52 posts · 15,431 views
A biology-focused blog where I write about whatever I happen to find interesting, from simple explanations of things that might be considered “basic science” to peer-reviewed research, both old and new. My goal is to communicate scientific ideas to non-scientists in a way that is enlightening, engaging or even inspirational. I hope the blog will be more than just my writing, though – discussion and discourse are the heart of learning, so please share your thoughts and questions in the comments.
sedeer
52 posts
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- May 9, 2013
- 09:28 AM
- 43 views
The wasp and the cockroach: a zombie story
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
The world of parasites is full of incredible tales of manipulation and mind-control as these creatures twist their hosts to …Continue reading »... Read more »
Libersat, F., & Gal, R. (2012) What can parasitoid wasps teach us about decision-making in insects?. Journal of Experimental Biology, 216(1), 47-55. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.073999
Herzner, G., Schlecht, A., Dollhofer, V., Parzefall, C., Harrar, K., Kreuzer, A., Pilsl, L., & Ruther, J. (2013) Larvae of the parasitoid wasp Ampulex compressa sanitize their host, the American cockroach, with a blend of antimicrobials. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(4), 1369-1374. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1213384110
- May 2, 2013
- 02:48 PM
- 90 views
Sex, hormones, and the microbiome
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
The microbiome — the kilogram of microbes that each of us carries around — has been shown to be involved …Continue reading »... Read more »
Markle JG, Frank DN, Mortin-Toth S, Robertson CE, Feazel LM, Rolle-Kampczyk U, von Bergen M, McCoy KD, Macpherson AJ, & Danska JS. (2013) Sex differences in the gut microbiome drive hormone-dependent regulation of autoimmunity. Science (New York, N.Y.), 339(6123), 1084-8. PMID: 23328391
- April 15, 2013
- 09:41 AM
- 86 views
Falling faster than gravity
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
In 2011, a team of physicists at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York showed that when a falling chain hits …Continue reading »... Read more »
Grewal, A., Johnson, P., & Ruina, A. (2011) A chain that speeds up, rather than slows, due to collisions: How compression can cause tension. American Journal of Physics, 79(7), 723. DOI: 10.1119/1.3583481
- March 29, 2013
- 02:50 PM
- 177 views
An amazing critter with seven sexes!
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
If you’ve never heard of Tetrahymena thermophila, your world is about to get much stranger. This little beauty, a single-celled …Continue reading »... Read more »
Cervantes, M., Hamilton, E., Xiong, J., Lawson, M., Yuan, D., Hadjithomas, M., Miao, W., & Orias, E. (2013) Selecting One of Several Mating Types through Gene Segment Joining and Deletion in Tetrahymena thermophila. PLoS Biology, 11(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001518
- March 13, 2013
- 08:44 AM
- 187 views
Skybugs: ecosystems above and below
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
I’ve already written several times about the bacteria in the clouds and what they do up there; now, a new …Continue reading »... Read more »
Deleon-Rodriguez N, Lathem TL, Rodriguez-R LM, Barazesh JM, Anderson BE, Beyersdorf AJ, Ziemba LD, Bergin M, Nenes A, & Konstantinidis KT. (2013) Microbiome of the upper troposphere: Species composition and prevalence, effects of tropical storms, and atmospheric implications. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(7), 2575-80. PMID: 23359712
- February 26, 2013
- 12:43 PM
- 183 views
What makes our intelligence heritable?
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
A study from the University of Edinburgh claims to have found the basis of our intelligence in thousands of genes …Continue reading »... Read more »
Davies, G., Tenesa, A., Payton, A., Yang, J., Harris, S., Liewald, D., Ke, X., Le Hellard, S., Christoforou, A., Luciano, M.... (2011) Genome-wide association studies establish that human intelligence is highly heritable and polygenic. Molecular Psychiatry, 16(10), 996-1005. DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.85
Chabris, C., Hebert, B., Benjamin, D., Beauchamp, J., Cesarini, D., van der Loos, M., Johannesson, M., Magnusson, P., Lichtenstein, P., Atwood, C.... (2012) Most Reported Genetic Associations With General Intelligence Are Probably False Positives. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1314-1323. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611435528
- February 20, 2013
- 08:59 AM
- 198 views
New targets for HIV therapy
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
In a pair of studies published last year, researchers across Europe used computer simulations to make major advances in our …Continue reading »... Read more »
Sadiq SK, Noé F, & De Fabritiis G. (2012) Kinetic characterization of the critical step in HIV-1 protease maturation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(50), 20449-54. PMID: 23184967
Wright, D., Sadiq, S., De Fabritiis, G., & Coveney, P. (2012) Thumbs Down for HIV: Domain Level Rearrangements Do Occur in the NNRTI-Bound HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 134(31), 12885-12888. DOI: 10.1021/ja301565k
- February 8, 2013
- 01:07 PM
- 209 views
These feet were made for walking
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
While popular imagination may be fascinated by when our ancestors first began to walk upright, scientific debate has focused on …Continue reading »... Read more »
Venkataraman, V., Kraft, T., & Dominy, N. (2012) Tree climbing and human evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(4), 1237-1242. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1208717110
- February 4, 2013
- 05:29 PM
- 231 views
7,000 years of cheese!
