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A blog about anything and everything that piques the interest of a biologist, from the latest science news to random nerdy tidbits.
Christie Wilcox
117 posts
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- September 6, 2010
- 08:29 AM
- 1,990 views
Ocean of Pseudoscience: Sharks DO get cancer!
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
The sea is a dark and often mysterious place, and it's no wonder that the fear and fascination with the marine world has led to more than a few inaccurate claims. The crew over at Southern Fried Science have decided that this week is all about busting pseudoscience and the myths that surround our ocean realm. As it turns out, I'd posted about one of these before. So here, in honor of Ocean of Pseudoscience week, is a repost busting the myth that sharks don't get cancer.
There are a lot of myths........ Read more »
Brem H, & Folkman J. (1975) Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis mediated by cartilage. . J Exp Med, 427-439. DOI: 10.1084/jem.141.2.427
Langer R, & et al. (1976) Isolations of a cartilage factor that inhibits tumor neovascularization. Science, 70-72. DOI: 10.1126/science.935859
Lee A, & Langer R. (1983) Shark cartilage contains inhibitors of tumor angiogenesis. Science, 1185-1187. DOI: 10.1126/science.6193581
Luer CA, & Luer WH. (1982) Acute and chronic exposure of nurse sharks to aflatoxin B1. Federal Proceedings, 925. info:/
Horsman MR, Alsner J, & Overgaard J. (1998) The effect of shark cartilage extracts on the growth and metastatic spread of the SCCVII carcinoma. Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden), 37(5), 441-5. PMID: 9831372
Miller DR, Anderson GT, Stark JJ, Granick JL, & Richardson D. (1998) Phase I/II trial of the safety and efficacy of shark cartilage in the treatment of advanced cancer. Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 16(11), 3649-55. PMID: 9817287
Loprinzi CL, Levitt R, Barton DL, Sloan JA, Atherton PJ, Smith DJ, Dakhil SR, Moore DF Jr, Krook JE, Rowland KM Jr.... (2005) Evaluation of shark cartilage in patients with advanced cancer: a North Central Cancer Treatment Group trial. Cancer, 104(1), 176-82. PMID: 15912493
Lu C, Lee JJ, Komaki R, Herbst RS, Feng L, Evans WK, Choy H, Desjardins P, Esparaz BT, Truong MT.... (2010) Chemoradiotherapy with or without AE-941 in stage III non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized phase III trial. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 102(12), 859-65. PMID: 20505152
Vickers, A. (2004) Alternative cancer cures: "unproven" or "disproven"?. CA: A Cancer Journal For Clinicians, 110-118. DOI: 10.3322/canjclin.54.2.110
Ostrander GK, Cheng KC, Wolf JC, & Wolfe MJ. (2004) Shark cartilage, cancer and the growing threat of pseudoscience. Cancer research, 64(23), 8485-91. PMID: 15574750
- August 24, 2009
- 05:19 PM
- 1,686 views
This Week's Sci-Fi Worthy Parasite: Leishmania spp.
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Ah, the joys of a tropical getaway. There's warm, clear waters, soft, sandy beaches, and of course, a whole ton of amazing parasites waiting to gorge on your delicious flesh.Anyone who has traveled out of the US has been told horror stories of the disgusting creatures that await them. Take a nice trip to Brazil for some sightseeing, for example, and you might find yourself at the mercy of a small, intracellular protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania. There are many species of Leishmania livi........ Read more »
Rogers, M., Kropf, P., Choi, B., Dillon, R., Podinovskaia, M., Bates, P., & Müller, I. (2009) Proteophosophoglycans Regurgitated by Leishmania-Infected Sand Flies Target the L-Arginine Metabolism of Host Macrophages to Promote Parasite Survival. PLoS Pathogens, 5(8). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000555
Poinar Jr, G. (2007) Early Cretaceous trypanosomatids associated with fossil sand fly larvae in Burmese amber. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 102(5). DOI: 10.1590/S0074-02762007005000070
- May 4, 2009
- 10:39 PM
- 1,646 views
Climate change won't cause the largest spread of dengue fever - we will.
