“Complete Horse Genome Sequence Revealed - Austin American-Statesman” plus 4 more

Complete Horse Genome Sequence Revealed - Austin American-Statesman
Petition calls for teaching creationism in La Sierra biology classes. - Riverside Press Enterprise
Bright Bacteria Wins Synthetic Biology Competition - Discovery News
Biology Professor Addresses Evolution and its Opponents - New University Newspaper
Students take part in hands-on experiments through Hormel Institute - Austin Daily Herald

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Complete Horse Genome Sequence Revealed - Austin American-Statesman

Posted: 05 Nov 2009 04:56 PM PST

Complete Horse Genome Sequence Revealed

THURSDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- The genome of the domestic horse has been sequenced, an accomplishment that will improve the breeding of horses and may help studies of human health, according to an international team of researchers.

"Having access to multiple genome sequences makes it easier to understand all genomes, including our own. By looking at the horse genome, we can better understand human biology and human diseases," James Murray, a professor of animal science at the University of California, Davis, said in a news release. He has worked on the Horse Genome Project since it began in 1995.

More than 90 hereditary conditions affect both humans and horses, such as infertility, inflammatory diseases and muscle disorders. By studying the horse genome, it may be possible to increase understanding of these diseases in humans, Murray noted.

The researchers found that the horse genome is larger than the dog genome and smaller than the human and cow genomes. They also found that 17 out of 32 (53 percent) of horse chromosome pairs are composed of material from a single human chromosome, compared with 29 percent of dog chromosome pairs. This means that fewer chromosome rearrangements separate humans from horses than separate humans from dogs.

The scientists also found an evolutionary new centromere on horse chromosome 11. Centromeres allow movement of chromosomes when cells divide, which ensures normal distribution of all genetic material to each daughter cell. The newly identified centromere in the horse may help improve understanding about how centromeres function, the researchers pointed out.

The sequencing project findings will be unveiled in the Nov. 6 issue of Science.

More information

The U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute has more about sequencing a genome.

Petition calls for teaching creationism in La Sierra biology classes. - Riverside Press Enterprise

Posted: 05 Nov 2009 09:57 PM PST

A Riverside Seventh-day Adventist university is under fire for teaching evolution in its biology classes without telling students that the scientific explanation for the origins of life contradicts church beliefs.

The controversy has spurred debate among Adventists across the country. Some say La Sierra's biology classes are guided by Satan, and others point to the "overwhelming scientific evidence" in supporting evolution.

More than 5,600 people from around the country have signed an online petition that will be presented to the La Sierra University board of trustees at its Nov. 12 meeting. It states that creation occurred in six 24-hour days, expresses concern that evolution is presented as fact in Adventist universities and calls for the universities to explicitly inform students and parents how evolution is taught.

The ultimate goal of the petition drive is to require Adventist teaching on creation in La Sierra biology classes, said Shane Hilde, the Beaumont man and La Sierra graduate spearheading the petition drive. If that doesn't happen, petition supporters may push La Sierra to disassociate itself from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, he said.

The petition does not single out La Sierra, but Hilde said it is the target. Evolution opponents are looking into allegations of pro-evolution biases at other Adventist universities, he said.

The petition does not call for the dismissal of the three La Sierra biology professors who are at the center of the controversy. But Hilde said "that ultimately is what happens in these situations."

"I would blame the administration for hiring people like this," he said.

Lee Greer, one of the three targeted professors, declined to comment publicly. In an e-mail, Professor L. Lee Grismer called the matter a "minor controversy" and declined to discuss it further. Professor Gary Bradley did not return phone calls. In September, Bradley told the Web site Inside Higher Ed that he will not denounce or contradict evolutionary theory in his class.

University spokesman Larry Becker declined to reveal the professors' religious affiliations. About 90 percent of La Sierra's professors are Adventist, he said. Only Adventists are granted tenure.