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
Cheese may be a gourmet’s delight and a major industry these days, but it was probably originally just a good …Continue reading »... Read more »
Salque, M., Bogucki, P., Pyzel, J., Sobkowiak-Tabaka, I., Grygiel, R., Szmyt, M., & Evershed, R. (2012) Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium bc in northern Europe. Nature, 493(7433), 522-525. DOI: 10.1038/nature11698
Evershed, R., Payne, S., Sherratt, A., Copley, M., Coolidge, J., Urem-Kotsu, D., Kotsakis, K., Özdoğan, M., Özdoğan, A., Nieuwenhuyse, O.... (2008) Earliest date for milk use in the Near East and southeastern Europe linked to cattle herding. Nature, 455(7212), 528-531. DOI: 10.1038/nature07180
- February 1, 2013
- 07:50 AM
- 182 views
Sex and sociality: the genetics of being different
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
An international team of researchers studying fire ants have discovered the first “social chromosome”. While this is obviously exciting to …Continue reading »... Read more »
Wang, J., Wurm, Y., Nipitwattanaphon, M., Riba-Grognuz, O., Huang, Y., Shoemaker, D., & Keller, L. (2013) A Y-like social chromosome causes alternative colony organization in fire ants. Nature, 493(7434), 664-668. DOI: 10.1038/nature11832
- January 21, 2013
- 05:59 PM
- 163 views
Flying bacteria: the chemists of the clouds
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
A while ago I wrote about how bacteria make their way into clouds, where they act as seeds around which …Continue reading »... Read more »
Vaitilingom, M., Deguillaume, L., Vinatier, V., Sancelme, M., Amato, P., Chaumerliac, N., & Delort, A. (2012) Potential impact of microbial activity on the oxidant capacity and organic carbon budget in clouds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(2), 559-564. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1205743110
- January 16, 2013
- 05:29 PM
- 168 views
Fam38A: another piece of the cancer puzzle
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
A team of researchers in the UK have discovered how the absence of a single gene makes it easier for …Continue reading »... Read more »
McHugh, B., Murdoch, A., Haslett, C., & Sethi, T. (2012) Loss of the Integrin-Activating Transmembrane Protein Fam38A (Piezo1) Promotes a Switch to a Reduced Integrin-Dependent Mode of Cell Migration. PLoS ONE, 7(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040346
- January 6, 2013
- 04:22 AM
- 186 views
From chimps to chickens: how a little DNA can make a lot of difference
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
Humans and chimpanzees famously share more than 98% of their genome and yet the two species look and behave quite …Continue reading »... Read more »
Barbosa-Morais, N., Irimia, M., Pan, Q., Xiong, H., Gueroussov, S., Lee, L., Slobodeniuc, V., Kutter, C., Watt, S., Colak, R.... (2012) The Evolutionary Landscape of Alternative Splicing in Vertebrate Species. Science, 338(6114), 1587-1593. DOI: 10.1126/science.1230612
Merkin, J., Russell, C., Chen, P., & Burge, C. (2012) Evolutionary Dynamics of Gene and Isoform Regulation in Mammalian Tissues. Science, 338(6114), 1593-1599. DOI: 10.1126/science.1228186
- December 22, 2012
- 09:17 AM
- 228 views
Christmas post: Let it snow!
