Benefits and Drawbacks Regarding Originate Mobile Investigation

The main topics originate cellular studies broadly discussed. For most, embryonic originate mobile study provides wish regarding discovering treatments regarding conditions as well as ailments. For other people, this type associated with come mobile scientific studies are not really a aspire to lengthen existence, however it is a finish with a individual existence.

Come tissue result from a few primary resources: embryonic tissue, umbilical cable tissues, and also mature tissue. From these types of 3 tissues, the most effective kind with all the the very least level of dispute will be the grownup sort. In buy to have these types of tissue, physicians draw out tissues from your bone fragments marrow with the affected person?azines physique. This action just isn't without having pain-it leads to several devastation to be able to bone tissue marrow. The bonus is the Genetic make-up is definitely an specific complement for the patient’s, and is also utilized to substitute some other lifeless or even ruined tissue by the body processes. Mature tissue may also be ample.

The 2nd form of come tissue will be taken out from your expecting girl. The actual umbilical wire supplies the very best way to obtain come tissue. Gift is very urged, and also the storage space procedure resembles saving given blood vessels. The child as well as mom and dad are the most useful kinds to get these types of come tissues due to the near innate match up, yet others sticking with the same bloodstream kinds also can gain.

One of the most debate arises from embryonic cellular utilize. These kinds of tissue tend to be taken out in the embryo prior to these types of tissue begin to distinguish. The particular embryo as of this express can be described as “blastocyst.” The majority of the A hundred tissues within the “blastocyst” are usually originate tissue. İt may end up being expanded and also held still living inside ethnicities consistently, and can reproduce as well as dual regarding each a few times within amount. In buy to obtain these types of tissues, the particular embryo should be ruined. Lots of people look at this since murdering a great unborn baby.

Research workers as well as researchers think that embryonic come tissues support the long term treatments to get a number of healthcare health problems as well as illnesses for instance cancer malignancy, Alzheimer’s illness, Parkinson’s illness, and also All forms of diabetes. Their email list associated with feasible remedies that may be identified via this kind of scientific studies are really extended. Numerous think that originate mobile investigation about embryonic tissues is essential to know each individual improvement and just how illnesses commence and will greatest become handled. The purpose of this particular studies in order to at some point end individual struggling.

In inclusion in order to contemplating this kind of study to become killing, many individuals view it being a disadvantage in which absolutely no optimistic advancements up to now came out of this investigation. In reality, numerous research has demonstrated unfavorable benefits. Numerous health-related scientific studies together with embryonic come tissues possess generated mind growths inside subjects as well as rodents. These types of numerous studies have additionally connected embryonic originate tissues in order to leading to chromosomal flaws that produce most cancers tissue. Research workers as well as experts suggest that it will require numerous years of investigation prior to remedies are available.

Additional pundits associated with embryonic originate cellular study depth more and more money as well as period ought to be dedicated directly into umbilical wire mobile and also grownup mobile investigation. In relation in order to financing, most are from the federal government financing these research, although some tend to be for utilizing federal government income taxes to invest in investigation. The majority of says possess financed this kind of study via their own huge colleges. Many research take some time, as well as inspite of the dispute, everybody expectations to locate treatments with regard to human being health conditions.

Tiny Birds Make Big Trips

In their annual migrations involving the Americas, tiny songbirds like martins and thrushes can travel in terms of three-hundred and eleven miles daily. This really is 3 times so far as researchers previously believed the tiny migrating birds could travel within a day. Biologist discovered the space from the birds flights if they conducted the first-ever study to trace several types of birds with their wintering grounds and back.

Another interesting discovery appeared through the research: the birds actually fly 2 to 3 times faster when they're heading north early in the year than they certainly heading south inside the fall. Scientists think that the birds might be competing to achieve the most effective breeding sites and attract the fittest mates.

One industrious female martin flew the four-thousand-six-hundred and sixty mile trek from your Amazon basin to Pennsylvania in mere thirteen days - with four of days allocated to stopovers! This data was obtained using miniature geolocators in regards to the size any money and weighing just a couple ounces. Scientists attached the tiny locating devices for the bird’s backs, kind of just like a school child’s backpack.

The newest geolocators increase the risk for research easy for initially. Nothing you've seen prior have scientists had the opportunity to log the pace of flight and distance as accurately. These devices was created by James W. Fox and the colleagues on the British Antarctic Survey. Each one of the self-contained devices weighs about 1.3 grams and posesses computer chip plus a light sensor installed on a tiny stalk that sticks up above the feathers. The devices also measure and record the days of sunrise and sunset.

The idea is a straightforward one: for just about any given put on the earth they could match time with the sunrise and sunset after which determine the bird’s exact place. Once the birds go back to their original breeding ground they're captured as well as the data from your geolocator is downloaded to computers where researchers can examine it. The preliminary research has revealed how the devices usually do not restrict the bird’s flight or remarkable ability to trap prey, mate or feed their offspring.

About the return flight, the majority of the birds stopped about the Yucatan Peninsula prior to making the thirteen to fourteen hour non-stop flight over the Gulf coast of florida revisit the usa. However, among the birds wearing a tracking device took the “long way home” and arrived back in the breeding grounds very late. Researchers continue to be unsure about why this specific female was taking another route nevertheless they speculate that maybe she didn’t hold the proper extra fat waiting for you to sustain her throughout the long trip.

Interesting Details of the Starfish

The Starfish, that are actually named Sea Stars, aren't in reality fish inspite of the common name that is fond of them. Sea stars are echinoderms, found only in seas and frequently washed through to seashores.

One of the most striking characteristic feature from the starfish, or sea star, will be the five pointed star model of probably the most commonly seen variety. Sea stars actually are available in a number of types and several have a lot more arms when compared to a five.

You will find no less than 2,000 varieties of sea stars residing in every one of the oceans on the planet. From your tropical habitats with the Caribbean for the icy sea floor with the Arctic, these unusual denizens with the oceans possess a hard, bony, spiky skin that can help to safeguard them from most predators. They could be vibrant colored to assist camouflage themselves or help scare off predators. There isn't any freshwater sea stars, where there are just an extremely few species living in brackish water.

Sea Stars possess the wonderful power to regenerate limbs or frequently even their bodies! With all, or very almost all, of these vital organs inside their arms it will help these fantastic creatures in order to regenerate their arm or perhaps a body. Some types of Sea Stars need to have the central body to regenerate while other species can grow an entire new sea star just from your severed limb.

If you've ever stumbled upon a Sea Star when you were strolling over the beach and turned it over, you almost certainly noticed the tiny projections around the underside with the Sea Star. The tiny tube feet assist the Sea Star in order to move and to help start a scallop or clam to get a tasty meal.

The tube feet play a critical role for helping a lot Star to acquire its food. Then your sea star pops out a stomach, stuffs the meals inside, after which pulls that stomach back in the shell to drag the meals inside.

Another awesome fact in regards to the Sea Star is always that it's got two stomachs. The very first stomach, the cardiac stomach helps the ocean Star to seize food outside its body. Once the cardiac stomach returns in to the body, the meals inside it is utilized in the pyloric stomach which in turn is employed in order to complete digesting it’s meal.

Ever thought about if your Sea Star has eyes? The ocean star’s all have these microscopic eyes at the conclusion of each and every of these arms. These tiny eyes enable the ocean Star every single child see movement as well as lets them differentiate between light and dark.

Sea Stars will also be invertebrates, carnivores, can meet 35 years, and the've no brains or blood! Sea Stars use a nerves that's spread during their arms and their “blood” is absolutely just filtered seawater.

