BMC Series blog 2017 January

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth: Review of 2016

31/01/2017 Nawsheen Boodhun

It is that time of year again where we look back and view the accomplishments of the journal and interesting research published. 2016 was an exciting year for the journal which included the launch of the much anticipated article collection, ‘Ending Preventable Stillbirths’, and publication of a vast variety of articles in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. Now that 2017 is upon us, we highlight some of the most popular papers from the past 12 months in the journal.

DISCONTOOLS – Prioritizing animal diseases

31/01/2017 Hayley Henderson

With many different animal diseases being reported and with €800 million being spent each year in Europe, how do you decide where to prioritize research and target research funding that will effectively help develop new and improved vaccines, pharmaceuticals and diagnostic tests to control and eradicate animal diseases? A recent publication in BMC Veterinary Research addresses this question. Here, Editor Hayley Henderson discusses the important work conducted by the DISCONTOOLS initiative with first author Declan O’Brien and the implications for future research.

Biology

Newly discovered 500 million year old species offers insights into the ancestral arthropod

31/01/2017 Dave Marshall

Described today in BMC Evolutionary Biology is a new species of lobopodian, a group that lived around 500 million years ago and is ancestral to modern arthropods – the animal group that includes insects, spiders, scorpions, and crustaceans. In this guest blog, expert in the field Dave Marshall explains the significance of this new discovery.

Biology

Female birds can also be pretty – depending on their habitat.

30/01/2017 Dr. Iliana Medina

From a very young age we are taught in biology classes that in nature male animals are the pretty ones, while females are boring. These sex differences are easy to observe, with the showy tail feathers of male peacocks and the mane of the lion being some of the most well-known examples. For years scientists… Read more »

Biology

Obesity gene effects lean mass in healthy men and elite rugby playing position

26/01/2017 Shane M Heffernan & Alun G Williams

Variants of the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene have been shown to be linked to obesity. Here, Shane Heffernan and Alun Williams describe their research into how FTO genetic variation can also have an effect on skeletal muscle and whether someone is likely to become an elite athlete.

Biology

BMC Genetics: Editor picks of 2016

19/01/2017 Alison Cuff

2016 was an exciting year for BMC Genetics, which published a wide range of interesting articles. Here are just a few of the Editor’s favorite picks.

Biology

BMC Cancer: Highlights 2016

18/01/2017 Laura Cox

Throughout 2016, BMC Cancer has published a range of articles which have been enlightening and provided further understanding of the field. Here are some of the highlights

Medicine

BMC Systems Biology: 2016 in review

13/01/2017 Alexandros Houssein

2016 has been a fascinating year for BMC Systems Biology. For one more year, our published articles have produced exciting research, covering a wide spectrum of subjects. The ever advancing computational capabilities, along with the increasing and multi-level amount of available data, have resulted in a very diverse and integrative research yield. Here, we take a glimpse at some of the most popular articles.

Biology Open Access

BMC Molecular Biology: 2016 in review

12/01/2017 Faye Nourollahi

BMC Molecular Biology has published a range of interesting articles in 2016, with topics ranging from new discoveries in chromatin structure to alternative mRNA species. Here is a sample of the journal’s most popular articles, representing the past year of research.

Biology Open Access

Dinosaur distributions in the Belly River

10/01/2017 Thomas Cullen & Dr. David C. Evans

Thomas Cullen and David Evans discuss their research, recently published in BMC Ecology, addressing a long-standing and perplexing question in dinosaur ecology: why did North American large-bodied dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period have such narrow ranges – in stark contrast to their modern-day mammal equivalents?

Biology

Monthly Archives: January 2017