http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/biology-blog.html Biology blog from biology-blog.com, the place for information. Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT en-us http://www.biology-blog.com/images/blogs/biology-blog.jpg http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/biology-blog.html 114 99 http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/making-better-broccoli.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/making-better-broccoli.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Carotenoidsfat-soluble plant compounds found in some vegetablesare essential to the human diet and reportedly offer important health benefits to consumers. Plant carotenoids are the most important source of vitamin A in the human diet; the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, found in corn and leafy greens vegetable such as kale, broccoli, and spinach, are widely considered to be valuable antioxidants capable of protecting humans from chronic diseases including age-related macular degeneration, cancer, and cardiovascular disease........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/indoor-plants-to-fight-air-pollution.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/indoor-plants-to-fight-air-pollution.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Air quality in homes, offices, and other indoor spaces is becoming a major health concern, especially in developed countries where people often spend more than 90% of their time indoors. Surprisingly, indoor air has been reported to be as much as 12 times more polluted than outdoor air in some areas. Indoor air pollutants emanate from paints, varnishes, adhesives, furnishings, clothing, solvents, building materials, and even tap water. A long list of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs [including benzene, xylene, hexane, heptane, octane, decane, trichloroethylene (TCE), and methylene chloride], have been shown to cause illnesses in people who are exposed to the compounds in indoor spaces. Acute illnesses like asthma and nausea and chronic diseases including cancer, neurologic, reproductive, developmental, and respiratory disorders are all associated with exposure to VOCs. Harmful indoor pollutants represent a serious health problem that is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths each year, as per a 2002 World Health Organization report........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/seeking-flower-variety.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/seeking-flower-variety.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Florists and other retailers who sell flowers and plants can now add another tool to their marketing kit. A recent study of "consumption values" may help them understand what influences consumers' choices in regard to floral purchases, and how to better design marketing efforts and purchase stock that can increase customers and sales........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/sustainably-grown-garlic.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/sustainably-grown-garlic.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Consumer interest in new and diverse types of garlic is on the rise. Fueled by factors including the growth of the "local foods" movement, interest in world cuisines, and widespread reports touting its numerous health benefits, demand for high-quality, locally grown garlic is increasing throughout the U.S........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/pecan-trees-benefit-from-thinning.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/pecan-trees-benefit-from-thinning.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Pecan trees, like many fruit trees, have a tendency to bear fruit in cycles, producing a large crop in one or two years, followed by one or two years with little or no crop. This cycle, called "alternate bearing", is the most profit-limiting biological problem facing pecan producers; the inconsistent production pattern creates supply and marketing challenges that can have severe negative effects on the pecan industry........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/for-african-violets.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/for-african-violets.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT African violets have a mixed reputation. Their delicate, colorful flowers and furry, soft leaves make them a favorite among home gardeners and growers. But the striking plants are often regarded as temperamental: a precise recipe of light, moisture, warm temperatures, high humidity, and fertilizer is mandatory to encourage african violets to grow and flower........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/white-sharks-in-the-north-pacific.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/white-sharks-in-the-north-pacific.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT The white shark appears to be the ultimate loner of the ocean, cruising thousands of miles in a solitary trek, but a team of scientists has discovered that the sharks have maintained such a consistent pattern of migration that over tens of thousands of years the white sharks in the northeastern Pacific Ocean have separated themselves into a population genetically distinct from sharks elsewhere in the world........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/cultured-pearls-from-the-queen-conch.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/cultured-pearls-from-the-queen-conch.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT For more than 25 years, all attempts at culturing pearls from the queen conch (Strombus gigas) have been unsuccessfuluntil now. For the first time, novel and proprietary seeding techniques to produce beaded (nucleated) and non-beaded cultured pearls from the queen conch have been developed by researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI). With less than two years of research and experimentation, Drs. Hctor Acosta-Salmn and Megan Davis, co-inventors, have produced more than 200 cultured pearls using the techniques they developed. Previous to this breakthrough, no high-quality queen conch pearl had been cultured. This discovery opens up a unique opportunity to introduce a new gem to the industry. This significant accomplishment is comparable to that of the Japanese in the 1920s when they commercially applied the original pearl culture techniques developed for pearl oysters........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/north-atlantic-fish-populations-shifting.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/north-atlantic-fish-populations-shifting.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT About half of 36 fish stocks in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, a number of of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the last four decades, with some stocks nearly disappearing from U.S. waters as they move farther offshore, as per a newly released study by NOAA researchers........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/moose-eat-plants-wolves-kill-moose.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/moose-eat-plants-wolves-kill-moose.