They're just some details of the ocean Star, also often called the “star fish”. For more information concerning this unusual sea creature look at your local library, or even the Web for further amazing details of the ocean Star.

Biological Theories of Crime

You will find four different theories of your crime. İncluded in this are psychological theories, social-biological theories, sociological theories, and biological theories of crime. Many early positivists absolutely considered that genetic abnormalities were the reason for criminal behavior.

Lombroso, an early on positivist, stated that criminals represented a youthful, savage form of humankind with is advanced notion of atavism.

Hoorten, an early on positivist in 1939, claimed which he discovered important and major biological variations in noncriminals and criminals. In his biological theories of crime he stated that burglars and robbers had different biological and physical traits. He was quoted saying that burglars, usually the less violent of these two, usually possessed blond hair, short heads, and nonprotruding jaws. He stated that robbers, the more violent of these two, possessed short ears, long wavy hair, and broad faces.

Sheldon, and early positivist in 1949, created Somatic Typology. This technique contained three major physique, also called somatatypes, including mesomorphs, endomorphs, and ectomorphs. In his biological theories of crime he stated a mesomorph was athletic and muscular in physique, and their personality was vigorous, assertive, and bold. He stated that endomorphs were soft, obese, and rounded people in physical stature, and their personality was sociable and fun-loving. He stated that ectomorphs were thin and tall in physical stature, were built with a well-developed brain, and their personality type was sensitive, introverted, and nervous. In his biological theories of crime, he thought that mesomorphs, in comparison with ectomorphs and endomorphs, were probably the most likely somatic type being criminals. Though many believe Sheldon’s theories were ridiculous, recent biological theories of crime researchers have replicated this believed link between criminal behavior and the entire body type.

Olweus, a positivist in 1995, closely examined the various factors that always lead elementary school boys to becoming bullies. He studied this included in his biological theories of crime due to the link between boys which can be considered bullies and crime. It is really a proven fact that bullies are 4x more prone to be repeatedly arrested as adults, in comparison with boys that are not bullies. Based on his biological theories of crime, the prototypical bully features a hotheaded temperament and is also physically stronger. The household life commonalities include insufficient family warmth, discipline as physical punishment, when aggressive behavior is incorporated in the home, the household commonality included permissiveness.

The task and research conducted over several years by biological theorists of crime has lead many within the criminology field to reconsider and think about the potential influence that biological factors have in assisting to comprehend the probable and possible factors behind antisocial behavior. Impressive empirical support has become being directed at modern biological theories of crime, particularly for specific factors that attempt to integrate psychological concepts, biological concepts, and social concepts in to the general crime theories. It has become becoming widely accepted that one biological factors have immense benefits to provide criminology theory today. However, most supporters believe that to think about the role of biological theories of crime like a major criminology component, they need to be looked at mediated by, or in addition to individual sociocultural contextual factors and individual activities.

How Can The Body Work?

Your system is definitely an amazing thing. It expires comprised of different systems, which contains organs which have their very own special functions. Some organs will be the liver, kidneys and heart. Even your skin layer is definitely an organ!

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

The cardio vascular system, or perhaps the circulatory system, has one main job: to function blood through the entire body. The system's major organ could be the heart, which pumps blood from the arteries into every aspect with the body. Blood contains oxygen, hormones and nutrients that cells must grow, work, and repair themselves. Cells ingest these items and present off fractional co2 along with other spend, that your blood then carries with the veins towards the organs that eliminate the waster in the body.

MUSCULAR SYSTEM

Various kinds of muscles can be found through the entire body. Skeletal muscles attach to your body's bones and move them by contracting and releasing. Smooth muscles line this enzymatic system and guide water and food through it cardiac muscles are located within the heart. They pump blood from the heart for the lungs as well as the remaining portion of the body.

SKELETAL SYSTEM

The skeletal product is comprised of bones, joints and cartilage, that is flexible tissue that forms areas of the body such as the nose and ears. Cartilage helps as well bones and joints come together smoothly. The human body's bones have four main functions. First, they support our bodies and use muscles to aid it relocate other ways, in addition to to transport weight. Second, they protect another organs by the body processes from injury. For instance, your skull protects the human brain, along with your ribs protect lots of your soft body organs. Third, bones store important minerals for example calcium and phosphorus, releasing them to the bloodstream once the body's other organs needs them. Finally, bones produce blood cells.

IMMUNE SYSTEM

Diseases as bacteria, viruses, toxins and microbes can attack your system. Your disease fighting capability fights off disease so helping to help keep you health often. Lymph, a liquid made by lymph nodes in several areas of the body, is carried within the bloodstream for the cells to wash them of unwanted organisms and waste elements. The biggest market of bones called bone marrow is when white and red blood cells are manufactured. White blood cells are essential simply because they produce antibodies, which kill toxins, viruses and bacteria. The thymus, which can be found in the chest, produces special cells that fight disease. The spleen filters out old red blood cells as well as other foreign bodies, for example bacteria. The adenoids (behind the nose) and tonsils (inside the throat) also trap and kill viruses and bacteria.

ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

The organs with this system are known as glands. They produce hormones, which can be chemicals that travels through your bloodstream and inform your organs how to proceed. Because of this, hormones in many cases are called the human body's messengers. The endocrine system actively works to regulate mood, growth, body development, sleep, hypertension and metabolism, which can be the procedure where our bodies changes food into energy.

Biology Through Interactive Whiteboard Resources

Everything associated with your body, the way in which we breathe, the meals we digest, and also the diseases we are afflicted by are typical associated with biological studies. As reading through to the main topic of biology, we don't understand what functions are getting on by the body processes of your organism once we aren't able to see in the body for apparent reasons. However, if the internal working from the is revealed through 3d animation and video lessons, we are able to see first-hand things such as just how blood travels in the heart, how a lungs expand and contract and just how the meals passes from the body to offer us energy. This all remains a distant dream without needing interactive whiteboard resources inside our daily curriculum.

You can find innumerable diagrams that are included with study regarding biology. Biology is really a subject that's deemed to become incomplete without using powerpoints. Everything of significance has to be drawn and marked in addition to providing a theoretical explanation. Interactive whiteboard resources showcase different diagrams concerning the research material using a lot of colors which makes it appealing for college students. Students feel a part of the research into the niche. The diagrams can be moving and don't must merely be stationery. Such advantages and much more may be reaped while using the interactive resources.

The habitats and natural surroundings of numerous organisms that individuals study can be simply shown. There are several organisms which can be microbial and just too small in proportions being observed with all the human eye alone despite the fact that they're present everywhere. Such organisms like bacteria, viruses and fungi which have a large affect everyday living can be simply seen and their structures studied by observing images around the whiteboards. Students can learn this way within the classroom after which also return home and download these resources that are offered for the most part places cost free.

For younger kids, the primary items that are taught life cycles of organisms. The most effective example that's succumbed many instances may be the life cycle of the butterfly that evolves from the caterpillar. For primary class kids, this concept could be tough to imagine what sort of butterfly forms from your worm. Videos may be shown that report that the beautiful butterfly emerges from your pupa. Such presentations are certain to leave the scholars awestruck and you can keep them thinking about the research into Biology later in life in everyday life.

Biology also requires the study of evolution as well as the pre historic animals and birds that individuals have started out. Without images and graphical presentations, it's tough to think of the information on creatures like dinosaurs, the mammoth, etc. particularly for an initial timer. Interactive whiteboard resources help better drive home the idea. Studying and rote-learning through books isn't any match for that sort of learning why these resources are able.

Exactly What Does The Bible Say About Biology?