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Of course, the climate change won't help, either. At least that is the claim of a new study published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The researchers used computer models using ecological modelling ("GARP") to project the distribution of dengue fever's carrier, the mosquito Aedes aegypti, under today's climate and under climate change scenarios for 2030 and 2050 given published temperature...
[...]... Read more »
Beebe, N., Cooper, R., Mottram, P., & Sweeney, A. (2009) Australia's Dengue Risk Driven by Human Adaptation to Climate Change. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 3(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000429
- February 5, 2009
- 12:48 PM
- 1,607 views
A new link in the chain of whale evolution
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Paleontologists have found a new fossil of a whale ancestor - and its announced just after I finish watching my preview DVD of Nat Geo's Morphed on whale evolution. I smell fate.Anyhow, the new whale predecessor was unveiled in a PLoS One article this week. Donned "Maiacetus inuus", the species is described from two adult fossil finds, and reveals even more about whales evolved.Maiacetus inuus is a new species of Protocetid whale, roughly 2.6 m long and dated to be about 47.5 million years old......... Read more »
Philip D. Gingerich, Munir ul-Haq, Wighart von Koenigswald, William J. Sanders, B. Holly Smith, & Iyad S. Zalmout. (2009) New Protocetid Whale from the Middle Eocene of Pakistan: Birth on Land, Precocial Development, and Sexual Dimorphism. PLoS ONE, 4(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004366
- May 27, 2009
- 09:00 AM
- 1,603 views
Like Taking Candy From A Baby
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
...err..well, not exactly. But it is a much easier way for a 45 ton sperm whale to get a quick bite to eat. This amazing footage of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) shaking cod fishing lines 108 m deep off the coast of Sitka, Alaska, is the first ever of sperm whales feeding - albeit not on its usual prey, the massive squids of the deep sea. Most of the time, sperm whales dive to a staggering 900 to 2600 feet (that's up to half a mile or so deep) to catch their meals. At such depths, with n........ Read more »
Mathias, D., Thode, A., Straley, J., & Folkert, K. (2009) Relationship between sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) click structure and size derived from videocamera images of a depredating whale (sperm whale prey acquisition). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 125(5), 3444. DOI: 10.1121/1.3097758
- April 17, 2009
- 11:41 AM
- 1,546 views
Hawaiian monk seals give inbred a whole new meaning
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Cheetahs are thought of as unfortunate examples of how genetics can be devastating. After a population bottleneck 10,000 years ago 1, cheetahs have become so closely related that it's said you can use skin grafts from any two individuals without rejection. To put that in perspective, your own immediate family is probably too genetically distinct to do that for you. But cheetahs look like they're in great shape compared to Hawaiian Monk Seals, new research from the University of Hawaii has found......... Read more »
Schultz, J., Baker, J., Toonen, R., & Bowen, B. (2008) Extremely Low Genetic Diversity in the Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi). Journal of Heredity, 100(1), 25-33. DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esn077
- February 15, 2009
- 10:35 AM
- 1,511 views
Darwin's Degenerates - Evolution's Finest
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
If I ask you what group of organisms is an exhibition of evolution at its finest, what would you say? Most people, I think, would say human beings, or at least apex predators. After all, we have staggering intellect compared to our prey items and clearly dominate the planet, eat what we will, etc. Not only that, we're insanely complex. Ask some scientists, and they might give you any number of answers. Cockroaches are likely to exist long after we do, as are rodents, so maybe they get the title......... Read more »
A. Dobson, K. D. Lafferty, A. M. Kuris, R. F. Hechinger, & W. Jetz. (2008) Colloquium Paper: Homage to Linnaeus: How many parasites? How many hosts?. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(Supplement_1), 11482-11489. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0803232105
