All posts by student

Embryology

Scientists baffled by bizarre conjoined twin bats found dead under a tree – NEWS.com.au

Scientists find dead conjoined twin bats in Brazil. Picture: MARCELO R. NOGUEIRA: LABORATRIO DE CINCIAS AMBIENTAIS

THEY say two heads are better than one

Scientists have been left completely astonished after finding the perfectly preserved remains of dead conjoined twin bats under a tree in Brazil, reports The Sun.

It is only the third recorded case of conjoined bats and experts are now examining their remains to find out more about the phenomena.

Scientists find dead conjoined twin bats in Brazil. Picture: LABORATRIO DE RADIOGRAFIAS, MUSEU NACIONAL, UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO DE JANEIROSource:Supplied

The bats are believed to have been stillborn and still had the placenta attached when they were discovered under a mango tree in the southeast of the country.

Marcelo Nogueira, from the State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, said: We believe the mother of these twins was roosting in this tree when she gave birth.

It is our hope that cases like this will encourage more studies on bat embryology, an open and fascinating field of research that can largely benefit from material already available in scientific collections.

Scientists find dead conjoined twin bats in Brazil. Picture: NADJA L. PINHEIRO, FROM REA DE EMBRIOLOGIA, UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DO RIO DE JANEIROSource:Supplied

Little is known about conjoined animals. Just one in around 200,000 human births involved conjoined twins.

Survival rates are around 15 per cent in humans but are thought to be much lower in the animal world.

An X-ray shows the male bats have separate heads and necks but their spines eventually merge into one.

Scientists find dead conjoined twin bats in Brazil. Picture: NADJA L. PINHEIRO, FROM REA DE EMBRIOLOGIA, UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL RURAL DO RIO DE JANEIROSource:Supplied

They also have two separate but similar size hearts.

The total breadth of the twins, including wingspan, measures around 13cm.

Based on their physical characteristics the scientists determined they were most likely Artibeus bats.

This story first appeared on The Sun.

Here is the original post:
Scientists baffled by bizarre conjoined twin bats found dead under a tree - NEWS.com.au

Embryology

IVF babies grow up heavier and may have higher risk of obesity – New Scientist

Whats the weight?

Jenny Elia Pfeiffer/Getty

By Jessica Hamzelou

SINCE the first test tube baby arrived 39 years ago, an estimated 6.5 million children have been born thanks to IVF and similar techniques. But we are only just starting to learn about the long-term health of people conceived using assisted reproduction techniques (ART), who may have a higher risk of obesity in later life.

Today, 1 in every 30 babies in Japan is conceived by ART, says Tomoya Hasegawa of Tokyo Medical University. These babies are usually healthy, but tend to have a lower birth weight. Large studies that didnt look at conception method have previously found that low birth weight is linked to adult obesity and diabetes.

To investigate further, Heleen Zandstra of Maastricht Medical Centre, the Netherlands, and her team have been comparing the effects of using two different culture media to support the growth of early IVF embryos. Earlier they had found that one of these was associated with babies that were 112 grams lighter at birth than those beginning life in the other medium. Thats a big difference, considering babies only weigh about 3 kilograms, says Zandstra.

Advertisement

Now the team have followed up on these babies at the age of 9, recording the height, weight and fat mass of 136 children, as well as blood pressure and heart rate.

They were surprised to find that, while children conceived using each type of culture medium were around the same height, the BMI of the group that had been lighter at birth was an average of 0.9 lower than those who had been heavier babies. There was a difference in weight of 2 kilograms, says Zandstra.

Given that heavier children are more likely to develop obesity later on, the results are worrying

However, both groups were heavier than average 9-year-olds living in similar circumstances, and had more abdominal fat. Given that heavier children are more likely to become obese later in life, the results are worrying, says Zandstra, who presented her findings at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Switzerland in July.

At the same meeting, Hasegawa presented his analysis of 1830 children in Japan. His team found that babies conceived using ART were heavier than naturally conceived babies when they were born, but there was no real difference at 18 months. However, the ART children were heavier again at 6 years old. The results were surprising, says Hasegawa.

What this might mean for adult health in unknown. Louise Brown, the first person born via IVF, is only 39 we dont know yet what will happen to IVF-conceived people in their 50s, says Zandstra.