Everbody knows, biology is really a study of life. This is actually the general topic with several subtopics. We'll address the subtopics later. The "biology" from the Bible covers the complete array of life forms, both physical and spiritual.

First thing gets our attention when staring at the Bible is, it's very scientific. It isn't full of pages of nonsense. It will abide by the actual science which is revealed anyway. There isn't any conflict involving the Bible and true science.

The Bible provides for us a scientific explanation for your origin of life. It is situated in the narrative of Genesis 1 and a pair of. In consumers, life must originate from life. You can not mold a clay pigeon and expect it to fly away. I usually do not care the length of time it sits, it'll remain a clay pigeon. The Bible informs us God created all physical and spiritual life to create honor and glory to Himself. He created it we view it today. It was made adult instantly. Fruit trees were completely bloom, animals could actually reproduce, flowers were completely bloom, humans were always humans, etc.

The Bible lets us know about spiritual life. Based on the Bible, mankind was made in God's image and likeness. Mankind is made as spiritual beings. Humans are comprised of body, soul and spirit. There's also other spiritual beings produced by God. We give them a call angels. Only spiritual beings can worship, praise and thankfully for The love and grace. Mankind wasn't developed a little above the monkeys. We were holding developed a little below the angels. Only spiritual beings can handle loving God or warring against Him.

One more thing the Bible teaches us is, God may be the Giver of life. Without Him no life forms would exist. God didn't create life forms to perform independently without His continual care. He could be personally organizing and preserving all life forms constantly.

God came up with DNA code which is within all life forms. Each life form has it own unique code. These codes are packaged in genes. Genes are packaged in chromosomes. Each is created after its "kind."

God created both plants and animals to reproduce themselves with the union of men and women counterparts. Mankind is not any exception.

The Bible teaches us how the animal and plant kingdoms aren't genetically related. They've got different functions and purposes. They are doing coexist collectively in several habitats. Guarana produces oxygen and also the animal emits co2. In in this way, they sustain the other person. The plants were originally designed for food for many human and animal life. Mankind was made being the delegated lord over God's earthly kingdom. Life would have been to be lived in social niches. Each plant and animal ended up being to have its niche. With few exceptions, only animals can migrate around. Vegetation is rooted within the soil as well as the greater degree can't live without arrangement.

The Bible teaches us how the earth could be the only place which includes plant and animal life forms onto it. The planet earth is exclusive in connection with this. We'll search quite a while to discover our form of life on another planet. İt doesn't mean there might 't be life on another planet available. The universe is probably populated with spiritual beings we reference as angels.

The Bible teaches us that mankind is God's crowning creation and takes precedence total other life forms. Due to mankind's unique experience of God, there isn't any superior race. Many of us are of just one race. It is named a person's race. No "ruling elites" are authorized by God to suppress others. Many of us are commanded to like God with this body, soul, and spirit and also to love others as ourselves. Here is the total well being God has fond of the complete people with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible teaches people every day life is something special from God which is to become addressed with the maximum respect. We aren't to become wasteful of God's provisions for all of us. As stewards of most of God's blessings, we're to keep up a relationship with your Creator-Redeemer God and our fellow living creatures from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible teaches us due to mankind's rebellion against God, most of life on the world is within curse understanding that this curse is going to be lifted once the Lord Jesus Christ returns to revive it to His original intent. It teaches us this might happen at any time.

Adipose Tissue Location In Our Bodies

Adipose tissue can be a specialized ligament by the body processes which can be the main storehouse of one's as triglycerides deposition. Adipose is normally present in mammals as two various forms for instance white and brown adipose tissues. Based upon the types of mammals the quantity and site from the tissue varies. A lot of the fat tissues are categorized as the white category that is positioned in various organs and parts in your body.

In humans, this tissue is available at multiple locations; it's located under the skin as fat under the skin, surrounding organs as visceral fat, inside bones as bone marrow or yellow bone marrow and in addition in breast. Specific locations of such layers are known as adipocytes depots. These depots really are a reservoir of adipose tissue which contains several cell types; the best percentage of cells is adipocytes that have fat droplets. Various other cells including fibroblasts, macrophages and endothelial cells will also be part of this tissue and also a quantity of tiny bloodstream. Since the integument system includes your skin that accumulates within the deepest amount of the subcutaneous layer, adipose tissue is created underneath the skin and offers insulation for the body from heat and cold.

It provides a protective padding around all vital organs by the body processes. Though its major function would be to reserve lipids, in addition , it acts because the main supply of energy by synthesizing lipids to satisfy the requirements of the person. Obese persons are noticed with an increase of quantity of adipose within their body. Excessive tissues are noticed hanging downward from your abdomen and in addition termed as a panniculus. Sometimes to eliminate such fats, surgeries are essential. The abdomen includes a layer of adipocytes called visceral and intra belly fat. The inner fat protects stomach, liver, intestines and kidneys by forming protective layers in the body. Breast fat is a form of white adipose tissue that can help in formation of milk in pregnancy with help of oxytocin hormone helping the caretaker to nourish the infants. In human, excess fats are accumulated within the abdominal, hip as well as within the thoracic regions.

In different mammals, adipocytes may also be found; in mice they may be found in the abdominal layers and cavity forming several depots within the body. Even across the uterus and ovaries, it forms a layer of fat filled mass providing protection. Brown adipose tissues are densely packed mitochondria as well as present in various locations in mammals. As a result tissues are great in vasuclarization, in hibernating animals guide in regulating body's temperature through non-shivering thermogenesis.

Adipose Tissue Structure

Adipose tissue comprises living cells able to Storing fats. Conversations in the health conscience environment are devoted to explanation for obesity. Overweight individuals contain excessive fat by the body processes. Fat isn't merely a solid white oily material that builds in several areas just within the skin. Fat can be a lipid material called triglycerides stored inside individual cells consists of an operating tissue called adipose tissue. Lipid balance has several important purposes inside the body along with other mammals. Fat under the skin lines our bodies within the skin and padding and insulation. Animals residing in cold regions routinely have a thick layer of fat to guard against extreme winter. Folks have less have to guard against heat loss. However, fat also pads and protects organs.

Adipose tissue comprises living cells like every tissue based in the body. The structure of every cell, called adipocyte, includes the fundamental the different parts of any cell including a nucleus and also the mechanisms to reproduce. Adipocytes can produce new cells in reaction towards the needs for lipid balance. Once new fat cells are produced, they become permanent. People who lose a great deal of weight typically retain lose baggy skin. The entire quantity of adipose cells continues to be present even if how much stored fat is reduced. Cells are simply just smaller.

Fat cells have become dynamic. Stored fat is consistently getting into the bloodstream for energy and replaced by new fat materials. Since the structure from the cell forms a network of elastic ligament, each cell can expand providing 80 % from the volume for storing fat. They may be living cells that want oxygen and nutrients from your blood and should be touching small capillaries. Therefore, obesity is frequently connected to additional medical ailments including hypertension. The center works harder to function blood car structure of adipose tissue.

The body stores two types of adipose tissue identified by color. White adipose has got the characteristic appearance of animal fat and comprises most based in the body. It is usually located beneath the skin and around most organs. Brown adipose includes a larger method of getting arteries giving a darker appearance. It is available surrounding important organs like the brain.

Fat cells are made to meet several important body requires. The structure and site help pad and insulate your body and organs. Energy is stored as triglycerides and will supply if the body posseses an insufficient power source during periods of fasting. Excessive numbers of fats would be the reason for an overweight condition.

