There are very few environments that do not support plant life of some kind, although some places are more challenging than others. Salt marshes, which are low-lying coastal areas in estuaries and harbors that are flooded at high tide but…
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There are always moral, ethical, and scientific implications related to the science of cloning, but to clone an extinct creature such as the woolly mammoth that lived during pre-historic times might have even greater implications due to taking the DNA…
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Cilia, simple nerve cells in marine plankton, regulate swimming depth by their movements in much the same way that muscles in bigger animals do. When the cilia move fast, the marine plankton ascend. When the cilia stop moving, they descend….
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If you are a person interested in family genealogy you have probably used one of the popular family tree websites. Lately there has been a push with these sites, as well as with National Geographic, to gather DNA from families…
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Mitochondria produce energy for your cells. They are believed to have originated from a symbiotic relationship between bacteria and cells a very long time ago. Eventually the bacteria became part of the cell, specifically the mitochondria. This explains why…
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What makes Agrobacterium tumefaciens so special? The bacterium A. tumefaciens lives in the soil and on plants. Like every other bacteria and living organism, it needs nutrients to survive and reproduce. This bacteria found a very inventive way to use…
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With the rise in conservation awareness combined with the going green movement, it is no surprise that careers in conservation biology are going to be in high demand. Concerns over global warming and the decline in ocean life have made…
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With serious money involved in trafficking of rare and exotic wildlife creatures, it is no wonder that in recent times, the world’s rarest tortoises have been found stuffed in suitcases, discovered in hotel rooms and found hidden in the pockets…
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According to Dr Andrew Terry of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, “Madagascar is an ancient island that split from the Gondwana super-continent approximately 165 million years ago.” This split means that it is home to a number of rare breeds…
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Everyone knows what a food chain is, right? The grass is grazed by the cow, and the cow is eaten by people. There is the grass, the cow, the person; hence three items in a “chain.” But the phrase food…
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