But people neednt be wary of fertility treatment. We know that IVF is safe, because we have so many children, says Arianna DAngelo, who coordinates the ESHRE group on safety in assisted reproduction. We shouldnt worry, but we should be doing more to monitor children. Studies might flag up problems later in life, says DAngelo.

This article appeared in print under the headline IVF babies grow up to be heavier

More on these topics:

Here is the original post:
IVF babies grow up heavier and may have higher risk of obesity - New Scientist

Human Behavior

Athletics: AIU must recruit more investigators – Reuters

(Reuters) - The Athletics Integrity Unit needs more investigators to deal with violations in the sport, the chair of the organization said.

The AIU replaced the International Association of Athletics Federations's former anti-doping department in April and is an independent body that handles aspects including testing, intelligence and investigations related to misconduct within the sport.

While David Howman said he was pleased with the progress of the organization ahead of World Athletics Championships that begin in London on Friday, he underlined the need to hire the right investigators.

"We have a huge remit, we have a mandate which covers things from anti-doping to age manipulation. We need to have investigators to look at issues when they rise," Howman told Reuters TV.

"We need to make sure that we've got the right people in those places to conduct those investigations."

It was not immediately clear how many investigators the unit already has.

The AIU will collect more than 600 blood and urine samples prior to the championships as part of their anti-doping campaign and Howman could not guarantee that all athletes will be clean but expressed his confidence in the program.

"You can't guarantee that human behavior is such that won't happen," he said.

"So what we can do is say we're going to have best practice, best anti-doping program you could possibly have at the moment based on information and intelligence gathering and we'll see the outcome following the event."

Howman said their existing measures could help them expose multiple athletes and officials in a single investigation and says that an indicator of the organization's success would be clean athletes acknowledging its progress.

Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams

The rest is here:
Athletics: AIU must recruit more investigators - Reuters

Human Behavior

Human Behavior ‘Trumps’ Battery Tech in Solar Energy Future – Inverse

Solar energy is the future, says the president of Californias Public Utilities Commission. The only question is how to get people to realize the future can be right now.

Solar is not a boutique product anymore, its cheaper than just about any other fossil fuel on the market, commission president Michael Picker tells Inverse. And one way we bring the cost down is enlisting people to step in and dance with the grid.

Dancing with the grid means charging electric cars during the day, when the grid is brimming with solar energy. It also means generally being cognizant about energy use in homes. One-quarter of energy use in households is being gulped by things that arent being used, but are simply plugged in, like toasters and rarely-used televisions.

Picker wants every Californian to become a part of the states modern energy infrastructure. The technology has arrived, works, and will be an integral part of Californias mission to quit using fuel for power.

Peoples behavior trumps everything, says Picker. Its valuable to get people to stop being passive subjects in this dynamic world and provide more reliability on the grid. The solar eclipse shows people how to do it.

Californians will get a chance to adapt to the grid on August 21, when the coming solar eclipse will darken skies in the usually sun-drenched state. This will dramatically reduce the output from solar farms, which produce a quarter of Californias renewable energy. Foreseeing the cut in energy production, the California Public Utilities Commission is asking folks to turn up the thermostat, switch to LED lights, and not charge electronics during the dimming event. The campaign, called Do Your Thing For The Sun, reveals the importance of peoples behavior in making solar energy a resilient, reliable energy source even more so than burgeoning battery technologies, which could supply power when the solar farms cant.

For two hours, the moon will block up to three-quarters of the suns rays, deflecting that valuable light back into space. These darkened skies mean a loss of 5,600 Megawatts enough to power 900,000 homes. If Californians dont reduce their energy use, the state will have to ignite backup fuel-burning engines to provide adequate power.

This energy-saving campaign, however, prompted Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who in 2014 directed his company to begin constructing the 1.9 million square foot battery-producing Gigafactory in the Nevada Desert, to respond to an article about the campaign with a succinct tweet: Batteries! Musks implication is that Californias renewable future requires batteries to provide backup power when solar farms arent generating enough electricity.

Musk, a battery and electric car innovator, has obvious incentives in promoting state investment in battery projects. But Picker also acknowledges that batteries are important for Californias energy future, noting that theyre small, can fit in neighborhoods, and that the state plans to have 1.3 Gigawatts of battery storage capacity by 2020. (One Gigawatt can light 100 million LED bulbs or charge 12,500 Nissan Leafs, according to the Department of Energy.)