Study Anatomy of Human Body Utilizing a Study Guide

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Modern Options For Biochemistry Analysis

A biochemisty analyser is really a device built to execute a selection of biochemical tests. Invented by Hans Baruch, we were holding unveiled in the medical community, commercially, in 1959, and allowed medical laboratories and hospitals to process more samples faster and effectively than before. With this particular automated testing process, the testing time went from days - sometimes weeks - to mere minutes.

Until then, the most frequent type of biochemical analysis involved open test tubes put into racks that have been then either moved along a track or spun in the carousel. To safeguard the samples from contamination, as well as the laboratory staff from illness or injury, closed tube sampling quickly followed. The automated biochemistry analysers didn't take away the requirement for clinical lab technicians, however, nonetheless it made employed in the labs safer, and helped reduce errors.

There are a number of tests a biochemistry analyser performs. They are able to vary from testing enzymes for liver function tests, to testing ions for sodium and potassium levels. Blood sugar, creatine, and serum albumin - a plasma protein - and others, may also be analysed.

You can find three types of biochemistry analysers: The wet type, the dry type and also the bio sensor. The wet type method involves mixing an exam sample having a reagent to encourage a chemical reaction. A reading device, like a spectrophotometer or perhaps a calorimeter may then be employed to browse the color change pre and post the response, enabling analysis. However, this kind of testing requires expensive instruments as well as the power to maintain the reagents valid for a long time.

The dry type biochemistry analyser requires the effective use of a chemical reagent to some test strip, this kind of antibody or enzyme, that may react directly with all the test sample. With all the dry form of testing there's a greater risk of oxidation with the test strip that may permit faulty readings.

When utilizing a biosensor type biochemistry analyser, the exam sample could be oxidized and added to a thin film that is placed onto the outer lining of the electrode, for example pillar peroxide, that is particular, after which a polarized potential is placed on the anode and cathode, which releases elctrodes, which can be measured. However, the pillar electrodes require constant maintenance be responsible for cross pollution resulted in mistaken readings.

Some tests require more specialized tests and need a separate biochemistry analyser. This analyser works extremely well for a number of tets, or perhaps a single test. A few of these are carried out frequently, but other medication is not, as well as the majority are very pricey to execute, in addition to time intensive. As a result of shortage of skilled clinical laboratory professionals, manufacturers will work to build up automated systems for these rare tests.

With all the recent contributions in biology, chemistry and genetics, the biochemistry analyser may be evolving and improving. Biochemical scientific studies are being pushed, which is now moving from your study of some molecules for the functional study of most biomolecules. Today, biochemical analysers are used to aid tag proteins and nucleic acids with special dies thhat allow scientists to create great headway within their pursuit to sequence a persons genome.

So Why Do Humans Come With An Appendix If We Do Not Need One?

It's exactly about evolution, baby! Homo sapiens are evolving these days, while you don't necessarily feel it happening personally. The main reason all of us retains an appendix happens because before serve an objective at once within our past.

During our hunter-gatherer times we had been always on the run and eating whatever could possibly be found foraging for food. What this means is earlier humans were eating a multitude of vegetation, a lot of which we do not eat anymore, and haven't eaten for a lot of millenia. It was probably a bigger, stomach-sized organ using a function specific for the diets individuals ancestors. Over multitudes of years, because it was adopted much less, it's function and size would diminish to begin non-use.

Other animals come with an appendix still also it doesn't function for the kids either. There are several animals, just like a koala, it doesn't eat meat, whilst still being utilizes its appendix. Simply because they only eat vegetation, they will use their appendix to interrupt down the particular chemical constitute of leaves and plants. Perhaps if humans maintained really a vegetarian form of diet, we'd find more use for the own appendix, however it would take multitudes of years to determine any kind of result.

Although we do not need to have our appendix today it really won't vanish away from your body. It's a remnant of history and it's really only some of the one we possess. Our coccyx or tail bone is really a souvenir from your lost tail. The tail likely got smaller and smaller until it will no longer appeared. However, the bone structure remains, and because it doesn't bother us, it's got you should not recede further. Just as the appendix. since generally it does not cause us any bother, it hasn't found the requirement to disappear completely.

Even goosebumps or goose pimples are remnants of history that do not serve much purpose, except delivering the perfect affect throughout a scary movie. What's actually happening is the is attempting to raise up hairs who have long since gone away to keep the cold out. Exactly like using the appendix as well as the tail bone since goosebumps don't provide us with any difficulty, out bodies don't have any have to get eliminate the reflex. In an easy method, still alerts us to push, and potential danger so perhaps it serves some purpose.

The appendix doesn't manage to add any benefit in any way, which can be evident through the proven fact that lots of people have their appendix removed and live healthy lives without complications in any way. Perhaps 1 day humans won't provide an appendix whatsoever and they'll be entirely anything of history.

Do Bald Men get all the Girls ?

That is science, not science fiction. Research has revealed that bald males command a more substantial harem of females than their hairier counterparts...which is, in the event the bald male is really a maneless Tsavo lion from Kenya. In humans, hair loss (or androgenic alopecia) continues to be associated with numerous biological pathways.

I will simply target the best publicised cause, an over-responsiveness to DHT, or dihydrotestosterone for many who enjoy long words. This hypersensitivity are closely related to some variety of factors. As an example, high quantity of a receptor for DHT on follicles of hair, or even a characteristic and much more sensitive structure from the receptor in predisposed people, could cause the head of hair follicle to detect more DHT than is wonderful for it. In fact, one proposal for why hair is lost in the particular pattern (hence the word hair loss) happens because follicles of hair within the parts of typical hair thinning normally express higher amount receptor. Chief on the list of culprits though, a minimum of based on current thought, can be an overproduction of DHT. The enzyme 5-alpha reductase converts testosterone into DHT. In people predisposed to baldness, the degree of the enzyme is frequently raised inside the scalp and skin, causing a higher concentration of DHT that will affix to the receptors on follicles of hair. On the other hand, for those who have average amounts of 5-alpha reductase but high amounts of testosterone, it might be also possible to obtain additional than the usual healthy balance of DHT, but this hypothesis is sort of more controversial. İn support of the idea, even though the pattern will look slightly different, women may also exhibit hair loss. Normally, oestrogen counteracts the consequences of testosterone, but after menopause a ladies oestrogen level falls and her testosterone (yes, women produce this 'male' hormone too) is now able to changed into DHT and cause baldness.

DHT is considered to promote hair thinning in three ways:

1. Healthy follicles grow hair for a while, usually for 2-5 years, after which come out before beginning to develop hair again. DHT shortens the head of hair growth serious amounts of raises the follicle's hair regrowth holiday. This leads to fewer new hairs and shorter ones at this.

2. Immediately before a wholesome follicle stops new hair growth, it shrinks and also the hair it creates is thin and weak (vellus hair). DHT causes the follicle to contract prematurely which explains why bald folks have peach fuzz on the heads.

3. Follicles require a circulation being nourished. DHT could cause less blood to flow towards the follicles.

Bald Lions

Where do the Tsavo lions can be found in? Unlike balding men, Tsavo lions usually do not lose their pre-existing hair - their manes never grow. Nonetheless, it's been suggested they are susceptible to something comparable to male-pattern baldness his or her manelessness might be due to elevated amounts of testosterone. That is merely a hypothesis; area of work testing hormonal changes of the lions recently been started earlier. However, maneless Tsavo lions use a track record of being extremely aggressive, a trait associated with high testosterone. If they certainly have an overabundance testosterone compared to the average African lion it appears reasonable to declare that much more of hormone agent is changed into DHT, which stops their manes from growing because of the three biological actions in the above list. It is very important to keep in mind though that is probably not explanation for their baldness. Even though their testosterone levels are high, there could be various other important genetic causes of the absence of manes. Male Tsavo lions are now living in two kinds of social groupings: Adults roam because the sole male among an extremely large numbers of females in the group termed as a 'pride'. İt is really an unusual social structure for lions as there are usually a minimum of two males atlanta divorce attorneys pride. Another bizarre social feature of those lions is the fact that nomadic males stick together. This is thought-provoking, particularly if it really is realised that males inside a pride actively do not let other males to become listed on. Why would some lions not tolerate other males while some seek their companionship? The theory is the fact that they are coalitions of adolescent males that hunt together, but once their testosterone levels peak, they become too competitive as well as the group splits up.

