Best Thinking in Biology

Featured Content

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  Milk: Does it do the body good?
  Topic by Kate Prengaman

  The first vitamin, Vitamin A, was discovered in 1914 in milk fat. In this early nutrition research, researchers fed purified blends of protein, carbohydrates, and fats derived from oats or corn to calves. They found that without milk fat, the calves failed to grow. The conclusion that milk...

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  Asleep? Your Brain Isn't
  Topic by Kate Prengaman

  I recently went to see Sleepwalk with Me,  an indie movie about a comedian who develops a severe sleepwalking disorder. It stars Mike Birbiglia, basically playing himself, and follows him as he develops an increasingly dangerous disorder in which he tries to physically act out his own...

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  Mirror Neurons Appear to Play Key Role in Human Interactions
  Topic by Harvey K Black

  The story behind the discovery of mirror neurons is the stuff of scientific legend and is a true example of serendipity. Italian neuroscientist Giacomo Rizolatti and his colleagues had implanted wires in a monkey’s brain and were studying a part of the brain in planning and movement. ...

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  ENCODE: What can we learn from our "junk" DNA?
  Topic by Kate Prengaman

  A decade ago, the Human Genome Project sequenced the complete set of human DNA, the library of genetic code sitting in 23 pairs of chromosomes in each and every one of our cells. This was an enormous undertaking, given that we each have about 3 billion DNA molecules in our genome. This...

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  New Alzheimer's Research Detects Brain Changes
  Topic by Harvey K Black

  Two recently published studies report the discovery of genes linked to Alzheimer’s, thus offering possible routes to development of therapies for the disease. Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 5 million people, 46 percent of whom are 85 and older. And 45 percent of people over 85...

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  New Tools to Fight Malaria
  Topic by Harvey K Black

  Even though the number of deaths from malaria worldwide is down 25 percent since 2000, public health officials have reason to fear that the disease, whose modern victims are overwhelmingly African children, could rebound. Accordingly, scientists are testing and employing new tools in the...

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  Floods Spread Invasive Species
  Topic by Kate Prengaman

  When rivers swell beyond their banks and hurricanes carry a storm surge across inland, flooding conditions spread more than just water. Thousand of living things travel in floodwaters; fish, plants, invertebrates, bacteria, and more. When the flood recedes, invasive species can establish in...

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  White-Nose Syndrome: A Curse of Bats
  Topic by Harvey K Black

  Bats are dying by the millions. Over five million of the flying mammals, primarily in the northeastern United States and Canada have succumbed. The cause is a fungus, Geomyces destructans, causing what is called white-nose syndrome. The fungus attacks hibernating bats in caves called...

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  The Bear in the Backyard.
  Topic by Kate Prengaman

  I did an internship in Anchorage one summer and rode my bike to work every day along the city's network of greenways--bike trails through undeveloped corridors across the city. Every week or two, in the morning, I'd have to stop because a massive moose would be grazing right in the middle of...

• Animals May Be Smarter Than We Think.
  Topic by Kate Prengaman
• Return of West Nile Virus Sparks Fears, Controversy
  Topic by Harvey K Black
• Someday Will We Grow Replacement Organs?
  Topic by Kate Prengaman