Still, Picker says peoples actions, not batteries, will ultimately enable the states renewable energy future, a future the California government is hell-bent on achieving. California is legally bound to produce a whopping 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, which doesnt include hydroelectric power generated from rivers pouring through dams. Picker says that if hydroelectricity is included in the equation, the state could achieve 70 percent renewable energy use by 2025 or 2026.

And the current governor, Jerry Brown, is fully intent on abandoning fossil fuels. While arguing for a climate cap and trade bill (which passed) earlier this month, the 79-year old Brown made it clear that renewable energy in which solar farms will loom large will be a crucial part of Californias future. This isnt about some cockamamie legacy. This isnt for me, Im going to be dead. Its for you, and its damn real, he said.

Battery facilities will still spring up around California as part of Californias grand renewable energy effort, and theyre likely to look similar to Elon Musks local battery projects in the state. In January, Tesla completed an energy storage facility for the utility Southern California Edison in just 90 days. The facility is capable of storing enough energy for 2,500 homes.

But human behavior, not battery technology, will ultimately make the worlds sixth largest economy run largely on the sun, says Picker. Its an entirely different creature than weve had in our electric supply and we have to think about it differently, he says.

Read more:
Human Behavior 'Trumps' Battery Tech in Solar Energy Future - Inverse

Human Behavior

Eye Tracking Market by Offering, Tracking Type, Application (Assistive Communication, Human Behavior & Market … – Markets Insider

NEW YORK, Aug. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of eye trackers is expected to reach 756 thousand units by 2023. The quality of the hardware is important in some of the eye-tracking-based applications, such as assistive communication, AR/VR, and automotive vehicles.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p05040086/Eye-Tracking-Market-by-Offering-Tracking-Type-Application-Assistive-Communication-Human-Behavior-Market-Research-AR-VR-Vehicles-Vertical-Retail-Healthcare-Government-Automotive-Consumer-Electronics-and-Geography-Global-Forecast-to.html

There is a considerable improvement in the features offered by the eye-tracking hardware in recent years on account of increased R&D expenditure by the industry leaders. The price erosion is also expected to contribute to the increasing adoption of eye-tracking hardware across various applications. Extensive automation in automotive and industrial sectors is expected to reduce human intervention, thereby limiting the scope for the growth of the eye tracking market.

"With increasing spending from large FMCG companies and retailers, eye tracking market for retail and advertisement vertical expected to grow at significant rate during forecast period"

The saturating retail market in North America and Europe, and the budding retail market in APAC have prompted large FMCG companies to increase their spending for gaining insights into consumer behavior. There is an increasing number of eye-tracking-based research companies, and market research services offered by these companies rely on eye-tracking technology. This trend is expected to grow over the next few years, impacting the growth of the eye tracking market.

"Automotive and transportation vertical expected to adopt eye-tracking technology at fastest rate during forecast period"

The safety aspect in the automotive and transportation vertical is driving the adoption of eye-tracking technology in this vertical. The trend is more prominent in North America and Europe where the automotive regulatory environment is more stringent. Automotive vendors based out of these regions have increased the deployment of eye-tracking technology in their vehicles. The large automotive sector provides a huge growth opportunity for the emerging eye tracking market.

"Eye tracking market in APAC to grow at highest CAGR during forecast period"

The growth of the eye tracking market in APAC can be attributed to the growing spending power of the consumers in the region, and increased investment in retail, healthcare, automotive, and consumer electronics verticals. China and Japan are the most prominent countries in APAC driving the growth of the eye tracking market. A number of automobile and consumer device manufacturers are based out of these countries. The eye tracking market in these industries, along with the growing retail sector, is expected to grow rapidly during the forecast period.

In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and subsegments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews have been conducted with key industry experts.

The breakup of the profile of primary participants is given below: By Company Type: Tier 1 15 %, Tier 2 20%, and Tier 3 65% By Designation: C-Level Executives 50%, Directors 30%, and Others 20% By Region: North America 45%, Europe 35%, APAC 15%, and RoW 5%

The major players profiled in the report are Tobii AB (Sweden), Sensomotoric Instruments GmbH (Germany), SR Research Ltd. (Canada), Seeing Machines (Australia), EyeTracking, Inc. (US), PRS IN VIVO (US), Smart Eye AB (Sweden), LC Technologies, Inc. (US), Ergoneers GmbH (Germany), and Eyetech Digital Systems, Inc. (US).