Bald along with a social outcast, or even a sex magnet?

Set up attitude could possibly be proven accurate statistically, there's a common conception available that human females find bald men less attractive. Adult Tsavo lions don't appear to own this problem though. Besides one guy get All of the girls, but he gets more girls compared to the other African lions with hair would even when these were the only real male inside their pride. So, is that this social construct a lady choice or perhaps a male choice? Do the females decide to cluster across the bald male, truly making the group a 'male pride' or may be the bald male forced to reside only among females because there could be an excessive amount of competition amongst other adult men? Unless we learn how to speak Lion Lingo and question the lions directly, I suppose we are going to can't predict the solution to that question with absolute certainty. I am no zoologist, therefore it is feasible for testosterone levels have absolutely nothing related to social groupings, or manelessness, among Tsavo lions and it's also only a peculiarity with this group.

But imagine if the social grouping of bald animals did have connected with testosterone... Perhaps whether it we looked at it more closely, we might find such like in humans. Perhaps men whose hair thinning comes from other non-hormonal causes are really less appealing to women because, well, females like hair. In essence, only cosmetic squeamishness. And maybe men whose baldness is hormonal tend to be more successful with all the ladies since they distribute invisible signals (pheromones) in charge of chemical attraction. Or maybe they don't really go along well with males with clashing hormonal profiles and also have were required to figure out how to understand women better instead. Naturally, this really is all speculation on my part, nonetheless it enables you to wonder what lions from some remote world might teach us about ourselves and our dispositions!

Deadly Cone Snails (Conus) Harbour Painkillers of the Future

"I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Snails. Yes, I know, it's hard to get excited. You think snail, you think, slime. You think slow, squidgy, meandering ball of wibbly-gloop. With eyes on stalks. Then again, you might just think of garlic. Snails are pathetic English garden munchers!

Or are they? Not all snails are born equal. Some snails are born with heightened killer instincts, roaming beneath the ocean's surface, waiting, hunting for that one precious meal. And we're not talking limp lettuce - some snails are content with nothing less than bagging an entire fish! And should you, my friend, be unlucky enough to disturb one of these molluscs whilst out having a leisurely paddle, you could be well on your way to the great paddling pool in the sky.

Great White sharks are passé, welcome to the world of the genus, Conus…

Collecting beautifully patterned Conus snails off the north east coast of Australia might sound like hard work, but it's not all boats, sun, fresh air and sea. Dr Bruce Livett of Melbourne University takes it all in his stride, though. For nearly a decade, he and his team of enthusiastic colleagues, students and friends have sought and studied these spectacular snails.

But why is a neuroscientist interested in these animals? Because, apart from their spectacularly patterned shells, these molluscs have a secret weapon - one that may revolutionise the treatment of pain. A typical poisonous snake might unleash a couple of different nerve toxins on its furry victim; but what the Conus lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in poison. These snails are positively brimming with nasties, often shoving around 50 individual toxic mini-proteins into their victim.

Your brain, under normal circumstances, is a finely honed thinking machine. The reason being that all of its nerves are able to function correctly, sending messages, receiving messages, processing the information and giving a pretty good output. If the brain is like an organic computer, then being stung by a Conus is a bit like pouring a pint of ale on a laptop. Fizz, bang, splutter, dead.

The reason is that each of the tiny proteins that make up the toxic cocktail are targeted at different parts of the nervous system: these snails don't just 'blow the bloody doors off' your brain, they terminate it from every conceivable angle!

But not all the components in the venom are deadly. Some turn out to be good for you. As they say "no pain, no gain". So what about the future of pain? Painkiller research can be riddled with problems: side-effects, dependency, efficacy. What about a painkiller that is as effective as morphine but has no apparent side-effects? The relatively few humans who have witnessed a death-by-snail have noted the absence of pain. And Bruce Livett and his team now know why.

One of the toxins in the sting of the Conus victoriae species, is a string of just 16 amino acids (the Lego units that make proteins). This tiny protein, ACV1, binds to bits of the brain that would normally allow us to feel pain, and shuts them down. What we potentially have here is a powerful new generation of analgesics. This new 'drug' has done very well in pre-clinical trials and is now undergoing toxicity tests prior to entering clinical trials, the rights for development into a drug having been bought by a company called Metabolic Pharmaceuticals.

So, spare a thought for our British, plant bound relatives. Maybe they deserve a little more respect. After all, with relatives like the Conus, you don't need to be pretty.

"It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire."
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Barry Gibb

Human Cloning, Part 2 - The Process of Animal Cloning

In the first part of this mini-series we looked at the earliest stages of mammalian development, from the egg and sperm to the ball-like blastocyst. In this second part we turn to the story of cloning, and the technical problems and limitations of the process.

Although cloning burst onto the global media scene with the arrival of Dolly the sheep in 1997, the technology has been around for decades. At its most basic the process involves taking an egg cell and replacing its chromosomes (DNA) with the DNA from another cell, and kick-starting the 'developmental programme' with chemicals, or an electric pulse (figure 1). This process is known as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, or SCNT for short. Hans Spemann first proposed such a "fantastical experiment" in 1938, and in 1952 tadpoles were cloned from embryonic frog cells. John Gurdon first successfully cloned frogs from differentiated (developed) cells in 1962 and since then the full list of successfully cloned animals has expanded to include also mice, cows, rabbits, pigs, sheep, cats, horses, zebra fish and monkeys.

1. Cloning requires an egg cell, and an adult donor cell. The (unwanted) chromosomes are removed from the egg cell and discarded. The nucleus, containing the DNA to be cloned, is removed from the donor cell.		2. The donor nucleus is inserted into the empty egg cell, a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Afterwards the egg contains a full (adult) set of chromosomes as if it had been fertilised normally.		3. A pulse of electricity, or a chemical 'shock', kick-starts the development process, and the embryo begins to grow.		4. Cell division begins. The subsequent development of the embryo depends upon how successfully the donor nucleus has 're-programmed' the egg.
Figure 1 - The process of embryonic cloning

However, not all clones are created with equal ease. Cloning success is much more likely if embryonic cells are used as nuclear donors. These could be embryonic cells taken from an early fetus, or cells from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst (see Cloning Part 1). What made Dolly so special was the fact she was the first mammal to be cloned using a cell taken from an adult - and even then she was the only live animal to be born out of nearly three hundred attempts. Since then, other animals have been cloned from adult cells, but the efficiency of achieving live births is still extremely low. So what's the big difference between embryonic and adult cells? The key lies in the concept of epigenetics, which was introduced in the first part of this series (see also an earlier article about genetic imprinting).

Cloning requires the reprogramming of an adult or embryonic cell right back to the very start of development. Adult cells are more differentiated (specialised) than embryonic cells - they have made decisions about what sort of cell to be and these choices are said to be imprinted within the cell. For example, an embryonic cell has the potential to become all sorts of cell types, whereas an adult liver cell can only be a liver cell. So embryonic cells only have to "forget" a few decisions when they are cloned, whereas an adult cell has been through many more choices so, essentially, the clock has to be wound back further.

