The Spiral of Life

"How to Build a Human" by Eleanor Lutz (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
“How to Build a Human” by Eleanor Lutz (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Attendance is Mandatory

I have taught this class. It was called “Introduction to Biology for Non-Majors”.

Incidentally, I got pretty good student evaluations and none of my South Carolinian students argued with me about evolution.

Impossible

xkcd by Randall Munroe (CC BY-NC 2.5)
xkcd by Randall Munroe (CC BY-NC 2.5)

Turns out biology is hard because biology is hard.

Not a Nebula #finchstagram

Photo by Josh Witten (CC BY-NC-SA) via Instagram http://ift.tt/1YoBNkh
Clouds back lit by the moon, which isn’t that far off from a nebula which is gas & dust lit by stars. #finchstagram

Science Caturday: Bigger Fish Faster? Yes, Please!

musttatste

This week, the US Food and Drug Administration approved its first genetically modified animal, the AquAdvantage salmon, as safe to eat. The FDA found that the GM salmon are “as safe to eat as any non-genetically engineered Atlantic salmon, and also as nutritious.” It will not require that stores label the salmon as genetically modified, although they may still do so.

The AquAdvantage salmon, created in 1989, is similar to the Atlantic salmon, but is modified so that it carries a growth hormone found in the Chinook salmon and a segment of DNA taken from the pout fish, which boost its growth. As a result, the AquAdvantage salmon grows much faster than normal Atlantic salmon, reaching a market-ready size in about half the time. Bigger fish faster? Our science cats give this genetic tweak two paws up.