By Gene Yang ’19 Over 216 million cases of malaria, a disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite and transmitted by mosquitos, were recorded in 2016. While this disease still results in an estimated half a million deaths per year, the majority of which occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa, mortality rates are on the decline thanks to increased prevention and control. However, if malaria eradication is to … Continue reading Searching for New Anti-Malaria Drugs
By: Gene Yang ‘19 The question of whether the central nervous system evolved once or multiple times is a subject of much study and debate. Humans and other animals with bilateral symmetry, all of which possess central nervous systems, are known to have descended from a common ancestor. In the past, it was believed that the central nervous system evolved just once in our bilateral … Continue reading Evolution of the Nervous System: Independent or Conserved?
By Maryna Mullerman ’20 Mammalian facial expressions are known to correlate with animals’ internal states. Substantial similarities have been previously identified between chimpanzees and humans, but facial expression similarities between more distant mammalian species is unknown. Caeiro Cátia and researchers from the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom investigated whether domestic dogs produced certain facial expressions in response to different external emotional stimuli. Furthermore, … Continue reading Facial Expressions Of Humans And Dogs Are Not The Same
Gene Yang ‘19 Animals that use toxins as anti-predator defense usually evolve a method of resistance, often at a high physiological cost, to prevent self-intoxication. Poisonous frogs, a broad polyphyletic group within the order Anura, often use one such method known as target site insensitivity, which is the alteration of the molecular target of the toxin to disallow the toxin from binding. Researchers from University … Continue reading Poison Frogs: Evolution of Epibatidine Resistance
Gene Yang ‘19 Researchers of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration with New Zealand ornithologists, have observed multiple blind, healthy birds existing in a free-living avian population. These organisms from the genus Apteryx, commonly known as kiwis, are flightless birds native to New Zealand. Although kiwis are predominantly nocturnal, unlike most nocturnal bird species, they do not possess the notable characteristics in their … Continue reading Free-Living Blind Bird Population Observed for the First Time
by Jenna Mallon (’18) Although it is a common fact that domestic dogs originated from wolves, there are still speculations concerning the geographical and temporal origins of man’s best friend. There are disagreements over when and where dogs were domesticated. Despite evidence that points to the Paleolithic Era, some archeologists argue that dogs could have been independently domesticated in two separate regions: Eastern and Western … Continue reading The Origin of Dogs Traces Back to Two Separate Locations
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