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
Snowflakes, with their intricate patterns and captivating symmetry, are entrancingly beautiful and have become a ubiquitous icon of winter. Reading …Continue reading »... Read more »
Norihko Fukuta, & Tsuneya Takahashi. (1999) The Growth of Atmospheric Ice Crystals: A Summary of Findings in Vertical Supercooled Cloud Tunnel Studies. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 1963-1979. info:/
Libbrecht, K. (2005) The physics of snow crystals. Reports on Progress in Physics, 68(4), 855-895. DOI: 10.1088/0034-4885/68/4/R03
Nelson, J. (2008) Origin of diversity in falling snow. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 8(18), 5669-5682. DOI: 10.5194/acp-8-5669-2008
Nelson, J. (2005) Branch Growth and Sidebranching in Snow Crystals. Crystal Growth , 5(4), 1509-1525. DOI: 10.1021/cg049685v
- December 16, 2012
- 12:37 PM
- 189 views
Hsp90: translating environmental stress into evolutionary change
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
In the 1990s, Suzanne Rutherford and Susan Lindquist were studying fruit flies with a mutated version of the Hsp90 gene and found …Continue reading »... Read more »
Chen, B., & Wagner, A. (2012) Hsp90 is important for fecundity, longevity, and buffering of cryptic deleterious variation in wild fly populations. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 12(1), 25. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-25
Queitsch, C., Sangster, T., & Lindquist, S. (2002) Hsp90 as a capacitor of phenotypic variation. Nature, 417(6889), 618-624. DOI: 10.1038/nature749
Rutherford SL, & Lindquist S. (1998) Hsp90 as a capacitor for morphological evolution. Nature, 396(6709), 336-42. PMID: 9845070
Sangster, T., Salathia, N., Lee, H., Watanabe, E., Schellenberg, K., Morneau, K., Wang, H., Undurraga, S., Queitsch, C., & Lindquist, S. (2008) HSP90-buffered genetic variation is common in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(8), 2969-2974. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0712210105
Yeyati PL, Bancewicz RM, Maule J, & van Heyningen V. (2007) Hsp90 selectively modulates phenotype in vertebrate development. PLoS genetics, 3(3). PMID: 17397257
- December 5, 2012
- 06:13 PM
- 215 views
The ABCs of flowers
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
In 1991, researchers at the California Institute of Technology described the basic genetic system behind how flowers are made. The …Continue reading »... Read more »
Bowman JL, Smyth DR, & Meyerowitz EM. (1991) Genetic interactions among floral homeotic genes of Arabidopsis. Development (Cambridge, England), 112(1), 1-20. PMID: 1685111
Bowman, J., Smyth, D., & Meyerowitz, E. (2012) The ABC model of flower development: then and now. Development, 139(22), 4095-4098. DOI: 10.1242/dev.083972
- November 26, 2012
- 09:01 AM
- 268 views
The viruses that infect the bacteria that live in your gut
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
Your body has ten times more bacterial cells than human cells containing 150 times as much genetic material. I’ve written …Continue reading »... Read more »
Duerkop, B., Clements, C., Rollins, D., Rodrigues, J., & Hooper, L. (2012) A composite bacteriophage alters colonization by an intestinal commensal bacterium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(43), 17621-17626. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1206136109
Stern, A., Mick, E., Tirosh, I., Sagy, O., & Sorek, R. (2012) CRISPR targeting reveals a reservoir of common phages associated with the human gut microbiome. Genome Research, 22(10), 1985-1994. DOI: 10.1101/gr.138297.112
- November 20, 2012
- 03:12 PM
- 278 views
The basis of our overly optimistic beliefs
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
The human brain seems to be wired for forward-looking optimism. In 2007, Tali Sharot and a team of scientists at …Continue reading »... Read more »
Sharot, T., Riccardi, A., Raio, C., & Phelps, E. (2007) Neural mechanisms mediating optimism bias. Nature, 450(7166), 102-105. DOI: 10.1038/nature06280
Sharot, T., Korn, C., & Dolan, R. (2011) How unrealistic optimism is maintained in the face of reality. Nature Neuroscience, 14(11), 1475-1479. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2949
Sharot, T., Kanai, R., Marston, D., Korn, C., Rees, G., & Dolan, R. (2012) Selectively altering belief formation in the human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(42), 17058-17062. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1205828109
- November 9, 2012
- 10:14 AM
- 256 views
Do ants really count their steps?
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
Several years ago, scientists published an excellent study about how desert ants find their way home after foraging. The story …Continue reading »... Read more »
Wittlinger, M. (2006) The Ant Odometer: Stepping on Stilts and Stumps. Science, 312(5782), 1965-1967. DOI: 10.1126/science.1126912
van der Hoort B, Guterstam A, & Ehrsson HH. (2011) Being Barbie: the size of one's own body determines the perceived size of the world. PloS one, 6(5). PMID: 21633503
- October 29, 2012
- 07:48 PM
- 349 views
Why do men and women want different things?
by sedeer in Inspiring Science
Regular readers will probably have realized from the links I share (or from my twitter stream) that sexism and gender …Continue reading »... Read more »
Zentner, M., & Mitura, K. (2012) Stepping Out of the Caveman's Shadow: Nations' Gender Gap Predicts Degree of Sex Differentiation in Mate Preferences. Psychological Science, 23(10), 1176-1185. DOI: 10.1177/0956797612441004
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