Human Chimeras

http://www.livescience.com/55684-human-chimeras.html

Recently, researchers have come under fire for their ideas of creating human-animal hybrids, or as they can be called, Chimeras. A chimera is any single organism that contains the cells of two or more individuals. While the idea of introducing cells from an animal into a human may seem extreme, there are certain instances where chimeras occur naturally.

While not the human-animal hybrid researchers are trying to create, thees chimeras involve humans containing the cells of other humans. This can occur if a mother absorbs cells from her fetus, a twin absorbs the other in the whom, or even from a bone marrow transplant.

DNA in samples of Ocean Water

Now with the use of new technology only small amounts of water are needed to run tests for the DNA of any target species. For example, the rare sawfish (pictured below) can have its location be identified by testing the sample of only some water. The test is called an eDNA test and is making waves in the area of natural sciences. Professor Colin Simpfendorfer who created this method says this can replace older methods like fish surveying which is time consuming and expensive.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160809095011.htm

Rio 2016: Genetically Modified Athletes?

Officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will roll out a brand new, previously unannounced form of drug testing for the international athletes competing at the Summer Olympic Games. In the past, the WADA has tested athletes in search of synthetic chemicals and hormones that would boost the athlete's performance in the arena. However, the newest form of "cheating" may come from within the athlete's own body.

The WADA test will identify if an athlete has artificially manipulated their genetic material through a process called gene doping. While there is zero previous evidence that gene doping is even happening, it makes sense for WADA to try to get out in front of the activity. Typically, the WADA is playing catch-up from the time a new steroid or performance-enhancing drug is created until a reliable and accurate test can be created and effectively administered. 

In 1989, a synthetic version of the blood-boosting hormone erythropoietin (EPO) was created to combat anemia in chemotherapy patients. However, endurance athletes quickly realized the drug would enhance their red blood cell count, drastically improving their on-course performance. In the decade that followed, cyclists, cross-country skiers and other elite athletes injected EPO without any means from the WADA to combat its rampant use. 

Today, the greatest potential threat to the integrity of sport comes from inside the human body. Typically, human kidneys produce EPO when the blood’s oxygen supply is running low, like during a marathon. The hormone then triggers the production of more oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Hypothetically, someone could insert genes into their DNA that would synthesize more EPO than a body’s normal ability.

The test for gene doping was developed by a molecular biologist at Australia’s National Measurement Institute and has two parts: One checks for the virus a scientist would use to deliver the new DNA to the body, and the second part sequences a person’s EPO genes. A normal stretch of DNA has sequences of introns between the exon genes that produce the EPO protein. An artificial DNA sequence has all the EPO genes right next to each other, with no introns separating them.

“We feel there’s a great risk this novel technology will be used, so we are being proactive for the first time.” says Carl Johan Sundberg, an exercise physiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who reviewed the new test for WADA. 

Read more: http://www.wired.com/2016/07/olympic-drug-cops-will-scan-genetically-modified-athletes/

http://futurism.com/olympic-doping-authorities-worried-gene-therapy-may-be-the-new-drug-of-choice-at-rio/

15,000 Tree Species Found in the Amazon Rainforest

Scientists have had the goal of discovering 15,000 species of tress in the Amazon rain forest for 300 years. A new study reports that the explorers have found 11,676 tree species. A team of ecologists have published what they call a list of every known tree species in the amazon from more than 500,000 digitalized samples taken of fruits, leaves, and flowers. The team of scientists gathered thousands of digital records from museums. The oldest same was from 1707 and the latest was from 2015. They compiled the first catalog of tree species in the Amazon.

The catalog is not throughly put together, but the team explains that they wanted it to be tat way so other scientists can contribute their work to it. This is the best way to pull together 300 years worth of research into one simple tool that anyone who is curious about the trees in the Amazon can use.

A bonus to the catalog is that it proves the teams claim that there are in fact almost 16,000 tree species in the Amazon. The other 4,000 species are hiding in a museum or in the Amazon waiting to be discovered as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/science/amazon-tree-species-inventory.html?_r=0

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-300-years-collecting-ecologist-finally-make-list-amazons-12000-trees-180959815/?no-ist

Humming To Snails

The common periwinkle is a gastropod found from the Bay of Fundy to New Jersey, and extending to Europe. They are about the size of a hershey kiss and eat the algae and moss that are on rocks. There are many tales that humming to the snail will make it emerge from its shell. The theories are that the vibration of the hum entices the snail to come out or that it is relaxing for the snail. Research has been attempted to explore this idea. The results from the research have been inconclusive, and the only clear thing at the moment is to believe that patience is the only key to making a snail emerge from its shell.

Scientists Find Genes That Let These Bees Reproduce Without Males

The female African South honey bees can reproduce asexually. Normally, honey bees reproduce sexually but studies have shown that in a small area in the Fynbos Ecoregion, the female will leave their homes to take control of other colonies. The female Cape honey bees will produces offsprings of her own and begin to control of the hive as a queen bee or become worker bees within those colonies. Scientist have tested the genomes between the Cape honey bees and the typical honey bees and explained that African South bees produces only female offspring when they reproduces asexually. They farther explained that this occurs because without the male chromosome presented during meiosis then only the XX chromosome appears. 





http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/science/bees-asexual-south-africa.html

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/164161/20160611/special-genes-allow-parasitic-bees-to-reproduce-even-without-males.htm

Starving Spiders

The spider species, Anelosimus eximius, lives in South America in large colonies. Some of these colonies consist of tens of thousands! Their colonies grow to be so large because the spiders will remain in the nest in which they were born from one generation to the next. These species nest together, create a web together, and capture their prey together. The problem comes when the colonies become too large because these spiders eventually run out of food. The lack of food leads to massive die-offs. The problem also arises when the spiders capture prey that is far too big for any one spider to feed on. This overshare of food is a danger to the species. Researchers have found that about 21% of these colonies go extinct every generation.