Life Science
dr. dolittle | December 23, 2016New research presented at the British Ecological Society, Liverpool shows that reindeer are shrinking. These findings come from a survey conducted between 1994-2010 in Svalbard, a Norwegian island, which found the animals have lost about 12% of their body mass over this timeframe. The research team thinks the shrinking reindeer phenomenon might be caused by global warming as females have increased access to grasslands and give birth to more calves annually than in the past. This translates to less nutrients available to support each gestation causing lower birth weights and more competition…
dr. dolittle | December 13, 2016... or any other human language for that matter. Even though both monkeys and humans have the anatomical tools for speech, only humans communicate in this manner. Researchers had assumed, incorrectly, that the anatomy of the vocal tract (lips, tongue, larynx) of monkeys was not capable of producing speech. A new study published in Science Advances shows instead that it is all in our heads.
The researchers came to this conclusion after creating x-ray videos of macaques making sounds and eating. They used these videos to create computer models that could translate the movements they observed in…
dr. dolittle | December 9, 2016 Image by Botaurus - Wikimedia commons
A changing climate has the potential to greatly impact ectotherms, which depend on the environment to regulate their own body temperatures. In a new study published in the American Journal of Physiology- Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, researchers were curious how exposure to varying temperatures would affect developing ectotherms. They answered this question using Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as fruit flies. They exposed freshly laid eggs to ten different temperatures ranging from 12 to 32°C, the upper and lower limit of…
dr. dolittle | December 7, 2016I came across a neat article in Scientific American that described how reindeer and elk regrow their antlers every year. Could you imagine putting that much energy into growing new bone each year complete with a velvety cover containing nerves, skin, and blood vessels? Although full-grown antlers lose their blood supply and animals scrape the velvet layer off to reveal just bone.
Researchers have explored whether understanding this amazing process of annual antler regeneration could lead to new therapies to regrow nerves or organs in humans. The nerve fibers that innervate the antlers in deer…
dr. dolittle | November 30, 2016
I know this is not a comparative physiology topic, but this article caught my attention as I know I just ate a rather high fat meal last week for Thanksgiving and I plan to do the same throughout the holiday season.
Insulin does more than just lowering blood sugar by increasing its uptake into tissues. It can also increase blood flow to the hippocampal region of the brain to help cognitive function. This area of the brain is important in memory formation and spatial orientation. A new study published in the American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism used ultrasound to…
dr. dolittle | November 29, 2016If you have ever been licked by a cat, you have experienced just how scratchy their tongues are. If you have not had the pleasure, it is much like being licked by a piece of Velcro. In fact, Mechanical Engineer Alexis Noel (Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta) recently described the tiny claw-like structures on a cat's tongue after observing a cat getting its tongue stuck on a blanket. Her research team decided to create 3D prints of a cat's tongue. Some applications of this discovery could include soft robots designed to better grip objects, new designs for hairbrushes (have you ever…
dr. dolittle | November 10, 2016Pioneering research being conducted by Dr. Gregoire Courtine (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne) may enable paralyzed humans to walk again someday. Through his collaborative research with a lab in Beijing China, he has developed a wireless brain implant that detects signals in the brain and then sends these signals to electrodes implanted in the lower spine (below the injured region) of the animals. This technology allows the brain signals to bypass the spinal cord injury.
Dr. Courtine is beginning trials in paralyzed humans using a simpler model of his new system that only…
dr. dolittle | November 5, 2016Highlights from Day 3!
The costs of being a father?
Image of a California mouse By Whatiguana - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jacob Andrew et al. from the University of California - Riverside presented a poster examining the long-term effects of fatherhood in California mice (Peromyscus californicus). California mice are monogamous and biparental, like humans. This means that both parents participate in taking care of offspring. In prior research they found that first-time fathers did not experience many changes in their physiology, locomotion or in the structure of their…
dr. dolittle | November 3, 2016Mitochondria produce more than just ATP
Anatomy of a mitochondrion from Wikimedia Commons
Pinchas Cohen from the University of California - Davis presented data showing that mitochondria produce more than just ATP. They also make several peptides that can each affect our physiology. Some help cells respond to insulin better, some help with weight, some regulate cell metabolism. What is even more impressive is that some of these peptides have been shown to slow down the development of atherosclerosis or Alzheimer's, and some even help prevent side effects from chemotherapy in animals. Maybe…
dr. dolittle | November 2, 2016
The opening session was great!