University President Randal Wisbey declined to be interviewed before Nov. 12, saying he did not want to be seen as attempting to influence the board of trustees. In a written statement, he said, "We expect that students will be introduced to the prevailing scientific views within a supportive classroom environment that values the Seventh-day Adventist Church's contribution to the understanding of biblical creation."

In a May letter, he wrote, "People of faith who look at scientific data can reach differing conclusions and still be collegial as brothers and sisters in the church."

Evolution Debate

Academic tension between religion and the theory of evolution is not new. The 1925 Scopes trial of a teacher accused of violating a Tennessee law against teaching evolution is a landmark in U.S. legal history. Controversies have flared up across the country when local and state school boards have attempted to introduce creationism in public school classrooms.

But organized campaigns to force changes in university-level biology classes are rare, said Steven Newton, a project director for the National Center for Science Education, which defends the teaching of evolution.

Hilde said he was inspired to begin the petition drive in June after he read a letter online from prominent Adventist evangelist Rev. David Asscherick criticizing how La Sierra professors teach evolution, and by a short-lived Web site that advocated for Adventist teaching in biology classes.

A small number of parents and students have expressed concern about La Sierra's biology classes in recent years, Becker said. The university does not have a written policy on the teaching of evolution.

In response to the complaints, the 1,900-student university in September added a freshman-level seminar that discusses the intersection of religion and science, including the Adventist belief that creation occurred over six 24-hour days, Becker said. The seminar is required for all biology majors. The university has long had a similar, senior-level biology course, Becker said.

Hilde said the new seminar is a good step, but it's not enough. Adventist teachings on creation must be presented in biology classes alongside evolution, he said.

Biology instructors at La Sierra should continue teaching evolution, because that is the prevalent scientific view, Hilde said. But "it shouldn't be presented as a preference or as the best explanation," he said. "The church position is God created the Earth in six literal days. La Sierra as an institution of the church needs to treat that as the preferential world view."

Hilde said Adventist beliefs were not mentioned in a biology class he took at La Sierra several years ago.

Opinions Differ

Although the petition drive has spurred debate among Adventists nationwide, some La Sierra biology majors, like Tania Aguilar, were unaware of the controversy. Aguilar, an Adventist, supports adding a discussion on Biblical creationism to courses that include evolutionary theory.

"They should teach both views so people know of and are aware of both sides of the story," Aguilar, 18, said as she strolled out of her anatomy class Tuesday. "Then they can make their own decision what they're going to believe in."

"I agree," said classmate Cynthia Salgado, who is Catholic. "But don't have it in the same class."

Salgado, 19, is taking a course on Adventist beliefs and said that class, and the new freshman seminar, are appropriate venues to discuss Adventist perspectives on creation.

"It should stay in religion classes," she said. "Don't mix science with religion."

About 30 percent of La Sierra students are non-Adventist, Becker said.

Official Teaching

Worldwide Adventist Church President Jan Paulsen addressed the evolution controversy in June by calling on all Adventist university professors to advocate church teaching that creation occurred during six 24-hour days.

"Faith is certainly not subject to the findings of science," he wrote.

Ervin Taylor, executive publisher of Riverside-based Adventist Today magazine and a professor emeritus of anthropology at UC Riverside, does not believe the Bible contradicts evolutionary theory.

He and other Adventists do not take "six days" to literally mean six modern days.

At Loma Linda University, another Inland Adventist institution, the board of trustees recently asked the university administration to prepare a statement on how creationism is taught, said university spokesman Richard Weismeyer.

He declined to comment on how biology classes deal with the subject and whether the board was reacting to the La Sierra controversy.

Leonard Brand, chairman of the university's department of earth and biological sciences, did not return phone calls.

Art Chadwick, a research professor of geology at Southwestern Adventist University in Texas, said instructors who don't instill in their students the view that creation occurred in six literal days should not be allowed to teach at Adventist universities.

At Southwestern Adventist, Biblical creation is brought up in biology classes and in a philosophy of science class, Chadwick said.