Cells remember what type they are due to epigenetic modifications of their DNA: molecular tags which mark certain genes as being switched on or off. These tags are very similar to those on the sperm which are removed shortly after fertilisation by reprogramming factors in the egg. In order for an adult or embryonic cell to be reprogrammed by cloning (by exposing it to the reprogramming environment of the egg), the epigenetic marks within the DNA must be removed. Adult cells are believed to have more of these tags than embryonic cells, so are harder for the egg to reprogramme.

Whether the donor cell is adult or embryonic, a successful clone must negotiate all the stages of development from one cell to a blastocyst and then on to being a fully-grown baby. But embryos can only be grown outside the womb in a test-tube until the blastocyst stage. After this, the embryo needs to form a placenta and take resources from the mother. Researchers must transfer the little balls of cells into the womb of an appropriate surrogate mother, where it can grow further. In fact, embryos created by mixing eggs and sperm in IVF clinics are usually transferred before the blastocyst stage- often when they only consist of two to eight cells.

Experiments in animals such have mice have shown that there is a high proportion of success in growing cloned embryos up to the blastocyst stage. Even embryos containing twice the normal number of chromosomes can grow quite happily to this point, even though a baby with this many chromosomes could never be born. Yet if these embryos are transferred into surrogate mothers, very few of them produce babies. This is because the egg contains many of the ingredients required for the early stages of development, and will direct the formation of a blastocyst even if there are severe problems with the DNA and chromosomes within the embryo. But to grow from a blastocyst to a baby requires complex patterns of genes being switched on and off. This can only happen if the DNA of the donor nucleus has been fully and correctly reprogrammed by the egg during the first stages of the cloning procedure. So it appears that even if you can create a clone, and even if that clone makes a blastocyst, you are still highly unlikely to end up with a baby.

But all is not lost. Blastocysts are extremely useful even if they don't go on to make a fetus. They are the source of the infamous embryonic stem cells, or ES cells for short. ES cells are made by removing the inner cell mass from the blastocyst and growing it in a dish (figure 2). After a time, a colony of special cells with almost magical properties appears. These cells have the capacity to form any tissue of the body, and can be treated with various chemicals to achieve this. They can also replicate themselves many times, to create large populations of useful cells. Genetic engineering techniques work very well in ES cells, allowing mutant genes to be repaired, and new genes to be added.

1. To make embryonic stem cells (ES Cells), the inner cell mass is removed from a blastocyst.		2. The inner cell mass is transferred to a petri-dish, covered with a nutrient solution, and allowed to grow.		3. The inner cell mass soon develops into a large cell colony which can then be divided into smaller clusters of cells that will themselves continue to grow and multiply.
Figure 2 - How to make Embryonic Stem Cells (ES Cells)

Much weight has been placed on human ES cells as a viable therapy for many diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Although we are far from fully understanding the biology of these mysterious cells, they are certainly brimming with promise. In part three of this series we'll look at the latest developments from South Korea, combining ES cell technology and cloning. Are human clones just around the corner? Or are they already here?

Kat Arney

Human Cloning, Part 1 - Making Babies the Natural Way

Few people can have escaped the newspaper headlines over the past few months. The fertility doctor Panos Zavos claimed to have cloned a human baby, while a team of researchers in South Korea also presented their clones to the world. So what's the difference between these stories? And are we really going to see cloned babies peering out from their prams in the near future? In this first article we will spy on the earliest moments of life: how an egg and sperm make a ball of cells that eventually become a baby. Then we can ask if, and how, these processes can be bypassed by cloning.

The first thing to understand is how babies are made - no sniggering at the back, please! To do this, we need to know a bit about eggs and sperm. Eggs are relatively large cells and contain lots of biological goodies required for early development. They are also rather unusual in that they are frozen in the act of dividing their DNA from a full set of chromosomes to half a set (see figure 1, below). This division is important because the sperm also carries half a set: together they make up a full set in the new baby.

At the moment of fertilisation the sperm enters the egg, and things start getting exciting (at least, in biological terms). The following descriptions show what happens in mouse development: we currently do not know whether human development is exactly the same, but it is likely that many events are similar. When the sperm goes in, it reactivates the division process in the egg, causing the arrested chromosome half-sets to separate. The unwanted chromosomes are booted out and form a little cell called the polar body, with no further part to play in the unfolding developmental drama (see figure 1, below). The remaining egg chromosomes organise into a ball-like structure termed a pronucleus. At the same time, proteins in the egg begin to unpack the sperm DNA, expanding it to form another pronucleus (see figure 1, below).

1. An early egg cell. Humans carry 23 pairs of chromo-somes. We inherit one half of each pair from our mothers, and the other half from our fathers. These half-sets of chromosomes are produced in a special form of cell division called meiosis which produces eggs and sperm.		2. A mature egg. In this egg, for simplicity, only one pair of chromosomes is shown (in pink). The process of cell division remains frozen until the egg is fertilised by a sperm		3. Fertilisation. When a sperm penetrates the egg it kick starts the completion of meiosis. One of each pair of the egg's chromosomes is randomly ejected from the cell to form a structure called a polar body. The remaining chromosomes form the egg pro-nucleus.		4. One cell embryo. The half-sets of chromosomes from the sperm are unpacked to form the sperm pro-nucleus. As each pro-nucleus contains half the normal chromosome number, together they produce a cell with a full complement of genetic material.
Figure 1 - The formation of a mature egg and a single celled embryo.

But strange things happen to the sperm DNA: it is stripped of methylation, a special molecular tag that helps the cell to use its genes properly. In the first few hours of development other dynamic changes happen to the sperm pronucleus, especially alterations in the DNA packing proteins within it. These changes in methylation and packing proteins are termed "epigenetic modifications", as they affect the DNA without actually changing the underlying DNA sequence - only the tags and markers around it. Epigenetic marks are important because they tell the cell which genes to use in different types of cells. This is crucial because all our cells contain essentially the same DNA (and therefore the same genes): it is the different patterns of gene usage that give all our cell types their distinct characteristics. Some epigenetic marks act as silencing signals for genes, while some have an activating effect. For example, in a liver cell, liver-type genes would have activating marks while muscle genes would have silencing marks. Conversely, in a muscle cell the muscle-specific genes have activating tags whereas the liver genes are silenced.

Many epigenetic changes take place while the embryo is still a single cell, and these mainly occur within the sperm pronucleus. These molecular upheavals are essential for reprogramming the sperm, so it can be used correctly in the next steps of development. But the epigenetic adventures don't stop at the one-cell stage. The new embryo divides into two cells, then four, then eight and so on until it is a ball of around a hundred cells (see figure 2). Throughout this flurry of activity, more molecular tags are removed from the DNA while other epigenetic modification patterns are established. Eventually, after 4 to 5 days, the ball of cells begins to take shape. A cavity forms and fills with fluid, pushing the cells outwards until the ball is almost hollow and looks rather like a football. We call this a "blastocyst". But the blastocyst is not quite hollow, because lurking on one side is a small clump of cells, somewhat obviously named the "inner cell mass". It is from this unpromising cluster that we all grew: these are the stem cells of the embryo. It is also clear at this stage that there are distinct epigenetic differences between the outer cells and the inner cell mass.

