Sunday, November 1, 2009

“Tomorrow’s biology today - Examiner” plus 4 more

“Tomorrow’s biology today - Examiner” plus 4 more

Tomorrow’s biology today - Examiner

Posted: 01 Nov 2009 03:46 AM PST

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Depending on your age, education and curiosity levels, the field of "biology" means different things to different people. A definition of biology with which many people are familiar is the following: the science of life or living matter in all its forms and phenomena, especially with respect to origin, growth, reproduction, structure, and behavior.

As research has progressed over the decades, our perceptions of biology have changed, and more importantly, new resources and approaches to understanding biology have revolutionized the field. From the discovery of the structure of DNA and solving the genetic code to the advent of recombinant DNA technologies and techniques, the introduction of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and mapping and sequencing of human DNA and the genomes of many diverse organisms—each step has increased the data and insight that makes biology so fascinating.

Today, biology can be explored through large-scale techniques and analytical tools, also known as 'high-throughput' technologies. These emergent fields have yielded large-scale biological data and have been characterized by adding the suffix '-omics-' to the specific field or molecule type being investigated. For example, genomics is the study of DNA variations, transcriptomics investigates the processing of messenger RNA (mRNA), proteomics looks at peptides and proteins, and metabolomics examines intermediate products of metabolism—applied sciences that have allowed researchers to amass volumes of information through in situ measurements and analysis.

More recently and in the near future, one of the endpoint goals of this research is to integrate the different datasets into complete and meaningful representations of organisms that will allow accurate interpretation of complex biological phenomena; a field that is known as systems biology. The integrative approach of systems biology has resulted in a reevaluation of microbial genetics and communities, host-pathogen interactions, and illnesses such as cancer and cardiovascular disease and the design of novel therapeutic tools.

Mathematical modeling, in vitro and in vivo experimental methods, and bioinformatics-the application of computational tools and analysis to the study of biological systems-bring together the diverse components and informational strings into more coherent pictures. Of course, the ultimate goal is practical application of the knowledge and correlations to benefit mankind and our entire world.

References: European Science Foundation (2009, January 13). Key To Future Medical Breakthroughs Is Systems Biology, Say Leading European Scientists. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2009/01/090106083834.htm; http://www.nature.com/omics/index.html; http://www.horizonpress.com/blogger/labels/Omics%20technologies.html

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Land attitude may have shifted - Florida Today

Posted: 01 Nov 2009 07:43 AM PST

(2 of 2)

Instead, her appointment reveals a decades-old rift between schools of thought within America's environmental movement.

Preservationists -- and many scientists -- consider Homo sapiens an ecological intruder whose every footstep or store purchase causes damaging chain reactions to plants, animals and water. They want government to buy land, remove all non-native plants and animals, and shut people out.

Conservationists accept that people and their towns are here to stay. They, too, want to preserve wilderness. But they understand politics and human nature. They know taxpayers grow to love wilderness and will preserve more if they can hike, canoe or watch birds on part of that property.

Count me among the second group, based on years of backpacking, mountain biking and studying plant life from coast to coast. Common to all those activities: access to great trails.

Pushing eco-tourism

So ironically, the appointee perceived as a threat to EEL may actually improve its public support.

"I think they're all qualified," Commissioner Andy Anderson, a Palm Bay Republican, said at the appointment hearing. "I just think there's been a history of people who are philosophically driven on these committees."

Said Commissioner Robin Fisher, a Titusville Democrat: "If we're going to get into ecotourism, we've got to have at least one person on the board who thinks about marketing and driving people to EEL sites."

Contact Reed at 242-3631 or mreed@floridatoday.com.

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MiVamsi Chunduru: Stays busy with school and enjoys philosophical ... - Olympian

Posted: 01 Nov 2009 08:11 AM PST

Vamsi Chunduru: Stays busy with school and enjoys philosophical discussions

THE OLYMPIAN | • Published November 01, 2009

Age: 16

Grade: 11

School: Capital High School

Hometown: Olympia

Parents: Suresh Chunduru (father), Vani Chunduru (mother)

Best personal achievements: Being student representative for the Olympia School District Board of Directors, going to debate nationals in the 10th grade, getting first place in the South Sound Regional Science Fair every year since 2003, getting first place in the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair since 2005, and having a 4.0 cumulative grade point average.

How I spend my time: I'm usually busy doing some school oriented activity, be it a debate meet, marching band at a home football game, Associated Student Body meetings, school board meetings, etc. On the rare occasion that I am free, I like to spend my time having fruitful, philosophical discussions with my friends.

Favorite subjects: I like pretty much all the subjects I'm taking in school, but I'm extremely fascinated in biology, and as a counterpart, technology.

Favorite movie: Nothing comes to mind.

Favorite book: "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown.

Dream job: Neurological biotechnology engineer

Someone I respect: My parents, for sure. Although I argue a lot with them, I definitely appreciate all they do for me.

College I'd like to attend: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Someone famous I'd like to meet: Leonardo Da Vinci. He managed to be a spectacular artist, inventor, and philosopher simultaneously. There must have been a connection between the three aspects of his life.

Someday, looking back on my life I'd like to be able to say: That I was someone who you could remark on as, "Oh him, yeah, I actually knew him!"

