Transgenic Songbirds Provide New Tool To Understanding Language and The Brain (via ScienceDaily)
You can learn a lot from an animal. By manipulating the DNA of mice, flies, frogs and worms, scientists have discovered a great deal about the genes and molecules behind many of life’s essential processes. These basic functions often work about the same in people as they do in “model” animals. But if you want to study more sophisticated cognitive processes such as humans’ ability to learn language from one another, you need a more sophisticated organism. For the first time, researchers have devised a way to alter the genes of the zebra finch, one of a handful of social animals that learn to “speak” by imitating their fellows….
New Species Discovered On Whale Skeletons (via ScienceDaily)
When a whale dies, it sinks to the seafloor and becomes food for an entire ecosystem. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have discovered previously unknown species that feed only on dead whales — and have used DNA technology to show that the species diversity in our oceans may be higher than previously thought….
One group of animals commonly found on whale skeletons is bristleworms, which are related to the earthworm. Some bristleworm species are so specialised in eating dead whales they would have problems surviving elsewhere. One example is Osedax, which uses its root system to penetrate the whale bones when searching for food. Other species specialise in eating the thick layers of bacteria that quickly form around the bones.
Barcoding Endangered Sea Turtles (via ScienceDaily)
Conservation geneticists who study sea turtles have a new tool to help track this highly migratory and endangered group of marine animals: DNA barcodes. DNA barcodes are short genetic sequences that efficiently distinguish species from each other—even if the samples from which the DNA is extracted are minute or degraded.
Now, a recently published research paper by scientists from the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Canberra, among other organizations, demonstrates that this technology can be applied to all seven sea turtle species and can provide insight into the genetic structure of a widely-dispersed and ancient group of animals.
via kevinnuut:
Your DNA As Art.
Because your genetic code is quite sexy, I must admit.
DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated
The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person…. (more @ NY Times)
DNA computer solves logic queries
Strands of DNA are designed to give off a green light corresponding to “yes”. The system devised by the researchers uses molecules to represent facts and rules. In this way, the team was able to use it to answer simple molecular “questions”….
First, they tried the system with simple “if… then…” propositions. One of these went as follows: “All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.” When fed a molecular rule (all men are mortal) and a molecular fact (Socrates is a man), the DNA computing system was able to answer the question “Is Socrates mortal?” correctly.
The answer was encoded in a flash of green light. Some of the DNA strands were equipped with a naturally glowing fluorescent molecule bound to a second molecule which keeps the light covered. A specialised enzyme, attracted to the part of the molecule representing the correct answer, would then remove this cover to let the light shine…. (more @ ScienceDaily)