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity? A large and unexpected one, say wildlife biologists from Michigan Technological University. Joseph Bump, Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich report in the November 2009 issue of the journal Ecology that the carcasses of moose killed by wolves at Isle Royale National Park enrich the soil in "hot spots" of forest fertility around the kills, causing rapid microbial and fungal growth that provide increased nutrients for plants in the area........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/researchers-sequence-swine-genome.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/researchers-sequence-swine-genome.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT A global collaborative has produced a first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig, an achievement that will lead to insights in agriculture, medicine, conservation and evolution. A red-haired Duroc pig from a farm at the University of Illinois will now be among the growing list of domesticated animals that have had their genomes sequenced. Scientists will announce the achievement Monday (Nov. 2) at a meeting at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, England........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/a-heat-sensor-for-body-clock-synchronization.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/a-heat-sensor-for-body-clock-synchronization.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT New research on the fruit-fly brain points to a possible mechanism by which temperature influences the body clock, as per researchers from Queen Mary, University of London. Eventhough much is known about how light affects the body clock - also known at the circadian clock - it is not well understood which cells or organs sense daily temperature changes or how temperature signals reach the part of the brain that contains the circadian clock........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/environmental-impact-of-marine-fisheries.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/environmental-impact-of-marine-fisheries.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT An Australian method for assessing the environmental impact of marine fisheries has caught the eye of fishery management agencies worldwide. Aspects of the 'ecological risk evaluation' (ERA) method have been adopted in the US, Canada, Ecuador, and the Western and Central Pacific, and by the international eco-labelling organisation the Marine Stewardship Council........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/the-skeleton-size-matters.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/the-skeleton-size-matters.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Vertebrates have in common a skeleton made of segments, the vertebrae. During development of the embryo, each segment is added in a time dependent manner, from the head-end to the tail-end: the first segments to be added become the vertebrae of the neck, later segments become the vertebrae with ribs and the last ones the vertebra located in the tail (in the case of a mouse, for example). In this process, it is crucial that, on the one hand, each segment, as it matures, becomes the correct type of vertebra and, on the other, that the number of vertebrae in the skeleton, and therefore the size of the spine, are minutely controlled........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/charles-darwins-ideas-about-the-origin-of-life.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/charles-darwins-ideas-about-the-origin-of-life.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago, he deliberately avoided the subject of the origin of life. This, coupled with the mention of the 'Creator' in the last paragraph of the book, led us to believe he was not willing to commit on the matter. An international team, led by Juli Peret of the Cavanilles Institute in Valencia, now refutes that idea and shows that the British naturalist did explain in other documents how our first ancestors could have come into being........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/mantis-shrimps-inspire-technology.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/mantis-shrimps-inspire-technology.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT The remarkable eyes of a marine crustacean could inspire the next generation of DVD and CD players, as per a newly released study from the University of Bristol published recently in Nature Photonics The mantis shrimps in the study are found on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and have the most complex vision systems known to science. They can see in twelve colours (humans see in only three) and can distinguish between different forms of polarized light........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/new-method-to-help-keep-fruit-and-vegetables-fresh.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/new-method-to-help-keep-fruit-and-vegetables-fresh.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT ATLANTA Did you know that millions of tons of fruits and vegetables in the United States end up in the trash can before being eaten, as per the U.S. Department of Agriculture? A Georgia State University professor has developed an innovative new way to keep produce and flowers fresh for longer periods of time........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/genomes-of-two-strains-of-e.-coli-sequenced.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/genomes-of-two-strains-of-e.-coli-sequenced.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT An international team of scientists from the United States, Korea, and France has sequenced and analyzed the genomes of two important laboratory strains of E. coli bacteria, one used to study evolution and the other to produce proteins for basic research or practical applications. The findings will help guide future research and will also open a window to a deeper understanding of classical research that is the foundation of our understanding of basic molecular biology and genetics........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/family-tree-for-cattle-other-ruminants.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/family-tree-for-cattle-other-ruminants.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Pairing a new approach to prepare ancient DNA with a new scientific technique developed specifically to genotype a cow, an MU animal scientist, along with a team of international researchers, created a very accurate and widespread "family tree" for cows and other ruminants, going back as far as 29 million years. This genetic information could allow researchers to understand the evolution of cattle, ruminants and other animals. This same technique also could be used to verify ancient relatives to humans, help farmers develop healthier and more efficient cattle, and assist researchers who are studying human diseases, as per the research, which is being published in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/carbon-offsetting-and-conservation.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/10-2009/carbon-offsetting-and-conservation.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:42:05 GMT Logged rainforests can support as much plant, animal and insect life as virgin forest within 15 years if properly managed, research at the University of Leeds has found. Because trees in tropical climates soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, restoring logged forest through planting new trees could also be used in carbon trading, as per Dr David Edwards, from University's Faculty of Biological Sciences........ ]]>