Category Archives: Biological Sciences

Finding Dory! And Save Them!

Posted on October 17, 2016 by | 1 comment

This summer, there was another Pixar cartoon movie “Finding Dory” became really popular. The story is interesting; the animals are cute.  But the movie itself actually have negative impact to the nature. And you may ask why?

DORY

DORY Image from Flickr

Here are some stories, after the last ocean movie “finding nemo” in 2003, what people didn’t expect is an 40% increase of the nemo fish in the pet fish market and aquarium trade. Nemo fish is actually belong to the clownfish family. And every year, over 1 million of them was taken from the ocean. That happened in 2003, after the movie became successful. Now, marine biologists Rene Umberger and Craig Downs worried about that this will happen again, to royal blue tang fish- the dory. Actually, the data showed that the royal blue tang has been ranked as high as 10th among all 2,300 saltwater aquarium fish species imported to US. And in 2009, the number was 130,000, before the movie. Also, according to Umberger and Downs, about 50 percent of wild-caught aquarium fish were detected with different levels of cyanide. And cyanide will not only the “Sudden Death Syndrome,” which is spontaneous death of the fish. It can kill nearby non-target fish, invertebrates and coral reefs as well. Also, they help to keep the reef healthy, as they eat nothing but algae, therefore they prevents the algae from overgrowing and suffocating the coral. Here is an interesting fact the flesh of dory is poisoning. Although it would not be able to kill you, I doubt anyone would eat them.

DORY AND NEMO

DORY AND NEMO

There are some scientists actually start a program called “ Saving Nemo Conservation Fund” after 2003.And, they are trying an alternative to collecting wild clownfish from the ocean. Nursery breeding is an easy way to prevent over collection of clownfish in the wild. And for the 7 out of 28 species of clownfish are bred in Australia. Unfortunately, none of the ten host anemone species are bred in captivity for aquariums. But, it is lucky for dory, as the University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Lab announced that blue tangs has been bred in captivity for the first, and it is a big step to save these beautiful wild fish.

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Toughest Animal on Earth

Posted on September 26, 2016 by | 2 comments

What is the toughest animal on earth?

Perhaps the camel that can weather the dry and arid deserts of the Sahara, or the polar bear that can survive year-long frigid temperatures of the Arctic? Maybe the African elephant weighing in at 14,000 pounds?

But the award for the most resilient animal has to go to the moss piglet – a microscopic critter who can survive even in the vacuum of space.

Moss piglets, or tardigrades, are not new to the scientific community. However, their tenacity has fascinated biologists for centuries. A recent study in September published in Nature Communications have shown that we may even be able to use their DNA to help our cells withstand harmful radiation. Understanding what makes these little guys so tough may one day help our survival in space as well.

A tardigrade (Credit: Eye of Science/SPL)

A moss piglet (Credit: Eye of Science/SPL)

So what exactly is a tardigrade?

Tardigrades are tiny creatures not much larger than a millimeter in length. Also known as ‘water bears’, these animals lumber lazily around in their aqueous natural habitat like bears out of hibernation. At first glance, their plump round bodies, four pairs of stumpy legs, and slow gait make them unlikely contestants in a race of hardiness. However, their ability to thrive in the harshest of environments is astonishing.

Movement of tardigrades (Credit: Craig Smith from YouTube)

Tardigrades commonly live on moist mosses and lichens feeding on plant cells and bacteria. But scientists have collected them from the deepest seas of Mexico to the highest mountains of  the Himalayas.

The tardigrade’s unique ability to survive in extreme environments has prompted scientists to test them to their limits.

In 1998, Japanese researchers put tardigrades to the test by crushing them under 600 megapascals (MPa) of pressure. This pressure is six times greater than the water pressure in the deepest part of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, and the tiny water bears were still able to subsist. To put things in perspective, the strongest human free divers have only been known to survive 3 MPa of pressure.

In 2007, tardigrades became unwilling astronauts as they were shot into space. Far from their native environment, the water bears were left naked in outer space without oxygen, exposing them to hard vacuum and deadly solar radiation. After 10 days, a few tardigrades still managed to survive.

What is their secret to survival?

When taken out of water and dried out, tardigrades enter a state of suspended animation and curl up into a tight ball called a “tun”. In this state, the tardigrade reduces its metabolism by 99.99 percent and produces a mixture of molecules that prevent it from freezing and also encases it in a matrix of biological glass.

