Species conservation poised to benefit from DNA advances
2014-02-24
(Press-News.org) A biologist at the University of York is part of an international team which has shown that advanced DNA sequencing technologies can be used to accurately measure the levels of inbreeding in wild animal populations.
The research by senior author Dr Kanchon Dasmahapatra, of the Department of Biology at York, and led by Dr Joseph Hoffman, of the Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Germany, may help efforts to conserve rare species.
Laboratory studies show that inbreeding reduces fitness. However, studying the impact of inbreeding in wild populations has previously been challenging because this requires a detailed family tree. Previous DNA studies trying to establish the link between inbreeding and fitness in wild animals had limited success as they used only a small number of genetic markers – around 10.
But the new research, published in PNAS, has used high throughput sequencing, generating more than 10,000 genetic markers, to assess inbreeding in a captive mouse population as well as in wild harbour seals.
Using a zoo population of mice with a known family tree, the researchers first checked the validity of their method for measuring inbreeding. They then carried out autopsies and took DNA samples from harbour seals stranded on Dutch beaches. The study revealed that inbred individuals were more likely to suffer from lung parasite infection.
Dr Hoffman said: "We have shown that in some species inbreeding in the wild may be a bigger problem than previously thought."
Dr Dasmahapatra explained: "This technique can be used to establish if there is an inbreeding problem in wild populations so that possible remedial action can be taken."
INFORMATION:
The study included scientists from University College London, the British Antarctic Survey, Erasmus University and Utrecht University in The Netherlands, CNRS Montpellier, France, and Chicago Zoological Society, USA.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Acupuncture holds promise for treating inflammatory disease
2014-02-24
When acupuncture first became popular in the western hemisphere it had its doubters. It still does. But over time, through detailed observation, scientists have produced real evidence that ancient Chinese practitioners of the medical arts were onto something.
Now new research documents a direct connection between the use of acupuncture and physical processes that could alleviate sepsis, a condition that often develops in hospital intensive care units, springs from infection and inflammation, and takes an estimated 250,000 lives in the United States every year.
"Sepsis ...
New study shows a genetic link between feeding behavior and animal dispersal
2014-02-24
New research from the University of Toronto Scarborough shows that animal dispersal is influenced by a gene associated with feeding and food search behaviours.
The study, which was carried out by UTSC Professor Mark Fitzpatrick and PhD student Allan Edelsparre, provides one of the first aimed at gaining a functional understanding of how genes can influence dispersal tendencies in nature.
Using common fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), the researchers observed how two different foraging types – known as sitter flies and rover flies – moved over large distances ...
Ecotourism reduces poverty near protected parks, Georgia State University research shows
2014-02-24
ATLANTA--Protected natural areas in Costa Rica reduced poverty by 16 percent in neighboring communities, mainly by encouraging ecotourism, according to new research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Although earlier studies indicated that establishing protected areas in poor regions can lead to reductions in poverty, there was no clear understanding why or how it happens.
"Our goal was to show exactly how environmental protection can reduce poverty in poorer nations rather than exacerbate it, as many people fear," says co-author ...
AGU: Uncovering the secret world of the Plastisphere
2014-02-24
HONOLULU – Scientists are revealing how microbes living on floating pieces of plastic marine debris affect the ocean ecosystem, and the potential harm they pose to invertebrates, humans and other animals. New research being presented here today delves deeper into the largely unexplored world of the "Plastisphere" – an ecological community of microbial organisms living on ocean plastic that was first discovered last year.
When scientists initially studied the Plastisphere, they found that at least 1,000 different types of microbes thrive on these tiny plastic islands, ...
Pinwheel 'living' crystals and the origin of life
2014-02-24
ANN ARBOR—Simply making nanoparticles spin coaxes them to arrange themselves into what University of Michigan researchers call 'living rotating crystals' that could serve as a nanopump. They may also, incidentally, shed light on the origin of life itself.
The researchers refer to the crystals as 'living' because they, in a sense, take on a life of their own from very simple rules.
Sharon Glotzer, the Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and her team found that when they spun individual nanoparticles in a simulation—some clockwise and some ...
New study supports body shape index as predictor of mortality
2014-02-24
In 2012, Dr. Nir Krakauer, an assistant professor of civil engineering in CCNY's Grove School of Engineering, and his father, Dr. Jesse Krakauer, MD, developed a new method to quantify the risk specifically associated with abdominal obesity.
A follow-up study, published February 20 by the online journal PLOS ONE, supports their contention that the technique, known as A Body Shape Index (ABSI), is a more effective predictor of mortality than Body Mass Index (BMI), the most common measure used to define obesity.
The team analyzed data for 7,011 adults, 18+, who participated ...
Volcanoes, including Mount Hood in the US, can quickly become active
2014-02-24
New research results suggest that magma sitting 4-5 kilometers beneath the surface of Oregon's Mount Hood has been stored in near-solid conditions for thousands of years.
The time it takes to liquefy and potentially erupt, however, is surprisingly short--perhaps as little as a couple of months.
The key to an eruption, geoscientists say, is to elevate the temperature of the rock to more than 750 degrees Celsius, which can happen when hot magma from deep within the Earth's crust rises to the surface.
It was the mixing of hot liquid lava with cooler solid magma that ...
Geosphere covers Mexico, the Colorado Plateau, Russia, and offshore New Jersey
2014-02-24
Boulder, Colo., USA – New Geosphere postings cover using traditional geochemistry with novel micro-analytical techniques to understand the western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt; an investigation of mafic rock samples from a volcanic field near Yampa, Colorado, travertine deposits in the southeastern Colorado Plateau of New Mexico and Arizona; a study "Slushball Earth" rocks from Karelia, Russia, using field and micro-analytical techniques; and an addition to the "The History and Impact of Sea-level Change Offshore New Jersey" special issue.
Abstracts for these and other ...
Building artificial cells will be a noisy business
2014-02-24
Engineers like to make things that work. And if one wants to make something work using nanoscale components—the size of proteins, antibodies, and viruses—mimicking the behavior of cells is a good place to start since cells carry an enormous amount of information in a very tiny packet. As Erik Winfree, professor of computer science, computation and neutral systems, and bioengineering, explains, "I tend to think of cells as really small robots. Biology has programmed natural cells, but now engineers are starting to think about how we can program artificial cells. We want ...
Study evaluates role of infliximab in treating Kawasaki disease
2014-02-24
Kawasaki Disease (KD) is a severe childhood disease that many parents, even some doctors, mistake for an inconsequential viral infection. If not diagnosed or treated in time, it can lead to irreversible heart damage.
Signs of KD include prolonged fever associated with rash, red eyes, mouth, lips and tongue, and swollen hands and feet with peeling skin. The disease causes damage to the coronary arteries in a quarter of untreated children and may lead to serious heart problems in early adulthood. There is no diagnostic test for Kawasaki disease, and current treatment fails ...