Armand M. Kuris, Ryan F. Hechinger, Jenny C. Shaw, Kathleen L. Whitney, Leopoldina Aguirre-Macedo, Charlie A. Boch, Andrew P. Dobson, Eleca J. Dunham, Brian L. Fredensborg, Todd C. Huspeni.... (2008) Ecosystem energetic implications of parasite and free-living biomass in three estuaries. Nature, 454(7203), 515-518. DOI: 10.1038/nature06970
Kevin D. Lafferty. (2006) Can the common brain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, influence human culture?. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1602), 2749-2755. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3641
Jesús Martínez-Padilla, François Mougeot, Lorenzo Pérez-Rodríguez, & Gary R. Bortolotti. (2007) Nematode parasites reduce carotenoid-based signalling in male red grouse. Biology Letters, 3(2), 161-164. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0593
Joseph A. Jackson, Ida M. Friberg, Susan Little, & Janette E. Bradley. (2009) Review series on helminths, immune modulation and the hygiene hypothesis: Immunity against helminths and immunological phenomena in modern human populations: coevolutionary legacies?. Immunology, 126(1), 18-27. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2008.03010.x
Joel V. Weinstock, & David E. Elliott. (2009) Helminths and the IBD hygiene hypothesis. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 15(1), 128-133. DOI: 10.1002/ibd.20633
Anne Cooke. (2009) Review series on helminths, immune modulation and the hygiene hypothesis: How might infection modulate the onset of type 1 diabetes?. Immunology, 126(1), 12-17. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2008.03009.x
- January 6, 2009
- 09:11 AM
- 1,506 views
This Week's Sci-Fi Worthy Parasite
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Many parasites alter their hosts behavior by small manipulations in the brain that go largely unnoticed by the host until its eaten by another. But not all use so much finesse. This week's parasite is probably the rudest as far as mechanisms go - luckily, their hosts are cockroaches, so we don't hold it against them.I'm talking about the Emerald Cockroach Wasp. As with many parasitic wasps, it needs to inject its eggs into the host to incubate. When the eggs hatch, they'll feed on the host, coco........ Read more »
R GAL, & F LIBERSAT. (2008) A Parasitoid Wasp Manipulates the Drive for Walking of Its Cockroach Prey. Current Biology, 18(12), 877-882. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2008.04.076
- January 7, 2009
- 09:06 AM
- 1,461 views
Tetris good for more than wasting time
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Ok, I simply had to post about this new study from PLoS ONE because my boyfriend, Barry, absolutely loves the game Tetris. Anyhow, new research has found that Tetris can help treat PTSD flashbacks, which is pretty cool for a really old, really simple video game.Read the rest of this post!Here's how it works. Your brain has limited resources and capacity. In other words, your brain can only process, remember and manage so much input at a time. When you see an image or perform a mental task, you h........ Read more »
Emily A. Holmes, Ella L. James, Thomas Coode-Bate, & Catherine Deeprose. (2009) Can Playing the Computer Game “Tetris” Reduce the Build-Up of Flashbacks for Trauma? A Proposal from Cognitive Science. PLoS ONE, 4(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004153
- April 24, 2009
- 10:45 AM
- 1,454 views
Night owls - the energizer bunnies of society
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
I have to start work at 8 am every morning. I'm not sure exactly who decided that scientists should start early, but it seems to be a universal assumption. Throughout college my science classes were always first thing, and research efforts often seem to involve early morning work. But I've never really been a morning person. Last night is a great example: I had to clean up the house in preparation for Barry's brother coming to stay with us (which, with a dog and a cat and two messy people, is no........ Read more »
Schmidt, C., Collette, F., Leclercq, Y., Sterpenich, V., Vandewalle, G., Berthomier, P., Berthomier, C., Phillips, C., Tinguely, G., Darsaud, A.... (2009) Homeostatic Sleep Pressure and Responses to Sustained Attention in the Suprachiasmatic Area. Science, 324(5926), 516-519. DOI: 10.1126/science.1167337
- April 22, 2009
- 01:03 PM
- 1,451 views
Are Conservation Efforts Harming Rare Species?
