Evolution

Transfer RNA is an ancient molecule, central to every task a cell performs and thus essential to all life. A new study from the University of Illinois indicates that it is also a great historian, preserving some of the earliest and most profound events of the evolutionary past in its structure. Of the thousands of RNAs so far identified, transfer RNA (tRNA) is the most direct intermediary between genes and proteins. Like many other RNAs (ribonucleic acids), tRNA aids in translating genes into the chains of amino acids that make up proteins. With the help of a highly targeted enzyme, each tRNA…

Charles Darwin maintained that the domesticated chicken derives from the red jungle fowl, but new research from Uppsala University now shows that the wild origins of the chicken are more complicated than that. The researchers mapped the genes that give most domesticated chickens yellow legs and found to their surprise that this genetic heredity derives from a closely related species, the grey jungle fowl. “Our studies show that even though most of the genes in domesticated fowls come from the red jungle fowl, at least one other species must have contributed, specifically the grey jungle fowl…

Over the last decade, genetically modified crops have become widespread in agriculture. One of the more successful of these are Bt crops - transgenic plants that express genes derived from Bacillus thuringensis. These genes allow the plants to produce toxins which specifically affect certain groups of insects. Since these plants do not need to be sprayed, and since the toxins are relatively specific, the environmental effects appear to be lower than conventional agriculture. However, Bt toxins face the same problem that other pesticides face - the evolution of resistance in target insects.…

The Korean War lasted from June 1950 to July 1953. It served as the basis of the 1968 book MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker (pen name of former army surgeon H. Richard Hornberger), describing the experiences of surgeons at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the war. This was adapted into a film (MASH) starring Donald Sutherland in 1970, which in turn inspired the TV series M*A*S*H starring Alan Alda. The finale of the television series M*A*S*H remains one of the most-watched episodes in the history of the medium, with more than 100 million viewers. By that time,…

As a book junkie, I love to get and give book recommendations. Here is my Darwin Day recommended books list: What Evolution Is, Ernst Mayr - My favorite brief, single-volume primer on evolution for non-specialists. Mayr covers the big topics - selection, adaptation, variation, speciation, fossils, evolutionary trees, evo-devo, and human evolution. Mayr was a major figure in mid-20th century evolutionary biology. He was in his 90's when he wrote this book, nevertheless, this book is remarkably clear and up to date. The Ancestor's Tale, Richard Dawkins - In a nod to the Canterbury Tales,…

(Publicado no jornal O Primeiro de Janeiro a 24/01/2008)A formação paleontológica desperta frequentemente as questões que abordo.Não foi o caso desta vez.Estava eu em frente ao espelho, a preparar-me para a árdua e sisífica tarefa que pesa na vida de qualquer homem, o barbear, quando olhando existencialmente para as lâminas de corte me ocorreu o seguinte: “Mas estes tipos não param de aumentar o número de lâminas? Não haverá limite?”Um flash da infância passou-me diante dos olhos - carros de F1 com seis rodas. Daí aos insectos foi um instantinho.E agora, que faço eu com estes temas, pensei?Ok…

(Publicado no jornal O Primeiro de Janeiro a 01/11/2007)Apesar de muito desejada, a hibernação não passa de um desejo inatingível pelos humanos. Já demos por nós, várias vezes e em alturas de maior cansaço, a cobiçar dormir por vários dias. Desligar e apenas descansar. Passar pelas brasas de forma longa e continuada.Mas a hibernação é muito mais do que um simples dormir.Pode definir-se como um estado em que o animal tem uma substancial redução quer na temperatura corporal quer nos gastos energéticos bem como na taxa cardíaca. A redução térmica verificada em animais que hibernam pode atingir…

“What does the body of a professor share with a blob?” Neil Shubin answers this and other questions about the evolutionary history of our anatomy in Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into The 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body (Pantheon, 2008). As an undergraduate student considering a research career in science, I once endured a 7 AM human anatomy course. In my semi-conscious state, breathing the slightly disturbing fumes of the preservative that the teaching assistant kept spraying on the cadavers, I was thinking, ‘this is morbidly fascinating, but really not that relevant to what…

If you live in Pennsylvania, it's West Virginia. If you live in California, it's every 'red state' in the Union. No matter where you live, some nearby state is the butt of inbreeding jokes. Well, those places you make fun of for having an evolutionary tree that's a straight line are also having the last laugh, it seems. In a new paper, deCODE scientists establish 'a substantial and consistent positive correlation between the kinship of couples and the number of children and grandchildren they have.' Counterintuitive? Sure, from an evolutionary perspective closely-related parents have a…

The Fertile Crescent of the Middle East has long been identified as a “cradle of civilization” for humans. In a new genetic study, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have concluded that all ancestral roads for the modern day domestic cat also lead back to the same locale. Findings of the study, involving more than 11,000 cats, are reported in the cover article of the January issue of the journal Genomics. “This study confirms earlier research suggesting that the domestication of the cat started in the Fertile Crescent region,” said Monika Lipinski, lead researcher on the…