biology

Sep 17, 2012

Estimating ‘Regions of Attraction’ Should Improve Computer Models of Biological Systems

Researchers have found an effective means of estimating the “regions of attraction” (ROA) when developing computer models of biological systems – improving the ability of these models to predict how a system will respond to changing conditions. But to talk about that, we probably need to explain what an ROA is – and why it… 

Aug 24, 2012

Needle Ant Invasion Spreads Coast to Coast

A crusade to invade that began in North Carolina has spread to the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and even to an island packed with concrete and glass – Manhattan. So go the travels of the Asian needle ant, an invasive species native to Japan. Citizen scientists connected with the School of Ants project – which asks… 

Jul 20, 2012

What’s the Deal With Seedless Watermelons?

Seedless watermelons aren’t seedless. They have those little white seeds that don’t have hard black shells, like the seeds in seeded watermelons. How do they do that?  Glad you asked! In seeded watermelons, the seed develops its hard seed coat (or testa) once it is fertilized. But, because seeds in seedless watermelons cannot be fertilized,… 

Jun 1, 2012

Bartonella: The Epidemic You’ve Never Heard Of, Part 3

This is the final installment of a three-part series on Bartonella, bacteria that are being linked to a wide variety of ailments – many of them chronic, and some of them life-threatening. In part one, we talked about what Bartonella is, and its growing recognition as a potentially wide-ranging and serious infectious disease. Part two… 

May 30, 2012

Bartonella: The Epidemic You’ve Never Heard Of, Part 1

This is the first installment of a three-part series on Bartonella, bacteria that is being linked to a wide variety of ailments – many of them chronic, and some of them life-threatening. In part one, I’ll talk about what Bartonella is, and its growing recognition as a potentially very serious infectious disease. Part two will… 

May 8, 2012

Why Don’t We Study Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs have garnered a lot of attention over the past few years, including coverage from mainstream media outlets (e.g., a search of the New York Times website for “bed bugs” calls up 4,270 mentions over the past 12 months). But their high profile has not led to a commensurate increase in related research. Bed… 

Apr 27, 2012

Using Ants to Map Patterns of Diversity

They account for more than 80 percent of Earth’s species, but insects merit little respect in either conservation or global diversity studies. NC State biology professor Rob Dunn and postdoc Michael Weiser, along with Benoit Guénard, a former NC State Ph.D. student who now works at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, want to change that,… 

Apr 19, 2012

Dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t

The following is a guest post by Dr. Clinton Jenkins, an NC State biologist whose research focuses on conservation science. Jenkins is co-author of a new study in PLoS ONE about the possible impact of hydroelectric dams on the Andean Amazon. Dr. Matt Finer, a researcher affiliated with Save America’s Forests and the Center for International… 

Apr 10, 2012

Know Your Enemy: Cockroaches

Most people think cockroaches are disgusting. And if you’ve ever turned on a kitchen light, to find them skittering for dark corners, you probably agree (reference: my first apartment). But of the thousands of species out there, only a few can be considered pests. There are well over 4,000 described (i.e., named) species of cockroach… 

Apr 6, 2012

Know Your Enemy: Termites

Termites are fascinating insects, and not just because they can turn your front porch into mush. For example, did you know that many researchers have concluded that termites are actually social cockroaches? Whether you group them under the order Blattodea or Isoptera (and entomologists do both), there are more than 2,500 species of termites globally,… 

Mar 30, 2012

Ticks and Mosquitoes: What the Mild Winter Really Means

There has been a lot of discussion about how a mild winter, an early spring and a bumper crop of acorns might affect the number of mosquitoes and ticks we’ll see this spring and summer. Will there be more blood suckers out there? Will we be at higher risk of Lyme disease? Like many things… 

Mar 28, 2012

Know Your Enemy: Fire Ants

No series on arthropod pests would be complete without fire ants. They are violent. They are deadly. And they’re seemingly out to conquer the world. I’m exaggerating on that last point, but not by much. There are over 20 fire ant species around the world, including at least four species that are native to the… 

Mar 23, 2012

Know Your Enemy: Japanese Beetles

Last year I wrote a series of posts about critters we love to hate: mosquitoes, ticks, horseflies, black widows and carpenter bees. With the arrival of spring, I decided to pick up where I left off. First up: Japanese beetles or, as rose-growers call them, #@!*ing Japanese beetles. As the name suggests, Japanese beetles –… 

Feb 3, 2012

Norovirus: What It Is, How We’re Fighting It

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Lee-Ann Jaykus, a professor in NC State’s Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, and lead investigator of a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to study human noroviruses. If you have spent a day or two… 

Jan 30, 2012

What’s A Genotype? What’s A Phenotype? And Why Do I Care?

Genetics research is interesting stuff, and news stories about exciting new findings seem to crop up almost daily. But many people simply don’t have the vocabulary to understand what’s going on. “What is a genotype anyway?” you might ask. “What’s a phenotype? And why should I care?” Good questions! Let’s talk about this a little…