On Biology 2017 March

Zhang advocates for convergence

30/03/2017 Jenny Bourne, MA, MS

On January 1, 2017, Guigen Zhang, Professor and Associate Chair for Program Development and Outreach, Department of Bioengineering; and Executive Director, Institute of Biological Interfaces of Engineering, began his term as president of the Institute of Biological Engineering. Here, Zhang shares his vision on the possibility of a biological revolution and his belief in solving worldwide problems through convergence. IBE, a professional society, was started in 1995.

Biology

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Why the long face? Horses can sense negative and positive emotions

29/03/2017 Francesca Martin

In this podcast, Dr. Elodie Briefer talks to us about her work at ETH, Zürich. Her team looked at the response in domestic horses to whinnies (high pitched neighing) from both familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics. They showed that horses can perceive acoustic cues to both valence and familiarity present in whinnies and that this is similar to the perception of linguistic rhythm found in humans.

Biology

Rabies ecology in a changing Arctic, an Alaskan example.

24/03/2017 Karsten Hueffer, PhD, FHEA

Recently published in Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, a new study finds that machine learning and open access data can predict the ecological niche of rabies virus in Alaska and identify variables correlated with the detection of the virus. Here to tell us more is author of the study, Karsten Hueffer.

Biology Health

Video blog: A brain pathway to control sleep

17/03/2017 Davy Falkner

In this video we explore how we slip from one stage of sleep to the next. New research published in Molecular Brain identifies a brain circuit that controls sleep stage transitions, potentially revealing a path to improve sleep aids.

Biology

Biology 2.0: It is time to delegate understanding to computers

16/03/2017 Ferdi L. Hellweger

In the biological sciences we seem obsessed with simple solutions and questions directed towards simple answers and neat headlines. However, biological systems are complex. Can we really expect to gain simple solutions and are we as humans even capable of fully understanding them? Here to explore this topic is guest blogger Ferdi L. Hellweger.

Biology

The bat blueprint

08/03/2017 Sonja Vernes

An ambitious international effort titled BAT1K has recently been launched. Its aim: to sequence the genomes of all living bat species. In this blog, Sonja Vernes, one of the leaders of the consortium, tells us about BAT1K, its importance and what makes the only flying mammals so special.

Biology

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Using the “Natural History Large Hadron Collider” to tell us about plant diversity

Aerial vew of green african forest liberia

07/03/2017 Sandra Knapp

A study published today in BMC Biology uses the RAINBIO dataset, a database of herbarium specimens, to analyze African plant diversity. In this blog we invited Sandra Knapp, a plant taxonomist at the Natural History Museum in London, to talk about the study and the importance of herbaria, which she regards as the “CERN of natural history”.

Biology

Broadening the scope of single cell sequencing technologies

03/03/2017 Dr. Holger Heyn

With the costs of cell sequencing falling, it is the biological material itself that could prove to be a hurdle preventing us from sequencing every cell type in the human body. Recently published in Genome Biology a new study looks to address this potential bottleneck of progress using cryopreservation for long term sample storage. Here, lead author of the study, Dr. Holger Heyn, tells us more.

Biology

Establishing symbiotic nitrogen fixation in cereals and other non-legume crops: The Greener Nitrogen Revolution

02/03/2017 Edward Cocking

The Haber-Bosch process has enabled us to produce synthetic nitrogen fertilizers leading to higher crop yields and a boom in the world population. However this has come at a costly environmental expense. A review article published today in Agriculture and Food Security describes a program of research that looks to take the natural nitrogen fixing bacteria found in legumes and place it in crops like maize, wheat and rice. Here, co-author of the review, Ted Cocking, tells us about this potential dawn of the greener nitrogen revolution.

Biology

Pioneers in Infectious Agents and Cancer Meeting

02/03/2017 Franco Buonaguro

On March 23 in occasion of the 80° birthday of Prof. Robert Gallo the Pioneers in Infectious Agents and Cancer Meeting will be held in Naples at the Conference Hall of the Royal Continental Hotel. The 2017 Pioneers in Infectious Agents and Cancer Meeting, whose main objective is to celebrate scientists who contributed most to… Read more »

Biology

Monthly Archives: March 2017