Research CoverageThe geographic segmentation in the report covers 4 major regionsNorth America, Europe, APAC, and RoW. The application segment covers the market size for assistive communication; human behavior and market research; and others. The tracking type segment covers remote eye tracking and mobile eye tracking. The eye tracking market based on offerings is segmented into hardware; software; and research and consulting services.

The market segmentation by vertical covers retail and advertisement; healthcare and research labs; consumer electronics; government, defense, and aerospace; automotive and transportation; and others.

Key Benefits of Buying the ReportThe report will help the market leaders/new entrants in this market in the following ways:1. This report segments the eye tracking market comprehensively and provides the closest market sizes of segments and subsegments across verticals and regions. 2. The report helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provides them information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. 3. This report would help stakeholders better understand their competitors and gain more insights to enhance their position in the business. The "competitive landscape" chapter includes competitor ecosystem, strength of product portfolio, business strategy excellence, new product developments, partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions in the eye tracking market. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p05040086/Eye-Tracking-Market-by-Offering-Tracking-Type-Application-Assistive-Communication-Human-Behavior-Market-Research-AR-VR-Vehicles-Vertical-Retail-Healthcare-Government-Automotive-Consumer-Electronics-and-Geography-Global-Forecast-to.html

About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

http://www.reportlinker.com

__________________________Contact Clare: rel="nofollow">clare@reportlinker.comUS: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eye-tracking-market-by-offering-tracking-type-application-assistive-communication-human-behavior--market-research-arvr-vehicles-vertical-retail-healthcare-government-automotive-consumer-electronics-and-geography---300498665.html

SOURCE Reportlinker

Continue reading here:
Eye Tracking Market by Offering, Tracking Type, Application (Assistive Communication, Human Behavior & Market ... - Markets Insider

Human Behavior

The Halsey’s 2017 fall programs highlight human behavior and its effects on the environment – Charleston City Paper

In American Purgatory, Marc Trujillo captures what Americans witness every day: airports, big box stores, fast food restaurants. The ostensibly straightforward paintings actually tap into the uncanny this looks familiar, it feels familiar, but where is it? The paintings are not specific to any place, inhabiting instead a non-place, purgatory, perhaps. While we consume en masse, Trujillo takes snapshots, eerie reminders that we are all in this together, whether we realize it or not. American Purgatory opens Aug. 25 and runs through Oct. 7.

Sharing an opening date with Trujillo, Riccarda de Eccher's Montagnatackles the sublime, taking the form of mountain peaks painted with watercolors in different scales and from varying perspectives. De Eccher's snow-peaked Italian Alps (the artist is an Italian native) are cropped, so we are not looking at a complete landscape, but instead a fraction of a scene, a scene, like Trujillo's, that could be found any where, recognizable to anyone.

The two exhibits run concurrently, and the opening reception for both begins at 6:30 p.m. Fri. Aug 25 with refreshments from Monza and ICEBOX.

As part of SEA CHANGE, a collaboration between the Halsey and the South Carolina Aquarium, the art institute presents a series of exhibitions and programs to raise awareness about the world's plastic waste problem. From Oct. 20-Dec. 7, artists Aurora Robson and Chris Jordan will present exhibits addressing environmental issues, and the deleterious effects humans have on the land and the sea.

Robson's site-specific installation, The Tide is High, is a new body of work for the New York-based sculptor. The inorganic plastic materials Robson uses become organic as she manipulates their properties so that they take on ethereal shapes, reminiscent of sea creatures. Robson's work reminds us that whether we're on the coast or landlocked, our daily actions affect the world's water.

Chris Jordan will present his newest photo series, Olympic, a collection of high-res photos that convey the vastness of the world's oceans, alongside Midway, a collection featuring images taken at Midway Atoll, a remote cluster of islands that, although 2,000 miles from the nearest continent, are still being damaged by human action. Even baby albatrosses are not safe the picture at right shows the plastic found in their stomachs.

The opening reception for both artists' exhibits is Fri. Oct. 20 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. with refreshments provided by Whole Foods and ICEBOX.

Artist talks and lectures On Sat. Aug. 26 at 2 p.m., de Eccher will hold an artist talk and gallery walk-through of her exhibit, Montagna.

Sat. Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. Robson holds a talk and walk-through on The Tide is High.

The S.C. Aquarium presents a lecture, "The Tide is High: When Art and Action Collide," onsite Mon. Oct 23 starting at 6:30 p.m. In this lecture, Robson discusses her work as both an artist and activist. The event is free for students and $10 for non-students.

