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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Geoscience: Geology

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Researchers develop DANGER analysis tool for the safer design of gene editing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of researchers has developed a software tool that provides a way for the safer design of genome editing in all organisms with a transcriptome. For about a decade, researchers have used the CRISPR technology for genome editing. However, there are some challenges in the use of CRISPR. The new analysis system overcomes these challenges and allows researchers to perform safer on- and off-target assessments without a reference genome. It holds the potential for applications in medicine, agriculture, and biological research.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Does urbanization trigger plant evolution?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Urban environments have become hotspots for understanding how rapid evolution occurs in response to extreme environmental changes. These habitats exert selective pressures on resident organisms that impact their evolutionary trajectories. Recently, researchers investigated how the creeping woodsorrel plant might adapt in response to elevated temperatures that result from urbanization. Understanding these effects can help predict evolutionary traits to manage plant evolution in the face of shifting climatic conditions.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology
Published

You say genome editing, I say natural mutation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A plant geneticist and computational biologist teamed up to decipher the unpredictability of natural and engineered mutations in tomatoes. They discovered some combinations of mutations behave as expected while others are more erratic. Their work may help scientists find some order in the chaos of evolution and genome editing.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics
Published

Imprinted genes in the 'parenting hub' of the brain determine if mice are good parents      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Whether a mouse is a good or bad parent can be traced back to imprinted genes in key neurons in the 'parenting hub' in the brain, according to a new study.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Stolen genes allow parasitic control of behavior      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has discovered that parasites manipulate their hosts using stolen genes that they likely acquired through a phenomenon called horizontal gene transfer.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

California supervolcano is cooling off but may still cause quakes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New high-resolution images of the Long Valley Caldera indicate that the subsurface environment is cooling off, releasing gas and fluids that contribute to seismic activity.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Ancient diamonds shine light on the evolution of Earth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Formed millions to billions of years ago, diamonds can shine light into the darkest and oldest parts of the Earth's mantle. The analysis of ancient, superdeep diamonds dug up from mines in Brazil and Western Africa, has exposed new processes of how continents evolved and moved during the early evolution of complex life on Earth. These diamonds that were formed between 650 and 450 million years ago on the base of the supercontinent Gondwana, were analysed by an international team of experts, and have shown how supercontinents such as Gondwana were formed, stabilised, and how they move around the planet.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology
Published

New insights into the genetics of the common octopus: Genome at the chromosome level decoded      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Octopuses are fascinating animals -- and serve as important model organisms in neuroscience, cognition research and developmental biology. To gain a deeper understanding of their biology and evolutionary history, validated data on the composition of their genome is needed, which has been lacking until now. Scientists have now been able to close this gap and, in a new study, determined impressive figures: 2.8 billion base pairs -- organized in 30 chromosomes. What sounds so simple is the result of complex, computer-assisted genome analyses and comparisons with the genomes of other cephalopod species.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction
Published

Whaling wiped out far more fin whales than previously thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Whaling in the 20th century destroyed 99% of the Eastern North Pacific fin whale breeding population. Because there is enough genetic diversity, current conservation measures should help the population rebound without becoming inbred. The future of fin whales in the Gulf of California depends on the recovery of the Eastern North Pacific population.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature
Published

Orchid without bumblebee on island finds wasp, loses self      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Because the bumblebee that an orchid relies on for pollination does not exist on a remote island, the plant gets pollinated by an island wasp. Researchers found that this came at the cost of being hybridized with another orchid species adapted to being pollinated by the wasp. The finding showcases how plants in ecological relationships adapt to changing circumstances.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature
Published

Genomic analysis in snakes shows link between neutral, functional genetic diversity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the world of threatened and endangered species conservation, the genomic revolution has raised some complicated questions: How can scientists justify assessing species genetic diversity without consulting entire genomes now that they can be sequenced? But then again, how can scientists justify the time and expense of genome sequencing when age-old measures of neutral genetic diversity are much cheaper and easier to obtain? A new study suggests making a transition from 'old school' genetics to 'new school' genomics for species conservation purposes probably isn't necessary in all cases.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Ice sheet surface melt is accelerating in Greenland and slowing in Antarctica      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Surface ice in Greenland has been melting at an increasing rate in recent decades, while the trend in Antarctica has moved in the opposite direction, according to researchers.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Geoscience: Earth Science Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: General
Published

Scientists, philosophers identify nature's missing evolutionary law      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new article describes 'a missing law of nature,' recognizing for the first time an important norm within the natural world's workings.   In essence, the new law states that complex natural systems evolve to states of greater patterning, diversity, and complexity. In other words, evolution is not limited to life on Earth, it also occurs in other massively complex systems, from planets and stars to atoms, minerals, and more.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Extinct ape gets a facelift, 12 million years later      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study has reconstructed the well-preserved but damaged skull of a great ape species that lived about 12 million years ago. The species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, may be crucial to understanding great ape and human evolution.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology
Published

200-year-old DNA helps map tiny fly's genetic course to new lands, modern times      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have extracted and analyzed DNA from fruit flies housed in museum collections in Lund, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Surprisingly, the researchers found the fruit flies collected in Sweden in the early 1800s were more genetically similar to 21st century flies than the Swedish samples from the 1930s.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics
Published

Scientists generate first single-cell 'atlas' of the primate brain to help explore links between molecules, cells, brain function and disease      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As part of the effort to better understand the evolution of the brains in people and animals, a research team has generated the world's largest primate brain-wide atlas.    

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology
Published

Honey bees may inherit altruistic behavior from their mothers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

True altruism is rare behavior in animals, but a new study has found that honey bees display this trait. Additionally, they found that an evolutionary battle of genetics may determine the parent they inherit it from.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Paleontology: General
Published

Plate tectonic surprise: Geologist unexpectedly finds remnants of a lost mega-plate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geologists have reconstructed a massive and previously unknown tectonic plate that was once one-quarter the size of the Pacific Ocean. The team had predicted its existence over 10 years ago based on fragments of old tectonic plates found deep in the Earth’s mantle. To the lead researchers surprise, she found that oceanic remnants on northern Borneo must have belonged to the long-suspected plate, which scientists have named Pontus. She has now reconstructed the entire plate in its full glory.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature
Published

Long-term lizard study challenges the rules of evolutionary biology      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers measured natural selection in four Anolis lizard species in the wild for five consecutive time periods over three years. This long-term study in a community of lizards reveals how evolution unfolds in the wild across multiple species.