Why do men and women want different things?

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

Tags

Behavior, biology, evolution, gender, Gender role, partner, People, Popular science, relationships, romance, science, Science in Society, sex, sex differences

Regular readers will probably have realized from the links I share (or from my twitter stream) that sexism and gender issues are subjects which matter to me. Unfortunately, a lot of my discussions about gender get sidetracked by a “pop evolutionary” story based on naïve evolutionary psychology. We “evolved on the plains of Africa”, the story goes, where our preference in partners was shaped by biological needs; modern gender roles and partner preferences reflect these ancestral adaptations. It’s a nice story which does a great job of justifying the existing patriarchal structure, but is it true? That’s a huge question which is unlikely to be settled by a single study. Nevertheless, Marcel Zentner and Klaudia Mitura, a pair of psychologists at the University of York, decided to take it on. Continue reading →

Gut bacteria and diabetes: the saga continues

26 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by sedeer in Bacteria, Genetics, Humans

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bacteria, biology, diabetes, Diabetes mellitus type 2, Gut flora, Health, metagenome, Metagenomics, Popular science, science, sequence

Type 2 diabetes is a serious global epidemic, having grown from 30 million cases to nearly 300 million over the past three decades. Although several recent studies have shown a link between type 2 diabetes and our gut bacteria, we’re still only at the dawn of learning about the microbiome. There’s a great deal we don’t yet know, including what kinds of bacteria live in our gut and how they go about making a living there. In a paper published in the September issue of Nature, a team of scientists from China and Denmark used whole genome sequencing technologies to overcome these gaps in our knowledge and get some more clues about the relationship between our gut bacteria and this disease. Continue reading →

Telling left from right: which side gets the heart?

23 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by sedeer in Development, Evolution, Form, Genetics, Vertebrates

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

animals, biology, Cytoskeleton, emergence, Popular science, science, shape, symmetry, Tubulin

This was originally a guest post on The Trenches of Discovery. Thanks, Shaun!

One out of every 8,000 humans is born with some of their internal organs on the wrong side of their body, a condition which can have serious medical consequences. Although we’re usually described as symmetric, that’s only superficially true. Like other vertebrates, we look symmetric from the outside but our internal organs show left-right asymmetry; unless you happen to be a Time Lord, you have only one heart which is normally located on the left side of your chest. Changes to the organization of the internal organs can lead to cardiac defects, misalignment of the bowel and other serious problems. Many genes are known to play a role in establishing this asymmetry, but we still don’t fully understand its evolutionary and developmental origins. Earlier this year, a paper published in the journal PNAS described how this asymmetry is established by subcellular components early in embryonic development.

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How short can genes get?

20 Saturday Oct 2012

Posted by sedeer in Form, Genetics

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

biology, DNA, Gene, Gene expression, genetic regulation, Polyadenylation, Popular science, Regulation of gene expression, RNA, RNA processing, science, terminator

A team of scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark reported a remarkable discovery in this month’s issue of the journal Genes & Development. Genetic regulation is a complex and intricate affair carefully orchestrated by an array of proteins and other factors. While the basics are well understood, the researchers discovered that the length of the gene itself may also have a role, adding another twist to the already complex and intricate story of genetic regulation.

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Ice Age on Mars: how it started and ended

17 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by sedeer in Astronomy, Climate, Complex systems

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

astrogeology, geomorphology, ice age, mars, Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, Moon, NASA, planets, Polar ice cap, Popular science, science, Solar System

One of the great things about working at a university is the opportunity to go to talks and learn about all kinds of interesting subjects from experts. As a biologist, I don’t usually hear much about Mars and astrogeology in my daily life, but I had the pleasure and privilege of attending a talk by Professor Victor Baker earlier this week. During his visit to Helsinki, Professor Baker lectured about the geological history of water on Mars. Though this is well outside my area of expertise, I hope to share some of the amazing things I learned, starting with a story about the recent ice age on Mars and the astonishing mechanism behind it.

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Found while foraging (October 13, 2012)

13 Saturday Oct 2012

Posted by sedeer in Foraging

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Tags

gender, internet, macro, photography, Republicans, science, science and society, Science in Society, sexism, space, video

I realized today that I’ve collected quite a few links, so it must be time for another Foraging post. Lots of great photos this time, as well as a few important articles about sexism and, of course, some great science writing! I hope you find something you like….have a great weekend, everyone! Continue reading →