In connection with his exhibit, artist and filmmaker Chris Jordan hosts a lecture, "Encounter with the Albatross,"at the Sottile Theatre Tues. Oct 24 at 7 p.m. Jordan will describe his travels to Midway Atoll and the plight of the native albatrosses he encountered.

Film screenings

Wed. Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Simon Center for the Arts Recital Hall, filmmaker Paul Tschinkel will present a screening of two programs from his documentary series ART/new york. The programs include a 1987 interview with Louise Bourgeois, an envelope pushing sculptor, and a 1994 interview with Kiki Smith, a West-German born American artist known for her visceral and innovative work. A Q & A with Tschinkel follows the screening.

Wed. Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. the Charleston Music Hall will screen the premiere of Jordan's film ALBATROSS, a documentary that follows Jordan to Midway Atoll, a remote cluster of islands that sits amid the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

See more here:
The Halsey's 2017 fall programs highlight human behavior and its effects on the environment - Charleston City Paper

Anatomy

Playbook: Anatomy of a miracle comeback, diver bounces back, death of a coaching legend – Winnipeg Free Press

Top picks

Bombers running back Andrew Harris

Serena Buchwald is diving again following a freak concussion.

Steve Bartman (top centre) was the most hated man in Chicago for 14 years.

The Free Press Playbook is published daily.

Want to receive this as an email everyday?

By subscribing to the above e-mail alerts I agree to receive selected communications from Winnipeg Free Press, even if I have previously opted out from communications. E-mail preferences can be changed at any time under 'My Account->My Email Alerts'.

View original post here:
Playbook: Anatomy of a miracle comeback, diver bounces back, death of a coaching legend - Winnipeg Free Press

Anatomy

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Eric Dane says he’s doing OK after bout with depression – Newsday

Eric Dane opened up Monday about his battle with depression, which caused him to take a hiatus earlier this year from his show The Last Ship.

Id dealt with depression throughout my life, Dane, 44, who has publicly discussed his condition, said on NBCs Today. It was always manageable and I just felt like everybody kind of feels a little blue. But this just hit me like a truck. I had to take some time off I went away, I took care of it, and Im feeling great.

Dane, who played Dr. Mark Sloan for six years on Greys Anatomy and stars as Capt. Tom Chandler on TNTs post-apocalyptic drama The Last Ship, explained he took time off from the show in April because I was dealing with some depression, which was kind of odd to me. I felt very conflicted about it because I didnt really feel like I had anything to be depressed about. And now I take a medication called Pristiq, which I thought just sounded like a good mood. And the depressions gone, he said, adding, Im doing OK.

Pristiq, made by Pfizer, is a brand of the antidepressant desvenlafaxine, which balances levels of the brain chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine.

Youve got to listen to your body, Dane said. Its a very serious thing. And . . . I felt very conflicted because I couldnt figure out what I was depressed about. But its very real. And that was a scary thing, when you wake up and youre like, I dont want to get out of bed. . . . I was, like, seeing these doctors thinking that there was something physically wrong with me, because Id never felt like that.

Danes representative had said in a statement on April 30, that, Eric asked for a break to deal with personal issues. He suffers from depression and has asked for a few weeks of downtime and the producers kindly granted that request. He looks forward to returning.

Production on The Last Ship resumed after Memorial Day, with Season 4 scheduled to premiere Aug. 20.

Read the original here:
'Grey's Anatomy' Eric Dane says he's doing OK after bout with depression - Newsday

Anatomy

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 14: Stars Tease ‘Drama, Drama, Drama’ With Japril & ‘Jaggie’ – Moviefone

Sarah Drew and Jesse Williams, you are killing us. "Grey's Anatomy" Season 14 is now filming, and the actress who plays April Kepner has been doing a great job sharing photos from set. Fans are loving the glimpses of their favorites, and she must've known she'd get a reaction when she shared a "Japril" photo with Jesse Williams (Jackson Avery), then followed later with a photo of the two of them with Kelly McCreary (Maggie Pierce). Jesse Williams posted his own photo of the trio, even baiting fans with a new #Jaggie 'ship name to rival #Japril.

The Season 13 finale had a lot of shockers, and -- on the relationship front -- one of them was the idea of Maggie and Jackson maybe being a thing. April even seemed to give her blessing. Fans did NOT. So when Sarah Drew posts a cute photo of the three April/Jackson/Maggie stars along with the words "drama, drama, drama..." well, she had to know it would get fans talking again. And it did. Williams did the same with his "Jaggie" tease, and it too got fans calling for Japril to rise.

