Tag: biology
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Bacterial prospectors take on the final frontier
Bacteria currently used as catalysts in earthbound mining processes could one day be used to extract critical elements in space and further the human settlement of other planets. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh struck gold with their discovery in a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications. Led by Charles Cockell, Professor of…
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Book review: The Making of You by Katherina Vestre
It is often said that the nine-month long construction of a new little human is one of life’s great miracles. However, in the same breath, we are perhaps also a little guilty of taking this extraordinary feat of biology for granted. Katherina Vestre’s book The Making of You: A Journey from Cell to Human pulls…
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This tiny, brazilian frog may have harnessed the power of fluorescence to communicate with other animals
During the rainy season, from mid-October to March, a small, bright yellow frog prowls the floor of the Brazilian Atlantic forest. This is the pumpkin toadlet, and as it wanders, it emits a soft, buzzing mating call. The ritual is heart-felt, but a little wasted. In 2017, scientists discovered that the call vibrates at a…
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New hope for targeting ‘Sleeping Sickness’
Sleeping sickness, caused by single celled species Trypanosoma brucei, is a fatal vector-borne parasitic disease. The parasite is found in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with 60 million people at risk and 30 000 deaths every year. There have been many epidemics throughout the 20th century, with 40 000 reported cases in 1998 and an…
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Could human infective ‘Trypanosoma evansi’ escape sub-Saharan Africa?
Between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn can be found a diverse group of infectious diseases, most common in low income populations. These are called neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). One group of NTDs are the trypanosomiases, so called because they are caused by various species of trypanosomes (flagellated parasites). Perhaps the most well-known trypanosome parasite…