"If they claim to be Seventh-day Adventist, then they have a belief system whose integrity depends on what the Bible says about life origins," he said. "Not to present that would be antithetical to what Adventist universities are about. Why not go to a state university?"

Reach David Olson at 951-368-9462 or dolson@PE.com

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Bright Bacteria Wins Synthetic Biology Competition - Discovery News

Posted: 06 Nov 2009 05:56 AM PST

Nov. 6, 2009 -- Bacteria bright enough to see with the naked eye won the coveted BioBrick at this year's International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition.

The annual contest brings together teams of undergraduate students from across the globe and showcases some of the newest and most unique ideas in synthetic biology.

"We saw some incredible projects this year," said iGEM organizer Randy Rettberg. "We are training the next generation of synthetic biologists."

Synthetic biology is a more organized and structured offshoot within the field of genetic engineering. Instead of custom designing every tool and part needed for an experiment -- reinventing the wheel each time so to speak -- synthetic biology aims to standardize all the parts and tools of genetic engineering.

The goal is to make ordering a gene that produces a particular chemical or confers resistance to a specific drug as easy as ordering a pizza. All of the parts created by the teams are housed at the Registry of Standard Biological Parts.

The field has already paved the way for a cheaper, life-saving, anti-malaria drug and inspired basement "biohackers" reminiscent of the early founders of the major computer companies.

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Despite the enormous potential of this field, critics also warn of its dangers. They allege that scientists are playing God by trying to create artificial life forms. Furthermore, these critics warn of the possibility of bringing back diseases, such as the 1918 flu or smallpox.

The organizers of iGEM have long worked with government agencies to prevent such threats, and Rettberg takes pains to refute these claims.

"We have been working hard on safety since the very beginning," said Rettberg, noting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was one of the sponsors for this year's competition.

iGEM began in 2003 when Drew Endy (now at Stanford University), Tom Knight and several MIT students spent the month of January trying to design standardized biological parts to create bacteria that blink on and off like a light switch.

Since that first classroom project, iGEM has grown to include more than 100 teams from a dozen countries.

After a summer spent working on their projects, the various teams converge on Cambridge, Mass., for the annual iGEM Jamboree in the fall, where they will present their ideas to a panel of judges in hopes of winning the prestigious BioBrick, a giant, silver-colored Lego block.

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Biology Professor Addresses Evolution and its Opponents - New University Newspaper