The 2 pronuclei merge, producing a cell with a complete set of 46 chromosomes (23 pairs), The cell begins to divide, giving rise to 2, then 4, then 8 cells, and so on.		The cells continue to divide, undergoing further epi-genetic changes until they eventually produce a cluster of cells resembling a mulberry, called a morula.		A blastocyst is a hollow cell ball containing a cluster of stem cells (the inner cell mass). The inner cell mass (which gives rise to the baby itself) is epi-genetically distinct from the outer cells, which produce the placenta.
Figure 2 - The development of the early embryo

By this time, the embryo has made it to the uterus (womb). The outer cells of our embryonic football start invading the inner wall of the uterus and eventually make the placenta, the large organ that allows nutrients and waste to be exchanged between the mother and the baby. Meanwhile, the small clump of stem cells start dividing and undergo yet more epigenetic changes. An amazing programme of gene activity starts in these modest cells, causing them to organise and create all the parts of a new life. In the next article we'll find out how how cloning fits in to this natural developmental agenda.

Kat Arney

The Great White Shark

It's late in the afternoon. The water is dark and an especially large amount of plankton reduces the underwater visibility to a minimum. Some time ago it occurred to me that with such poor underwater visibility I could probably forget about the object of my visit, to take underwater photos of the great white shark.

Like many previous occasions, I am sitting at the boat's stern between the two 80 HP outboard engines, the camera levelled. Through the viewfinder I am watching the neoprene seal-dummy which our little boat is pulling behind it on a fishing line. I support my arms on my knees, to ease my tense muscles. In the past I have often had to remain in this position from the early afternoon until sunset, through heavy swell, rain and storms, just to take the picture of my dreams - a breaching white shark, leaping for prey. Until now, all my efforts have been in vain.

Dyer Island is located six nautical miles off the coast of Gansbaai (170 kilometres south-east of Cape Town), on the opposite side of which is the small island known as Geyser Rock which is home to an estimated 60,000 South African Fur Seals. As long as the seals stay ashore, they are safe. But when they leave for the open sea to catch fish, they have to negotiate a dangerous shark-infested channel between the islands called "shark alley" which, not surprisingly, is reputed to the best place in the world to watch white sharks.

The sharks patrol mercilessly here, and there is no way to escape them. The seals run the same gauntlet when they return to the island, and those swimming alone, and very young seals swimming close to the surface, face the greatest threat.

This is the scenario we have attempted to reconstruct in this case, with the hope of luring a white shark to reveal itself to the camera. For hours I have been keeping my lens pointing at Koekie, the artificial neoprene seal bobbing along behind the boat. Suddenly, a huge and very heavy body is rocketing out of the water like a torpedo. It has "Koekie" in its mouth. Everything happens in a split second.

It's a precise attack with a fatally perfect timing. A real seal would not have stood the slightest chance. Every single square centimetre of this exquisite creature is vibrating energy. An unforgettable sight. The incredible dynamic of the leap is captured in the picture.

The cause of this unpredictable and unusual attack seems to be the movement, the form and the size of the prey. Until now, such breaching sharks have only been observed in the False Bay and nowhere else in the world (see Peter Benchley/David Doubilet, Great White, National Geographic April 2000).

The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) has been around for at least 3.5 million years, but now it is acutely threatened by extinction. It remains to be seen whether the species is already "genetically extinct" - in other words there are so few individuals left that the survivors are genetically very similar to one another and are less likely to be able to withstand other insults that nature can throw at them. The number of sharks, of all kinds, caught every year is estimated at 100 million. Half of it is 'bycatch', which is thrown away. With this overfishing the shark population is irreparably damaged. Due to the decimation in their numbers, which has lasted for decades, and their low reproduction rate, the prospects for the great white shark do not look good. And even though, since last autumn, it has been internationally protected, supervision of the ban on fishing has not been easy.

But perhaps modern science will be able to help at the last minute - at least in this area. A new, very specific rapid test, which only picks up material from white sharks, is able to prove almost error-free, if there are any parts or remains of white sharks in a sample, which would constitute an infringement of the prohibition. This biochemical test, called Pentaplex PCR test or bi-organelle test, was developed by Prof. Mahmood Shivji of the Nova University in Florida, USA.

Part of the image problem facing sharks is thanks to the movie "Jaws". As one review I came across put it, "Peter Benchley's world bestseller has become a Blockbuster, which changed the untroubled relationship between humans and the sea and its inhabitants forever. The primal fear of the danger from the depths was given a fearsome face". Peter Benchley, the author of "Jaws", has since become one of the world's most prominent shark protectors. His latest book is titled "Shark Trouble. True Stories About Sharks and the Sea".

Sharks play an important role in the ecosystem of the sea and they have always fascinated me. I have been responsible for extensive underwater work in many large harbour construction projects all over the world, usually under conditions of poor underwater visibility. Altogether I have spent almost 13,000 hours underwater. There have always been sharks, but I have never had any problems with them. The dreaded inhabitants of the oceans are anything but man-eaters and aggressive monsters. In reality, very few of the 460 types of sharks discovered so far pose a threat to humans.

My objective is to document the sharks on the 'red list', to make them known to the public at large, and to make people think. The documentation of these animals is very difficult and, unfortunately, extremely time and cost-intensive. But sharks have no lobby and there is not much time left. If we don't move fast enough they face extinction before they have even been researched and documented.

Klaus Jost

Global Warming, an Ecosystem Shift, and Sharks in Alaska

The Kodiak Alaska Department of Fish and Game office door flew open and in tromped two fishermen, one with a loaded shotgun, and both with an attitude. "We need to talk to the biologist" the larger bearded man stepped forward, "the one who closed the shrimppin!" The fishermen told the biologist to "either open the fishery or there would be trouble," and that's when I got the telephone call.

At the time I worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Commercial Fisheries Division, at the headquarters' office in Juneau. The Kodiak biologist put me on the telephone with the irate fisherman, the one with the gun. "We are just trying to do our job," I exclaimed, but it was difficult to explain the Department's position to a fisherman who needed to fish, needed to work to pay bills, keep the house, and feed the kids, all the things that are important to any father. Nobody got shot that day, and the Kodiak fishermen were restricted from fishing for shrimp and crab, fisheries that had been worth millions of dollars the year before.

Trophic Regime Shift
Closing the crab and shrimp fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska was the only way the Alaska Department of Fish and Game could protect the breeding stock, but populations continued to decline. That was in the late 1970s, and through the early 1980s. Mid-water trawl surveys done from the 1950s through the 1980s showed the shrimp, crab, and forage fish (small, high-fat, schooling fish such as herring and capelin) populations declined dramatically during the mid-1970s (see Figure 1). Additionally, data showed huge increases in other species, especially larger predatory fish like Pacific cod, walleye pollock, halibut, and arrowtooth flounder. In a few years the Northeast Pacific ecosystem had changed, with a new suite of species dominating the northeast Gulf of Alaska. Scientists refer to this change in species composition as a trophic regime shift.

Figure 1 Pictorial evidence of the Northeast Pacific regime shift. The methods and locations for collecting the sample from the mid-water small-mesh trawls were similar from year to year.

At the same time the shellfish population was declining in the Gulf of Alaska, shrimp and crab populations were on the increase in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Newfoundland. As the Earth warms we can expect the Gulf of Alaska water temperature to increase, but the in the waters off Newfoundland the temperature will probably decrease for a time as cooler water from the melting Arctic Ocean ice cap flushes past. The two oceans appear to be connected, but going in opposite directions.

