key factor from the old theory was the island's distance from the mainland. This is because the only way to get species on an island other than by long term development, is for the species to migrate to the island. This migration is very rare, and the only way for some animal species to get across the vast distance of water is by traveling on the odd log or other raft type thing between islands. But by mapping out the location of exotic lizards in the Caribbean however, the team noticed that trade is now the best indicator of an island's biodiversity. Stowaways lizards have been carried and established all around the Caribbean unintentionally on large trade vessels. This provide a third way for new species to arrive on an island, human trade. This new key factor is much more important than the geographical size and location of the island, as shown by mapping lizard species in the Caribbean.

This relates to this term's study of ecology and invasive species, as it discusses how animals (lizards) migrate and integrate into ecosystems, and the role humans play in that process.

Man’s Genome From 45,000 Years Ago Is Reconstructed

Article URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/science/research-humans-interbred-with-neanderthals.html?src=mv

Source: The New York Times

Date Published: Oct, 22 2014

        Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany have discovered the oldest known human genome on Earth. The genome was from a man who lived 45,000 years ago and was taken from a fossilized thighbone found in Siberia. Scientists at the Institute have found signs that show early humans bred with neanderthals, leading to the discovery of one more step on our (Homo sapiens sapiens) evolutionary path. The man's genetic information contained pieces of DNA which, by examining how fragmented they were, showed when humans bred with neanderthals. The answer? Around 50-60,000 years ago. The reason for this sudden breakthrough is that the team in Germany was perfecting their technique for stitching DNA together for examination and further analysis of timeframes and such. The fossil itself was found in 2008 by a fossil collector looking for mammoth tusks in Siberia. Upon discovering the thighbone, he sent it to Russian authorities, who identified it as human. It was then carbon dated at Oxford, and sent to the team in Germany. There are two main discoveries to take away from this article. 1. Early humans bred with neanderthals.

2. We now have the capacity to piece together ancient DNA from small viable samples, such as well-preserved fossils.

        This article relates to our studies in biology in multiple ways. It is extremely related to organic chemistry, which goes into the nitty-gritty of how the DNA extraction, restitching, and analysis might take place. We also learned about nucleic acids/nucleotides, the key component in DNA that makes up its coded genetic information. This also applies to our studies of ecology, in part because we can analyze his DNA to figure out biotic/abiotic factors that modified it. Studies have shown that environment can impact genetic information. Knowing what conditions may have been like for early humans/neanderthals may give us more insight into our evolution and biological history as a species.

Humanity's 'inexorable' population growth is so rapid that even a global catastrophe wouldn't stop it

Article URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/humanitys-inexorable-population-growth-is-so-rapid-that-even-global-catastrophe-wouldnt-stop-it-9821601.html

Source: The Independent

Date Published: Oct, 26 2014

Professor Corey Bradshaw of the University of Adelaide and Professor Barry Brook of the University of Tasmania who are two renown ecologists that usually study the wild animal populations state that the number of people on Earth today present a daunting problem for sustainable living on Earth in the 22nd century and so on. Various measurements have been taking in account to try to reduce population. A one child policy for the whole world would still keep the population at 7 billion. Not even a catastrophe like a huge disaster or a world war III can even stop the growth. So far, there aren't any specific limiting factors to the humans yet. Professor Bradshaw says that the human population growth today "is like a race car traveling at 150 miles per hour." The population is expected to be at 9 billion people by 2050 and 25 billion by 2100. Anyways, fertility control in rapid growing areas will eventually have an impact on reducing the pressure on limited resources leading to more resources for the booming population. Overall, there isn't any quick solution in reducing the population. But there is potential to see some positive side effects in population control.

This article relates to our unit of ecology in terms of population growth. Population growth has been rising so exponentially ever since the 20th century. The population could even go up to 9 billion in 2050 and 21 billion in 2100. The possible ways of trying to reduce the population mentioned in this article have no possible way to reduce the large human population. In class, we discussed that human population has been rapidly growing since less wars and technology like medicines have improved to the degree that can sustain longer lives to humans. That way, there aren't many limiting factors for humans to be concerned of. Since a catastrophic event nor a one child policy can stop population growth, fertility control is one way that can gradually sustain a large human population on Earth. There is no imminent solution to this growing population issue.