By Tatsuo Yamashita (Flickr: ワンセグで紅白をみます 2012/12/31) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Eric Hoffman (Children's National Medical Center) presented work on chronic inflammatory diseases in children. He mentioned that while diets high in fats and carbohydrates (i.e. Western diets), obesity and sedentary lifestyles are associated with inflammation and related diseases (ex: asthma, type 2 diabetes), another contributor could be hormones. Kids who stay indoors more often have reduced exposure to sunlight and exercise…
dr. dolittle | November 1, 2016 By Shanghai killer whale (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
I just read an interesting blog from the I Spy Physiology website sponsored by the American Physiological Society which described results from a recent study suggesting that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) might be a human equivalent to hibernation.
Chronic fatigue syndrome reportedly affects over 2.5 million people in the United States alone. People with this condition have the type of fatigue that does not seem to improve, even with adequate sleep.
By examining the…
dr. dolittle | November 1, 2016
The annual American Physiological Society sponsored conference, The Integrative Biology of Exercise is hosting their 7th meeting in Phoenix, AZ this week! I just unpacked my bags and I am highlighting my program book now to see what sessions to attend tomorrow. Can't wait!
dr. dolittle | October 31, 2016Happy Halloween!
The day just would not be complete without goblin spiders. Check out this neat YouTube video I came across describing species found in Ecuador.
dr. dolittle | October 30, 2016I came across this YouTube video of spooky sharks. How appropriate before Halloween!
dr. dolittle | October 27, 2016 Image of a deer mouse from Seney Natural History Association, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29576617
Deer mice are known for being quite promiscuous. In fact, it is not uncommon to find a litter of deer mice with multiple fathers. Dr. Hopi Hoekstra and colleagues at Harvard University's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology discovered that the tail of deer mice sperm have longer midsections than found in monogamous mice. What this means is that their sperm can swim better and faster, thereby reaching an egg sooner than sperm from other…
dr. dolittle | October 26, 2016 Image from ProjectManhattan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
You probably already knew that fevers can cause some people to develop seizures. According to the National Institutes of Health, these so-called 'febrile seizures' can happen at temperatures of 102.2 degrees F and above and are most-often seen in children. The good news is that this type of seizure is usually short and does not often cause any long-term damage to the brain.
In a new study published in Physiological Reports, Researchers at Emory University (Atlanta,…
dr. dolittle | October 21, 2016 Photo of a Greenland shark from Wikipedia.
A multi-national team of scientists sought to determine the age of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus). These animals grow rather slowly (about 1cm per year) and are the largest fish in the arctic (>500 cm long), but their longevity was not yet known. The team used radiocarbon dating of crystalline proteins found within the nuclei of the eye lens. Because these proteins are formed prenatally, they offer a rather accurate way to estimate an animal's age. Their findings, published in Science, show that the animals reach a lifespan of…
dr. dolittle | October 19, 2016In true MacGyver fashion, an employee at the Rainbow Springs Nature Park in New Zealand
repaired a damaged kiwi bird egg with masking tape thus protecting the chick from dehydration. The newly hatched bird was appropriately named Fissure.
Photo of Fissure from Rainbow Springs Nature Park.
dr. dolittle | October 18, 2016...in alligators at least.
Image of alligator eggs and hatchling from National Park Service.
Researchers from the University of Manchester, University of North Texas - Denton, and the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge - Grand Chenier, Louisiana teamed up to explore the effects of exposure to low oxygen on embryonic American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). Alligator eggs are often laid in nests where oxygen concentrations can reportedly vary between 11-20% (21% is normal atmospheric levels). This is really important as issues related to embryonic development could continue to affect…
dr. dolittle | October 14, 2016Check out this video from Reuters (via YouTube). It summarizes an exciting study from researchers at Imperial College London who were able to stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice by administering a modified virus to the animals. The virus worked by preventing the formation of the characteristic amyloid plaques that are responsible for causing damage to neurons in the brain. Importantly, the virus did not result in loss of existing brain cells. It will be interesting to see how this research progresses and whether the treatment will not only be safe, but effective for humans…