Biggest challenge facing teenagers today: Laziness. We're too used to getting what we want without having to work for it.

One thing in the world I would change if I could: The education system. Students have so much potential, and yet we are not stretched to achieve it.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years: Doing my Ph.D at MIT

Staff comment: "Vamsi is a natural-born leader who is mature, well-spoken, and extremely intelligent. Vamsi is driven to succeed in all that he does to accomplish long-range goals for his career. He exemplifies all that we look for in the next generation of leaders."

Jenny Morgan, counselor, Capital High School

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N.Y. Harbor School Seeks Sea Change In Education - KQED

Posted: 01 Nov 2009 07:07 AM PST

by Jacki Lyden

November 1, 2009 — 7:03 AM

Murray Fisher had a dream: Take the 600 miles of New York City's coastlines and all the water surrounding it, and start a maritime high school that would teach inner-city kids about their watery world — everything from boat building and ocean ecology to oyster growing.

Next year, the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School will open its doors on Governors Island, a tree-covered jewel sold to the Dutch for two axes and a necklace, lying 800 yards off the coast of Manhattan. But for now, the Harbor School is in Bushwick, in the heart of Brooklyn.

Urban Environment Meets Natural World

At the Harbor School, each student wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the school's name. Tanks burble with classroom-grown fish.

Brendan Malone teaches maritime technology — his classroom is big enough to build wooden boats.

"If you could find a place farther from any major New York water body, this is it," Malone says.

The Department of Education put the Harbor School inside the old Bushwick High School building in 2003. Here, 400 mostly black and Latino kids, most of whom knew nothing about maritime New York, now ride the subways for hours to get to waterways only a couple of miles away.

The school has sent a handful of its students on to marine specialties in college. That's the path that inspires 14-year-old freshman Daniel Bowen.

"I wanna get all types of degrees in marine biology, technology, anything marine. I love it. I try to do as many things as I can do," he says. "I mostly like being in the water. That's my favorite place. I feel more at home there."

And, of course, to be on the water, you have to sometimes get in the water. Before coming here, fewer than 1 in 5 of these kids could swim.

'This Should Be A School'

In 2003, the federal government, which had used Governors Island for everything from a Civil War fort to a longtime Coast Guard base, sold the island back to New York state and the city for $1.

Practically every developer in New York wanted in on the 19th century buildings, but Murray Fisher wanted space for a school. Before coming to New York, Fisher, 33, had worked for the conservation groups The Hudson Riverkeepers and the Waterkeeper Alliance, exploring estuaries around the world.

"I was from Virginia, had nothing to do with the Hudson River," he says. "Every day, I would be out working with scientists on the water ... I became obsessed with the Hudson River.

"In my high school, I was always having to separate the things I was interested in doing outside with my studies ... [I'd] skip school to go fishing. I remember thinking, 'This should be a school,' " Fisher says.

Soon, students from all five boroughs will be going to Fisher's school on Governors Island, walking under the canopies of London plane trees, gazing back at magnificent views of New York. And instead of city streets, all around them will be the vast wilderness of water.

Source: NPR

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Darwinathon in Norman Monday - Norman Transcript

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 11:39 PM PDT

Published November 01, 2009 01:15 am - The Year of Darwin 2009 has seen many events and important external speakers highlighting the historical role of Charles Darwin and his seminal Book "The Origin of Species."
But what has happened in biology in the 150 years since the publication of "Origin"? Biology has not been standing still and has grown enormously in importance for our daily lives.

Darwinathon in Norman Monday


By Ingo Schlupp

The Year of Darwin 2009 has seen many events and important external speakers highlighting the historical role of Charles Darwin and his seminal Book "The Origin of Species."

But what has happened in biology in the 150 years since the publication of "Origin"? Biology has not been standing still and has grown enormously in importance for our daily lives. Many breakthroughs have changed modern biology and morphed it into the science we experience today in addressing important questions about the origin of new species, the role of humans on the planet and curing emergent diseases.

All of this is based on the foundation provided by Charles Darwin's work, but has long transcended many of his views.

Here at OU, modern evolutionary biology, with its foundation in Darwin's theory is practiced by many scientists in many different units. The unifying principle remains evolution, even though many things about Darwin's ideas have changed.

The Darwinathon is an event designed to highlight the modern aspects of evolutionary biology at OU. This will demonstrate the quality and importance of modern biology for OU. The Darwinathon is an uninterrupted marathon presentation, lining up over 40 scientists from various units at OU, all of them presenting their research in a continuous string of talks.

The event starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m. All presenters, except one, are from OU; mostly faculty members, but also many graduate students and an undergraduate student. Charles Darwin himself is planning to stop by for a short visit.

The Darwinathon will be in Meacham Auditorium in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. The event is free of charge and open to everybody. Any member of the OU community and the general public are welcome to stop by and attend for as long as they wish.

Likely this is going to be the longest uninterrupted presentation on evolutionary biology worldwide and might be a case for the Guinness Book of Records.

The event is organized by Dr. R. Broughton and Dr. I. Schlupp, sponsored by the OU Department of Zoology. Additional information can be found at http://www.ou.edu/darwin/Site/Home.html.

Schlupp is an associate professor in the OU Department of Zoology.

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