Posted: 05 Nov 2009 11:08 PM PST

Biologist Francisco Ayala lectured on evolution and religion last week, stating that, in his opinion, <a onclick= science and religion are compatible." src="http://newuword1.thomasjbaker.net/wp-content/uploads/old/evolution.jpg" alt="Melissa Lee | Staff Photographer" width="400" height="400" />In light of Ben Stein's new movie on intelligent design, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," UC Irvine biologist Dr. Francisco Ayala gave a lecture entitled "Evolution Is a Fact and It Is the Unifying Concept of Biology" on Wednesday, April 30 in Humanities Instructional Building 100.
Sponsored by the Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists @ UCI, the speech drew on arguments from Ayala's latest book, "Darwin's Gift to Science and Religion." The publication heavily utilizes science to support Ayala's arguments against proponents of intelligent design.
Ayala first pointed out that evolutionary biology follows the methodology of geology and other sciences. The fossil record, to some extent, mirrors geological evolution. As geologists discovered patterns in rock layers showing millennia of change and development, Darwin and subsequent biologists found organisms that reflected these changes over time.
Contrary to Ayala, intelligent design proponents argue that the theory of evolution is unreliable because the fossil record is missing the intermediates between one species and its evolutionary successor. Acknowledging this opposing view, Ayala's presentation included a slideshow with photographs indicating that the intermediate species between a modern fish and its oldest ancestors "show characteristics typical of amphibians."
The same links between species exist in human development. Ayala pointed out that, "At the time Darwin died in 1882, no hominids were known." Since then, scientists have found several human ancestors with intermediates. Ayala explained the connection between man's predecessor and modern man by drawing on traits such as bipedalism, the method of walking on rear limbs.
"No traits evolve in a continuous manner … [but] bipedalism appeared very early on," Ayala said.
According to Ayala, one skeleton, named "Lucy," dating back more than three million years, shows bipedalism in the hip structure.
Isolation also has an effect on the development of species. Ayala referred to Darwin's own research on the Galapagos, where turtles were able to develop to unusually large sizes because the archipelago had few predators.
Similar environment-specific traits exist in all species. Ayala showed a chart of finches, demonstrating that each had traits relative to its environment. There is evidence that all finches are offshoots of an original finch variety and kept suitable traits as they evolved.
"[The finches] deviated from the beginning; they are not designed by an engineer," Ayala said.
The study of proteins and enzymes has yielded evidence about the types of amino acids that appear in spheres of the environment. These findings indicate that evolution sprouted from a single kind of organism. As proof of his argument, Ayala stressed the relatively small number of enzymes present in organisms when compared to the hundreds of organisms that exist.
"Only 20 [enzymes] are used for organisms. … Molecular biology provided the strongest evidence for evolution," Ayala said.
Students in attendance were disappointed that Ayala focused on the scientific aspects of the issue rather than engaging with the arguments presented in Stein's movie. One such student was Thomas Sim, a fourth-year political science major.
"I thought it was very informative. I was kind of disappointed he didn't go the more philosophical route in terms of comparing intelligent design and evolution. The majority of the presentation was pretty much a science lecture," Sim said.
Valeria Goné, a third-year social science major, had similar sentiments.
"I expected him to talk more about the argument between intelligent design and evolution, so I was a little disappointed," Goné said.
However, during the question-and-answer portion of his presentation, Ayala focused more on the philosophical side of the argument. Ayala was careful to note that none of this scientific evidence is mutually exclusive to religion.
"The theory of evolution is better for religion than intelligent design … [and] it is not impossible that evolution was guided by God," Ayala said.
When asked if religion should be removed from science courses, Ayala gave a surprising answer.
"Religion is not science, but the fact that science is compatible with religion is an important thing to state in science classes," Ayala said.
Following the lecture, Ayala was available for individual questions outside the lecture hall where he sold and signed copies of his book.

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Students take part in hands-on experiments through Hormel Institute - Austin Daily Herald

Posted: 06 Nov 2009 04:45 AM PST

photo by Eric Johnson

Sixth-graders from Ellis Middle school watch as Hormel Institute shared instrument coordinator Todd Schuster holds up a handfull of bubbles created from putting dry ice in soapy water Thursday at the institute.

By Rachel Drewelow (Contact) | Austin Daily Herald

Published Friday, November 6, 2009

Nidia Luna, a sixth grade student at Ellis Middle School, is thinking about becoming a scientist when she grows up.

That's one reason why field trips like the one she took Thursday to The Hormel Institute are important to her.

"Our goal here is to ignite interest in science education and careers," said Hormel Institute public relations and development director Gail Dennison.

The Hormel Institute hosted all Ellis sixth graders for tours Tuesday. The visit included a bit of the history of the institute and hands-on experiments.

Dr. Rebecca Morris, leader of the Stem Cells and Cancer laboratory, directed the experiment stations.

"My parents always let me do experiments, and they read me stories about the great scientists," Dr. Morris said.

"That is just sort of inspiring at a young age. I want to share some of the joy of asking questions and finding answers with these students," she added.

Dennison said the tours are part of the institute's community outreach that extends to all area students.

Next week, Dr. Ted Hinchcliffe of the Cellular Dynamics Lab and Dr. Johnny Lu of the Cancer Biology Lab will each spend a full day at Ellis Middle School in seventh and eighth grade science classrooms.

The Hormel Institute also works with the honors biology program at Austin High School, and the science fair in the elementary schools.

For college students, the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program gives select students the opportunity to work with Hormel Institute scientists.

Sixth-grader Roon Omog said she leans towards a career in political science, but was still enjoying the tour.

"It's fun and cool," she said.

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