The Mekong river is located in Southeast Asia. With an estimated length of 4,350km, it flows from the Tibetan Plateau through China’s Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, on its way to the South China sea. The Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in […]
Dr. Vickie Flint
14 posts
Rapid developments in genetic technologies including next-generation DNA sequencing and CRISPR, may make it possible for scientists to bring some extinct species back to life (de-extinction). A meeting held at the International Centre for Life in Newcastle (UK) in June 2015 brought together twenty-two scientists and other interested parties to […]
The genus of viruses known as the flaviviruses are emerging globally as a significant cause of human disease. A flavivirus currently in the news and causing a lot of concern is Zika virus. Other medically important flaviviruses include dengue, yellow fever, St. Louis encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), Japanese encephalitis and […]
The giraffe is a unique animal. It has evolved to have a long neck and long legs, making it the tallest terrestrial animal alive today. To cope with this unique anatomy, the giraffe has also developed unique cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and nervous systems. In order to be able to pump blood […]
It has been over a decade since the Human Genome Project (HGP-read) was completed. It succeeded in sequencing the entire human genome and is recognised as one of the greatest feats in science. The data obtained has revolutionised our understanding and allowed huge advances in medicine. On Thursday 2nd June […]
Have you ever wondered what may be lurking on the handrails and turnstiles and all the surfaces you touch, on your daily commute to work? Well now we may find out. On the 21st June 2016 the International MetaSUB Consortium launched the first Global City Sampling Day (CSD). Mass-transit systems […]
On 5th January 2008, a two-year old boy called Christian Millare had a severe seizure and died. Eight years later his mother Amy Williams, has filed a lawsuit in the fifth judicial court in Richland County, South Carolina. Williams alleges that because Athena Diagnostics (a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics – […]
We have 157,000 hectares of ash woodland in the UK, together with approximately 12 million ash trees outside the woodlands in gardens, parklands and along roadsides. These ash trees are associated with and support 1,000 different species, including 12 species of bird, 55 species of mammals and 239 species of […]
New Zealand has been separate from other land masses for approximately 80 million years. This geographic isolation has allowed for millions of years of natural selection, largely in the absence of predatory mammals. The result has been the evolution of some of the worlds most unique and unusual species. The […]