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Since today is Earth Day, I've got all kinds of green, eco-friendly, conservation-type thoughts jumbling around in my head. I keep reading articles about how some rare alligator has a little hope or how some big rare fish got eaten, and thinking positively about the press surrounding our environment. All these daily, constant reminders about the status of species on the verge of collapse - this kind of awareness has got to be helping conserve those speices, right? But then I stumbled upon a PLoS........ Read more »
Angulo, E., & Courchamp, F. (2009) Rare Species Are Valued Big Time. PLoS ONE, 4(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005215
- May 8, 2009
- 09:25 AM
- 1,431 views
Our effects are simple: the more people, the fewer fish
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
People are bad news for fish - yeah, we've known that for awhile. Just look at the decrease in size of catch off the Florida Keys from 1957 to the 1980s and 2007 (on right) and that conclusion is obvious. But, surprisingly, little research has been able to show how human populations affect a group of fish. Most studies focus on one type of fish or are contained to a small area because their...
[...]... Read more »
Stallings, C. (2009) Fishery-Independent Data Reveal Negative Effect of Human Population Density on Caribbean Predatory Fish Communities. PLoS ONE, 4(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005333
- March 30, 2009
- 09:47 AM
- 1,418 views
Biocontrol of Biocontrol?
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
One of the most controversial ideas in conservation is that of Biocontrol. The goal is to control invasive species or damaging pests by introducing predators/diseases/etc which kill them. Some attempts at biocontrol have been hugely successful. But others have been disastrous, like the introduction of Cane Toads.
Cane Toads (Bufo marinus) were introduced to a lot of places from 1840-1940 to attempt to control agricultural pests. Cane Toad extent
both native (blue)
and introduced (red)They w........ Read more »
Georgia Ward-Fear, & et al. (2009) Maladaptive traits in invasive species: in Australia, cane toads are more vulnerable to predatory ants than are native frogs. Functional Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2009.01556.x
- June 7, 2009
- 06:02 PM
- 1,408 views
Conservtives more easily disgusted
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Our emotions are strongly tied to our morals. We're more likely to think something is wrong if it repulses us, even if we can't describe exactly why or how it is wrong. For example, most people would disapprove of consensual adult incest between siblings, but few would be able to articulate exactly why it is 'wrong.' This is very different from moral beliefs deduced from reasoning. These moral intuitions, which are highly motivated by emotional response or learned associations, are quick and req........ Read more »
Chapman, H., Kim, D., Susskind, J., & Anderson, A. (2009) In Bad Taste: Evidence for the Oral Origins of Moral Disgust. Science, 323(5918), 1222-1226. DOI: 10.1126/science.1165565
Inbar, Y., Pizarro, D., & Bloom, P. (2008) Conservatives are more easily disgusted than liberals. Cognition , 23(4), 714-725. DOI: 10.1080/02699930802110007
Inbar, Y., Pizarro, D., Knobe, J., & Bloom, P. (2009) Disgust sensitivity predicts intuitive disapproval of gays. Emotion, 9(3), 435-439. DOI: 10.1037/a0015960
Rozin, P., Haidt, J., & Fincher, K. (2009) PSYCHOLOGY: From Oral to Moral. Science, 323(5918), 1179-1180. DOI: 10.1126/science.1170492
- July 9, 2009
- 03:31 AM
- 1,406 views
Sex ed just got a little more complicated
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
It's amazing how the field of stem cell research has advanced so much in such a short amount of time. Today, just a little over a decade after the first stem cell line was produced, scientists announced another breakthrough - turning stem cells into sperm.In a paper published in the journal Stem Cells And Development (PDF), british scientists from England’s Newcastle University detail a technique for turning stem cells with male chromosomes into reproductive germline cells and prompt them to d........ Read more »
Nayernia, K., Lee, J., Lako, M., Armstrong, L., Herbert, M., Li, M., Engel, W., Elliott, D., Stojkovic, M., Parrington, J.... (2009) In Vitro Derivation of Human Sperm from Embryonic Stem Cells. Stem Cells and Development, 2147483647. DOI: 10.1089/scd.2009.0063
- September 17, 2009
- 04:44 PM
- 1,400 views
White-Eyes Killing Off Native Birds In Hawaii
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Introduced and invasive species are a hot topic in ecology. Even when brought in for good reason, introduced species can have unforeseen negative impacts on the environment and the species around them. Take Cane Toads, for example. They were introduced to Australia to control a particular bug, but ended up eating everything they could fit in their mouths, especially native, endangered species. Or look at the mongoose, brought to Hawaii to control rat populations. While it does enjoy the invasive........ Read more »
Leonard A. Freed, & Rebecca L. Cann. (2009) Negative Effects of an Introduced Bird Species on Growth and Survival in a Native Bird Community. Current Biology. info:/
- October 8, 2009
- 08:07 PM
- 1,398 views
Women to stop liking Sean Connery?
