An international team of scientists have studied the fossil of a lobopodian, a small extinct arthropod with a segmented trunk and multiple short stubby legs. The fossil has been named Cardiodictyon catenulum and is dated as 525 million years old. Using sophisticated scanning techniques the researchers were able to identify the creature’s brain. Nicholas Strausfeld […]
Category: Genetics & DNA
Butterfly Wing Patterns from “Junk” DNA
A century ago biologists suggested that butterfly wing patterns were formed from variations in a basic ground plan that was somehow manipulated to produce the distinct patterns in different butterfly species. Scientists at Cornell University and The George Washington University have now carried out a study that “explains how DNA that sits between genes – […]
“Without Proteins, DNA is Nothing”
When the human genome was first presented to the world it had many gaps in it, especially from regions where there were lots of repetitive sequences. These tended to be around the two ends of each chromosome, called telomeres, and around a region called the centromere, where the chromosomes are held together and then separated […]
Hopeful Monster Flowers
Darwin proposed that evolutionary changes occur by a long series of small incremental changes over long periods of time. Six decades later Richard Goldschmidt proposed that evolution happened by sudden large changes resulting in new organisms with new structures and functions, which he called “hopeful monsters”. A group of evolutionary biologists at University of California […]
Old Wolves Had “Toy Dog” Genes
The many breeds of domestic dogs vary enormously in body size, even though all domestic dogs belong to one species. An international team of scientists has carried out a wide-ranging study of genes that influence body size in domestic and wild dogs. A gene named IGF1 is already known to have a strong influence on […]
Elephants Lose Tusks “By Evolution”
Elephants lose tusks “by evolution” claim media reports. During the civil war in Mozambique (1977-1992) ivory poachers killed elephants and sold the tusks to finance their war. During this time the population of elephants declined drastically. The elephant population is now making a comeback, but with a change – more female elephants are lacking tusks. […]
‘Shocking!’ They Are Not Evolving!
‘Shocking!’ They are not evolving! according to reports in Bigelow News and ScienceDaily 8 April 2021, Science Alert 9 April 2021, and The ISME Journal, 6 April 2021; doi: 10.1038/s41396-021-00965-3. Originally found deep in a South African mine, a bacterium named Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator was found to survive on a diet of chemicals produced from radioactivity […]
Fish Fins Forming Limbs
Fish fins forming limbs found, according to articles in BBC Science Focus and ScienceDaily 4 February 2021 and Cell 4 February 2021 doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.003. Scientists at Harvard and Boston Children’s Hospital have found mutations of two genes that result in the formation of extra bones in the pectoral (front) fins of zebrafish. Zebrafish are ray-finned […]
Citrus Thorny Problem Solved
Citrus thorny problem solved, according to ScienceDaily 18 June 2020, and Current Biology 18 June 2020; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.068. Thorns on citrus trees are well known to form when branches start to develop, but stop growing and become hard and dry, leaving a sharp spike. Scientists at Yale University have now tracked down the genetic control […]
Ghosts Linked Human Ancestors
Ghosts linked human ancestors, according reports in BBC News 14 February 2020, Science (AAAS) News 20 February 2020, and Science Advances 12 February 2020, 10.1126/sciadv.aax5097, and Science Advances 20 February 2020, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay5483. The genome revolution of the last two decades has enabled scientists to analyse whole genomes of people from many living human populations. […]