hereward
12-22-2010, 01:38 AM
Scientists create mice that sing like birds
A team of researchers at the University of Osaka created the animal in their Evolved Mouse Project, in which they use genetically modified mice that are prone to mutations.
"We checked the newly born mice one by one ... One day we found a mouse that was singing like a bird," he said, noting that the "singing mouse" was born by chance but that the trait will be passed on to future generations.
"I was surprised because I had been expecting mice that are different in physical shape," he said.
The laboratory, directed by professor Takeshi Yagi at the Osaka University's Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences in western Japan, now has more than 100 "singing mice" for further research. The team hopes they will provide clues on how human language evolved, just as researchers in other countries study songbirds such as finches to help them understand the origins of human language.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8216750/Scientists-create-mice-that-sing-like-birds.html
The science of Christmas: we could grow our own fairy lights, say the tree wise men
.....The researchers started out with a gene from a marine bacterium called Vibrio fischeri. These bacteria live on the underside of the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, creating a helpful blue glow that means, from the point of view of a predator lurking underneath, that the squid blends into the background sky.
Knowing the combination of genes that generates light, they introduced the same machinery into some E. coli bacteria, a bottle of which then cast enough blue light to read by. The team – and other researchers – should be able to build on this to make other colours, converting the naturally blue light by adding fluorescent proteins. They have also changed the sequence of fireflies' DNA to produce a range of colours, including red and green.
If these glowing bacteria can be introduced to trees, the team calculates that only 0.02 per cent of the energy absorbed for photosynthesis would need to be diverted into the production of light for firs to glow as brightly as a street light. By adding other protein machinery, it might even be possible to make the hue and brightness vary over the course of the day. Just imagine what those shivering pagans would have made of that.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/8215302/The-science-of-Christmas-we-could-grow-our-own-fairy-lights-say-the-tree-wise-men.html
Tis a different world.
A team of researchers at the University of Osaka created the animal in their Evolved Mouse Project, in which they use genetically modified mice that are prone to mutations.
"We checked the newly born mice one by one ... One day we found a mouse that was singing like a bird," he said, noting that the "singing mouse" was born by chance but that the trait will be passed on to future generations.
"I was surprised because I had been expecting mice that are different in physical shape," he said.
The laboratory, directed by professor Takeshi Yagi at the Osaka University's Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences in western Japan, now has more than 100 "singing mice" for further research. The team hopes they will provide clues on how human language evolved, just as researchers in other countries study songbirds such as finches to help them understand the origins of human language.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8216750/Scientists-create-mice-that-sing-like-birds.html
The science of Christmas: we could grow our own fairy lights, say the tree wise men
.....The researchers started out with a gene from a marine bacterium called Vibrio fischeri. These bacteria live on the underside of the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, creating a helpful blue glow that means, from the point of view of a predator lurking underneath, that the squid blends into the background sky.
Knowing the combination of genes that generates light, they introduced the same machinery into some E. coli bacteria, a bottle of which then cast enough blue light to read by. The team – and other researchers – should be able to build on this to make other colours, converting the naturally blue light by adding fluorescent proteins. They have also changed the sequence of fireflies' DNA to produce a range of colours, including red and green.
If these glowing bacteria can be introduced to trees, the team calculates that only 0.02 per cent of the energy absorbed for photosynthesis would need to be diverted into the production of light for firs to glow as brightly as a street light. By adding other protein machinery, it might even be possible to make the hue and brightness vary over the course of the day. Just imagine what those shivering pagans would have made of that.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/8215302/The-science-of-Christmas-we-could-grow-our-own-fairy-lights-say-the-tree-wise-men.html
Tis a different world.