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Boyish good looks - the next generation of sexy?I couldn't help but notice that a new study has come out about the behavioral effects of hormonal contraception. It's all over the science news sites. With titles ranging from the conservative "Pill May Change Attraction" to the bolder "Taking the pill for past 40 years 'has put women off masculine men'"and "The pill 'gives women a taste for boyish men like Zac Efron'," this new publication has swept the media outlets by storm. This idea that birth........ Read more »
Alexandra Alvergne, & Virpi Lummaa. (2009) Does the contraceptive pill alter mate choice in humans?. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. info:/10.1016/j.tree.2009.08.003
- May 28, 2009
- 09:00 AM
- 1,385 views
Size does matter!
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
When I interned at Florida Aquarium I had the pleasure of working with two screech owls. Sure, there were bigger, more impressive looking raptors that I could hold and show people, but those pint-sized versions were my favorite. It wasn't just that they were small (though that totally helped). It was that when you'd go to take them out of their cage to walk around with, they would puff up and try to act all big an menacing - which, frankly, just made them look like giant brown cotton balls.What ........ Read more »
Marsh, A., Yu, H., Schechter, J., & Blair, R. (2009) Larger than Life: Humans' Nonverbal Status Cues Alter Perceived Size. PLoS ONE, 4(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005707
- March 26, 2009
- 11:19 AM
- 1,378 views
Self-healing car paint? Ok, I'm in.
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
Who hasn't walked to their car after getting groceries or the like and suddenly found a nice, large scratch where you're fairly sure there wasn't one before? Then you think do you spend $50 on some random infomercial product claiming to fix scratches of every color, get the thing repainted, or just live with it? In my case, of course, the third is the obvious option. What can I say? I'm cheap, and my car is instantly recognizable for its terrible paint job (let me tell you, black + Florida weath........ Read more »
Ghosh, B., & Urban, M. (2009) Self-Repairing Oxetane-Substituted Chitosan Polyurethane Networks. Science, 323(5920), 1458-1460. DOI: 10.1126/science.1167391
- March 31, 2009
- 03:38 PM
- 1,345 views
This Week's Sci-Fi Worthy Parasite
by Christie Wilcox in Observations of a Nerd
So you're sitting there, reading the paper, when you notice your head's a bit itchy. Dry skin? Maybe. Irritated scalp? It's possible. Of course it could be something far more sinister...
It could be every parent and school teacher's worst nightmare: Lice.
Lice, the kind that is the bane of elementary schools everywhere, are a kind of wingless insect. They're members of the order Phthiraptera, which is classically broken into two groups, the chewing lice and the sucking lice - the latter is wh........ Read more »
Shao, R., Kirkness, E.F., & Barker, S.C. (2009) The single mitochondrial chromosome typical of animals has evolved into 18 minichromosomes in the human body louse, Pediculus humanus. Genome Research. DOI: 10.1101/gr.083188.108.
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