A tardigrade in its tun state (Credit: Eye of Science/SPL)

This combination of survival mechanisms is the key to the tardigrade’s resilience. In this dormant state, they have been show to survive for up to 10 years without water. Not even temperatures near absolute zero can crack their shell.

So the next time you are asked to name the toughest animal on Earth, forget the elephant and remember the tardigrade!

Justin Tao

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Finding Dory! And Save Them!

Posted on September 26, 2016 by | Leave a comment

This summer, there was another pixar cartoon movie”Finding Dory”. There are a lot of cute animals in the movie. But the movie itself actually have negative impact to the nature. you may ask why?

Here are some stories,nemo fish is actually belong to the clownfish family. And every year, over 1 million of them was taken from the ocean. After the last ocean movie”finding nemo” in 2003, what people didn’t expect is an 40%  increase of the nemo fish in the pet fish market and aquarium trade. And, this is not the end of the bad news, they are really vulnerable to extinction for several reasons: First, the clownfish are dependent on stinging sea anemones, which thrive on only healthy coral reefs, to hide from the predators. But, due to rising temperature, the coral dies. And this makes the clownfish have less place to live. Second, the carbon dioxide make the see water more acidic, and this will block the signal that lead the clownfish back  to home. And the commercial aquarium trade makes their situation even worse, as 90% of the commercial aquarium fish comes from the ocean.

Therefore, there are some scientists actually start a program called “ Saving Nemo Conservation Fund“. They are trying an alternative to collecting wild clownfish from the ocean. Nursery breeding is an easy way to prevent overcollection of clownfish in the wild. And for the 7 out of 28 species of clownfish are bred in Australia . Unfortunately, none of the ten host anemone species are bred in captivity for aquariums.

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So, how about Dory? Well, it turns out dory is not as lucky as nemo, as they are  currently unable to be bred in captivity. So,if you see a Royal Blue Tang, as known as Dory, in an aquarium shop it will have to come from the wild.

 

 

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A “Buggy” Superfood

Posted on September 24, 2016 by | 2 comments

Imagine yourself going to the kitchen one morning for a nice cup of milk to power you through the day. That milk would have probably came from dairy cows. Now, imagine yourself drinking cockroach milk! Sounds weird doesn’t it. However, study has shown that the Pacific Beetle Cockroach could be the one milking our next superfood of the future.2532080739_0f2f1346ce_n

The Pacific Beetle cockroach,unlike other cockroaches that lay eggs, gives birth to live offspring. It also produces “milk” to feed its offspring. The white liquid substance that its babies are fed with contain highly nutritious protein crystals. Cockroach milk is now considered one of the world’s most nutritious substances, with nutrients four times as much as cow’s milk and three times as much as buffalo’s milk.

Image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/364017582364139694/

Image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/364017582364139694/

As seen in the video above, a liquid substance containing tiny protein crystal particles are being produced and ejected by the cockroach. One single crystal is said to contain four times the energy compared to regular cow’s milk.

Scientists are hopeful of producing protein shakes out of the protein crystals. However, does this mean that we will be able to just buy cockroach milk protein shakes off the counter? Unfortunately, that will not be the case. While cockroach milk is highly nutritious, it is rather difficult to gather as we are not able to milk the cockroaches like we do with cows. Scientist are trying to resolve this problem by duplicating the genes responsible for producing the protein crystals, meaning, we will be drinking bioengineered cockroach milk.

Being able to produce cockroach milk in large quantities could also help the environment greatly as it means we will have alternatives to cow milk and almond milk. Cows are known for creating greenhouse gases and growing crops such as almond and soy beans require quite a lot of water. We will no longer need as many diary cows, meaning that less methane gas will be produced. Less almonds and soy beans will be needed therefore less water will be used. Cockroach milk does not require any water and does not produce any substances that may harm our environment. That means if cockroach milk is successful , we will not only be benefiting ourselves but our environment as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsRfXi6DfLc

However, in a time where people are supporting all natural foods, would a protein shake labeled “bioengineered” really be that evolutionary? While there are already several superfoods on the market that are made from insects, such as Cricket Protein Powder, none of these have yet been labeled “bioengineered”. The fact that Cockroach milk is the first superfood that is bioengineered will make it revolutionary, however, whether it will be fit for regular consumption is one of the biggest questions right now for consumers. Perhaps in the future, not only would we be drinking cockroach milk, we may also be enjoying other foods made from cockroach milk such as ice cream and yogurt.

Delia Ma

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