Life Sciences

A new statistical method of determining genetic traits that influence social interactions among animals may provide for more productive livestock. Scientists from Purdue University, the Netherlands and England designed mathematical equations based on traits to choose animals that are more congenial in groups, said William Muir, a Purdue Department of Animal Sciences geneticist. The new method is a tool that may contribute both to animal well-being and to securing the world's future food supply, including possibly permitting more animals to be domesticated, Muir said. The tool makes it…

A study at UCL (University College London) finds that a high-prevalence of male-killing bacteria active in many species of insect including the butterfly, actually increases female promiscuity and male fatigue. The study was carried out on Hypolimnas bolina butterflies in Pacific Island and South-East Asian populations. The islands provide an ideal location because every island is differently affected by the male-killling bacteria so that each has a different ratio of males to females. (Photo Credit: Sylvain Charlat, UCL) The team found that when the male insect population drops -- killed…

Smooth as silk. Warm as wool; ______ as wheat gluten. Marketing specialists may be challenged to fill in that blank in the future, now that scientists in Nebraska report the first successful production of high-quality fibers from wheat gluten, that grain's major protein. Dyed wheat gluten fibers. (Courtesy of Yiqi Yang) In an article scheduled for the Feb. 12, issue of ACS' Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal, they describe the new fibers as having mechanical properties similar to wool. Some of the properties of wheat gluten fibers also are superior to soy protein and casein materials…

Breeding dairy cattle is an inexact science, so many gene-linked traits must be considered. Some of the major ones are quantity of milk produced, its fat and protein content, mothers' pregnancy rates, calving ease and, most recently, stillbirth rate. Such evaluating of genetic traits has allowed dairy farmers to increase milk production to all-time highs. Scientists recently added calf survival to a series of calculations that lead to what's called a Lifetime Net Merit score. This is an economic evaluation of a bull and--by extension--what he will transmit to his daughters and granddaughters…

Individual sperm in promiscuous rodents have learned to work together in order to compete against sperm of rival males, according to new research carried out at the University of Sheffield. Although, sperm are inseminated in millions each sperm goes it alone. However, under some circumstances it might be advantageous for sperm to cooperate with one another. This is especially likely to be the case when females are promiscuous and sperm of one male have to compete against those of rival males. New research by Dr Simone Immler and colleagues from the University's Department of Animal and Plant…