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March 29, 2024, 03:14:48 am

Author Topic: Recent Bio News!  (Read 14452 times)  Share 

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caffinatedloz

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2019, 08:21:54 am »
+5
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-07-05/climate-change-tree-planting-carbon-dioxide/11267556?section=science
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6448/24
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-03-26/blue-carbon-mangroves-seagrass-fight-climate-change/9564096

An article about how the restoration of forests on degraded land in six key countries could help us to limit global warming until 2050 (essentially buying 20 years) while we work on other solutions. It then goes on to explain other ecosystems that are 40X more efficient at locking away carbon (and for significantly longer).

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #16 on: January 20, 2020, 09:25:22 pm »
+11
Here's another biology news update - feel free to reply with any comments, other news or articles :)

Wollemi pines ('dinosaur trees') saved from NSW bushfires - Science Alert

Giant squid genome sequenced - Science Daily

Dopamine signalling important in eating behaviours (in mice) - University of Virginia

Making efficient vascular networks - phys.org

Some 'non-communicable' diseases like obesity might be communicable after all - phys.org

Biological impacts of caffeine - The Conversation

Biological robots - The Conversation

AngelWings

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #17 on: January 27, 2020, 06:33:46 pm »
+10
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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #18 on: January 27, 2020, 10:29:41 pm »
+8
Adding onto the coronavirus news from above which I think is quite interesting - although also scary.

From what I have seen there is a group of viruses called coronaviruses. There is a novel (new) one of these viruses which originated in a seafood market in Wuhan, China. I am guessing this was the first time the virus had spread from animals to humans (this is called a zoonotic disease). The coronavirus family of viruses include the common cold virus along with SARS which had a epidemic in 2002.

Those that are infected showcased pneumonia-like symptoms and most people only have mild symptoms - the ones we hear about in the news are those who are having severe responses. For the most part those that have these severe responses have certain comorbidities so they are already not in great health.

Currently, there is no anti-viral drugs which can fight against this virus which can be concerning, however, the virus doesn't seem to be as lethal as one would assume.

In Australia, I think the first case was in Clayton with someone quarantined in Monash Health 2 days ago. Now there are around 5 cases in Australia.

References:
World Health Organisation - Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
What is the coronavirus? - Guardian News - VIDEO
7NEWS - VIDEO

Ionic Doc

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #19 on: January 27, 2020, 11:52:39 pm »
+5
which originated in a seafood market in Wuhan, China. I am guessing this was the first time the virus had spread from animals to humans (this is called a zoonotic disease).

Yes, the virus was traced back to a 'seafood market'  (pretty much a small zoo/slaughterhouse)

The worst thing is that this isn't the first time a virus has spread from an animal to a human. The coronavirus that caused SARS was also a zoonotic disease and it was traced to the civet cat.
After the SARS outbreak in 2002, China banned the consumption/distribution/slaughtering of civet cats in 2004.

Wanna guess what they found in the 'seafood market'? Civet Cats. . .
Sorta explains the origin/creation of this new virus.

Extra info: The Civet Cat is considered a delicacy in some parts of China which explains why some people still hunted and sold them, disregarding the law. 
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Sine

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #21 on: January 29, 2020, 04:02:41 pm »
+7
Harmless Cancers Are Being Overdiagnosed, According to New Evidence

Whilst cancer tests and screening can help and has helped so many people detect cancers and get treatment but problems do occur such as false positives or an over-diagnosis of cancer.

Quotes from the article:
Quote
"The problem is that some screening identifies abnormal cells that look like cancer but don't behave like cancer," says physician Paul Glasziou from Bond University.
Quote
"Many people have assumed that additional screening is the best thing for population health, but in fact it may not be. You don't test a population to health," said the investigator Gilbert Welch from Brigham Women's Hospital at the time.



Lab-Grown Heart Muscles Have Been Transplanted Into a Human For The First Time

Quote from the article:
Quote
Rather than replacing their patient's entire heart with a new organ, these researchers placed degradable sheets containing heart muscle cells onto the heart's damaged areas - and if the procedure has the desired effect, it could eventually eliminate the need for some entire heart transplants.

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #22 on: January 30, 2020, 09:34:57 pm »
+7

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #23 on: February 01, 2020, 07:02:32 pm »
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The WHO has declared n-CoV as a global health emergency. As my biology teacher says, it is important to be alert, but not alarmed. The Doherty Institue based in Melbourne has successfully created a copy of the coronavirus (as China has refused to send it) and is sending it to other research centres around the world so that diagnosis, treatment and a cure/vaccine can be determined. As this virus has never been detected in humans, not much is known about it and it's mode of transmission other than the fact that it is zoonotic. Common symptoms include breathing issues, fever, cough, and more serious symptoms are pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and death. The death toll is at 213 as far as we know, and over 9,000 have been infected. As a global citizen, it is important to be aware of what is occurring regarding this virus internationally. You can find more up-to-date info on the coronavirus here and the spread of this virus here. You can find the CDC's situation summary here. Stay informed!
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Erutepa

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #24 on: February 03, 2020, 10:46:55 pm »
+2
Some more bio news Incoming!!!

This article highlights the new findings that consumption of food enhances the activity of the immune system, presumably to allow for greater protection against pathogens that might be consumed with the food. The research also finds that this increased activity of the immune system will occur at times when the body expects/anticipates consumption of food, highlighting the importance of regular eating patters in maximising immune activity at the time of eating.

This article summarises a new aproach being made in the efforts to support honey bee populations. Researches have genetically modified bacteria of the bee's microbiome such that these bacteria produce RNA strands complimentary to RNAs cruicial to the functioning of various pathogens (the conplimentary RNA will bind to these integral pathogen RNA and inhibit its function). These genetically modified bacteria are then re-introduced to the microbiome of the bee's where they were shown to continuously produce these complimentatary RNAs and inhibit the activity of the pathogens within lab tests. While this aproach looks promising, it is highlighted that this method still needs to be investigated within operating hives before its efficacy in boosting bee numbers can be characterised.

These days bacteria within out microbiomes are increasinly being understood as cruical in maintaing various aspects of health, however this article here highlights another potentially important addition to our microbiome: the algae Chlamydomonas. This unicellular eukaryote apears to help various aspects of gasrointestinal health such as diarrhea, gas and bloating.
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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #25 on: February 10, 2020, 06:55:28 pm »
+4
Woop woop woop! Some more interesting news in the world of biology!!! ;D

Allergic to cats? Well, this article may tell you why

They look cute, and they look cuddly (actually... maybe not...) - but don't get too close, as researchers have recently discovered that the Pangolin may potentially be one of the reasons the coronavirus spread to humans...

Researchers have also recently discovered that not so cute, and not so cuddly faeces may also cause the spread of coronavirus...

Not a fan of plasma derived antivenin? Well, science has had a breakthrough - here's the article for you!
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caffinatedloz

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #27 on: February 13, 2020, 09:27:32 am »
+2
Two names for the new coronavirus create confusion. This relates to some other new articles this week looking at the way that stigma about the coronavirus has lead to ugly bigotry and ignorance directed to many Asian people worldwide, like the Malaysian woman in Perth kicked out of her apartment.

caffinatedloz

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Re: Recent Bio News!
« Reply #28 on: February 16, 2020, 09:18:38 pm »
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More news about the coronavirus. I found this article particularly interesting as it compares coronavirus to other major outbreaks. I think that this (to an extent) echos a lot of what Doctor Mike (the youtuber) has been saying in his videos about keeping things in perspective.

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