Super cute pics, but yeah. The comments are filled with Japril supporters writing things like "Cant like this! Maggie and Jackson the Worst storyline ever #japrilforever."

Poor Maggie. She deserves better than this storyline, to be honest. Give Maggie her own man, Shonda!

The actors themselves get along great, as you can see in Drew's other photos with McCreary, Williams, and their co-stars:

Want more stuff like this? Like us on Facebook.

Excerpt from:
'Grey's Anatomy' Season 14: Stars Tease 'Drama, Drama, Drama' With Japril & 'Jaggie' - Moviefone

Genetics

MSU genetics and evolution study receives $1.2 million NSF grant – Mississippi State Newsroom

Contact: Sarah Nicholas

STARKVILLE, Miss.Mississippi State is part of a new research collaboration sponsored by the National Science Foundation in which a colorful tropical butterfly is helping researchers investigate genetics and evolution.

Scientists at the Starkville land-grant university and the University of Puerto RicoRio Piedras will be studying the relationship in organisms between genetic material, or genotype, and physical characteristics due to gene expression and environmental influences, or phenotype.

Brian Counterman, an associate professor of biological sciences, leads the MSU research team. Ryan Range, assistant professor of biological sciences, as well as Jovonn Hill and Federico Hoffman, both assistant professors in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, also are part of the study that will examine genotype-phenotype relationships using color patterns of the Heliconius butterfly.

More than $1.2 million is being provided through the NSFs Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, known as EPSCoR, for the MSU collaboration over four years.

National Science Foundation leaders have noted how the genotype-to-phenotype relationship has significant societal and economic implications across scientific fields and areas of industry such as medicine, agriculture and biotechnology.

According to EPSCoR Head Denise Barnes, Over the past several decades, scientists and engineers have made massive strides in decoding, amassing and storing genomic data. For that reason, the federal agency is committed to providing the U.S. scientific community, including MSU, with resources for future discoveries that may help improve food-crop yields, better predictions for human disease risk and new drug therapies.

Angus Dawe, head of MSUs Department of Biological Sciences, said that in addition to helping raise our profile nationally, the project will make possible extensive support for training students and extend the impact of work at MSU to other regions.

This award will support foundational work at the cutting edge of genetics and evolution, Dawe said.

As Counterman recounted, groundbreaking 19th century naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-82) considered Heliconius to be the most striking example of natural selection in the wild because it has the ability to work with other butterflies to train predators that they are toxic.

When species work together, more individual butterflies survive and produce offspring, which is the process of natural selection at its best, Counterman observed.

Counterman said the new inquiry actually is an extension of a project we were already working on with Puerto RicoRio Piedras. When we finished in February, we decided to take it a step further and write a proposal for this grant.

Dawe said the MSU department is proud of its facultys continued success in obtaining research support from a variety of agencies, even as federal funding rates have been cut dramatically. To be able to receive awards in this climate is further evidence that biological sciences at Mississippi State competes with the very best programs anywhere, he emphasized.

Counterman said he and fellow team members are excited about opportunities to provide highly specialized genomic training in both Mississippi and Puerto Rico.

An MSU faculty member since 2010, Counterman is a biology doctoral graduate of Duke University who earlier earned a bachelors degree in ecology and evolution at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dawe said that research proposals for national grants typically involve a tremendous amount of work. He expressed his departments deep appreciation for administrative support and scientific collaborations with campus colleagues in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as well as the offices of Sponsored Projects and Research and Economic Development.

We are extremely grateful for their support, without which the submission of grant proposals could not happen, he said.

For details about EPSCoRs ongoing mission, visit http://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/programs/epscor.

MSUs College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,000 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments. It also is home to the most diverse units for research and scholarly activities, including the Department of Biological Sciences.

Research expenditures in the humanities are also an important part of Mississippi States overall research portfolio. Additionally, the NSF has ranked MSU among the top 25 for research expenditures in the social sciences. For more information on MSUs College of Arts and Sciences, visit http://www.cas.msstate.edu. The Department of Biological Sciences is online at http://www.biology.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippis leading university, also available online at http://www.msstate.edu.

Visit link:
MSU genetics and evolution study receives $1.2 million NSF grant - Mississippi State Newsroom