Regime shifts are a change in the marine ecosystem occurring inter-decadally and globally. They are induced by what is referred to as climate forcing, or increases in global temperatures or global warming. As oceans warm, the habitat used by a suite of small plants and animals (phytoplankton and zooplankton) will change, often promoting an entirely different suite of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Certain phytoplankton and zooplankton will promote a benthic (bottom of the ocean) ecosystem, while others appear to promote a pelagic (free living in the water column) ecosystem. Colder waters in the Gulf of Alaska seem to promote the benthic system, and the same is true for the waters off the coast of Newfoundland. Warm waters in the Gulf of Alaska have been favourable to pollock and flatfish, but also to salmon which have had record survival and returns in Alaska since the 1980s.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Alaska researchers observed numerous changes in the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem. Stellar sea lion and harbour seal populations declined, and commercial fishing was allowed for pollock and other groundfish species. The sea lion population declined to the extent that they were listed as an endangered species. To help protect sea lions some areas were closed to fishing.

Sharks
By the 1990s fishermen were starting to report sightings of salmon sharks in the region, and commercial long liners, who fish on the bottom of the ocean for halibut and cod, were catching Pacific sleeper sharks in large numbers. These same fishermen were also losing much of their harvests to feeding sharks that would attack and eat the hooked halibut and cod. A third species of shark, spiny dogfish shark, also became more common. During the 1998 Copper River sockeye salmon fishery, dogfish sharks were so abundant they would often plug up and ruin fishermen's nets.

By 1996, throughout the region, but especially around Kodiak Island, Lower Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, large salmon sharks were abundant in bays and passages. Indications were a new top predator had established itself in the Northeast Pacific, possibly influencing the ecosystem as sea lions and seals did before the regime shift.

Alaska Shark Assessment Program
I started the Alaska Shark Assessment Program in 1998 to look at historical data and to begin measuring and tagging sharks. The historical data described shark population increases and fluctuations, raising some theories to explain why the sharks are so abundant. The International Pacific Halibut Commission, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game have data that indicate huge increases in the numbers of sleeper and spiny dogfish sharks in the Northeast Pacific. As a result of investigating the historical data, a pilot field shark research project began in Prince William Sound in 1999. The research team was an informal group coming together to observe and understand this boom in shark numbers. The team had researchers from the Conservation Science Institute, National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the University of Washington.

Salmon Sharks
Salmon sharks (Lamna ditropis) (above right) are warm blooded, large, and reported to be one of the fastest fish in the ocean. Their outward appearance is similar to that of the great white sharks, which are in the same family. Because they are warm blooded, with a core body temperature of about 80 degrees F, salmon sharks are high energy fish with a high metabolism to match. To stay warm, salmon sharks have an elaborate heat exchange system which keeps their brain, eyes, and muscles warm and functioning at full performance. At more than ten feet in length, and weighing over 700 pounds, but without the fur or blubber that insulates sea otters and seals, salmon sharks need to consume large amounts of prey each day to generate heat. They hunt opportunistically for herring, rockfish, halibut, pollock, spiny dogfish, squid, sablefish (black cod), and of course salmon. They are both active and aggressive predators. I have observed them thrashing the water, sometimes leaving the water completely, as they pursue their prey, often in what appears to be cooperative feeding.

Pacific Sleeper Sharks
Pacific sleeper sharks (Somniosus pacificus) (right) are large bottom dwelling predators that can be found at depths of over 2000 feet, and specimens exceeding 20 feet in length have been caught in Alaskan waters. Their list of known prey items includes salmon, pollock, herring, rockfish, halibut, sablefish, shrimp, marine mammals, and even other sharks. We were surprised to find bright pre-spawning salmon in their stomachs, indicating they may in fact be feeding near the surface, probably at night. Over recent years, in some areas, longline fishermen have lost much of their fishing gear and catch to sleeper sharks, forcing them to find other locations to fish.

Spiny Dogfish Sharks
For those of you who have enjoyed fish and chips at your favourite English eatery, you may be surprised to learn you were likely eating spiny dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias). Spiny dogfish get their name from the sharp spines, which are sharp enough to easily pierce my boot and leave a lasting scar, which line their backs, and also from the fact they often travel in packs, like wild dogs might. Dogfish sharks are small, growing to about five feet long, but they make up for this in numbers. Dogfish shark fisheries around the world have targeted this tasty morsel, leading to over-fishing and concern for their populations, although dogfish numbers in Alaska are high in some areas. The dogfish shark appears to locate and utilize patches of prey. This happened during the summer of 1998 when the sharks were feeding on forage fish, eulachon in this case, near the Copper River. The spiny dogfish were so abundant they plugged salmon fishermen's gear, often sinking and destroying nets. Yakutat fishermen sometimes catch so many dogfish sharks they move to other areas or stop fishing. Spiny dogfish also have a varied diet including eulachon, herring, shrimp, crab, rockfish, and pollock.

Shark Behaviour
All of these sharks are long lived. We know very little about their reproductive behaviour, except that, in common with many long-lived animals, the rate is low. The longest gestation period is probably that of the spiny dogfish shark which lasts 22-24 months, exceeding that of elephants and whales. All three of these shark species can be found in the waters of Alaska year round, but the salmon and dogfish sharks are migratory, possibly leaving the Gulf of Alaska waters and returning during the summer.

The shark research efforts are designed to determine feeding habits, numbers and movements of salmon and sleeper sharks. One of the tagged salmon sharks was recaptured 650 miles to the south only 48 days later. We suspect female salmon sharks, migrate to the coastal waters of California to give birth to pups in the warmer waters, a behaviour that they share with whales which also often move to warmer water to give birth. We also deployed tags that collect depth, temperature and location data, disengage from the shark at a preset time, and relay their data to satellites. This information has been useful in understanding shark behaviours which may help us understand their importance and influences on the marine ecosystem.

During the field work we were accompanied by National Geographic Society Television, and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television crews. BBC was filming for their series on the oceans and had especially good shark filming opportunities in Prince William Sound. National Geographic Society deployed their CritterCam which is strapped to a salmon shark's dorsal fin and operates underwater as the shark swims about. At a preset time the camera releases from the shark and floats to the surface where it is collected. Some of this film footage may appear on television.

The salmon sharks we caught were big, with mouths full of teeth, and weighed upwards of 400 pounds. It was sometimes difficult to control the fish on board while taking measurements and attaching tags and the CritterCam. In order to protect the fish from injuring itself we moved the shark into a crib, covered their eyes with a damp cloth, and placed a hose in their mouth to keep seawater flowing over their gills (right).

Salmon sharks (right and above) are at the top of food web and therefore have few predators, although I noticed scrapes and puncture wounds on many of them which are probably the results of encounters with killer whales (left) which prey on salmon sharks whenever they can. Indeed, humans also find salmon sharks palatable and salmon shark charters have become popular in Prince William Sound and Lower Cook Inlet. Fishermen are allowed to keep one salmon shark per day and two per year, and their success rate is high. Sharks caught by commercial fishermen are sometimes also killed, but it's not known how many sharks die in this way each year.

The regime shift is but one explanation for the increased shark populations in Alaska. Sharks may be more abundant due to increases in salmon populations (an important food for sharks), decreases in high-seas gillnetting, or merely a shift to warming waters. Some scientists believe the regime shift and dramatic changes to the ecosystem are the result of global warming flexing its muscles. New evidence for global warming and climate change appears in scientific publications every day; the Arctic Ocean ice cap is much thinner than a few decades ago, carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) is at the highest levels in 400,000 years, and continues to increase, and Earth's temperature reached new record highs in the last decade. If global warming continues, you can expect more changes on land and in the ocean, including more regime shifts and changes in the species composition of the Northeast Pacific waters.

Sharks are at the top of the marine food web, so they exert a top-down control that can impact upon the entire food web. Future work on sharks in the Northeast Pacific will look at shark predation effects on such species as salmon, sea otters, and seals. I hope to learn how sharks fit into the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem, and to determine if the changes in their populations are an indicator of more changes on the horizon.

Bruce Wright