BioScience articles from May 2009

BioScience archives from May 2009

Forward steps for Science.(Editorial)
May 1, 2009... The century of biology is almost a tenth complete, and its first decade seems to have delivered more pain than progress. Yet in March, biologists of all stripes were relieved when two scientists with impeccable credentials and broad experience...

Ocean and atmosphere--the future.(Viewpoint essay)
May 1, 2009... As the newest member of the group of former NOAA Administrators, and as someone who is very proud of the achievements of NOAA's dedicated, world-class scientists and support personnel, I remain, and anticipate always remaining, very much...

Illuminating biology: an evolutionary perspective: the evolution symposium series, in its fifth year, continues to be popular.(Special Report)(National Evolutionary Synthesis Center)
May 1, 2009... What do biochemistry, developmental biology, molecular biology, and neurobiology have in common? Evolutionary concepts related to these topics have not traditionally played a prominent role in an educator's toolbox. But that needn't be the case...

Great Lakes: sailing to the forefront of national water policy?(Washington Watch)
May 1, 2009... While all eyes were on the presidential election last fall, the US Congress quickly--and rather unceremoniously-approved legislation that will shape the face of US water policy for years to come. On 3 October, then President George Bush signed...

From gene expression to phenotype in insects: non-microarray approaches for transcriptome analysis.(21st Century Directions in Biology)(Report)
May 1, 2009... Transcripts and their expression levels link an organism's genotype and phenotype, so understanding this relationship can aid our understanding of phenotypic evolution at the gene-expression level. The emerging field of functional genomics is...

New eyes on the world: advanced sensors for ecology.(Field Stations)(Report)
May 1, 2009... Innovative uses of advanced sensors and sensor networks are starting to be translated into new ecological knowledge. These sensors are providing a new set of "eyes" through which researchers may observe the world in new ways, extend spatial and...

Ecological facilitation may drive major evolutionary transitions.(Report)
May 1, 2009... There is a growing consensus among ecologists that ecological facilitation comprises a historically overlooked but crucial suite of biotic interactions. Awareness of such positive interactions has recently led to substantial modifications in...

Climate change and the world's "sacred sea"--Lake Baikal, Siberia.(Report)
May 1, 2009... Lake Baikal--the world's largest, oldest, and most biotically diverse lake--is responding strongly to climate change, according to recent analyses of water temperature and ice cover. By the end of this century, the climate of the Baikal region...

Motivating online publication of data.(Forum)(Report)
May 1, 2009... Despite policies and calls for scientists to make data available, this is not happening for most environmental--and biodiversity-related data because scientists' concerns about these efforts have not been answered and initiatives to motivate...

The creationist down the hall: does it matter when teachers teach creationism?(Education)(Report)
May 1, 2009... The responses of biology majors in their first year of college differed significantly from those of first-year non--biology majors on only 3 of the 20 items on the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution survey instrument. Despite...

A century of crop improvement: from Vavilov to biotechnology.(Spring Spotlight on Books)
May 1, 2009... Crop plants are having their moment in the sun as the American public focuses more attention on the food they eat. Michael Pollan's book on American agriculture, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Penguin, 2006), has been...

Science under attack: vaccines and autism.(Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure)(Book review)
May 1, 2009... Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure. Paul A. Offit. Columbia University Press, 2008. 328 pp., illus. $24.95 (ISBN 9780231146364 cloth). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Paul Offit is one of the most re...

The demise of public plant breeding.(Plant Breeding and Biotechnology: Societal Context and the Future of Agriculture)(Book review)
May 1, 2009... Plant Breeding and Biotechnology: Societal Context and the Future of Agriculture. Denis Murphy. Cambridge University Press, 2007. 440 pp., illus. $60.00 (ISBN 9780521530880 paper). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Agriculture is subject to...

Facilitation rules.(Positive Interactions and Interdependence in Plant Communities)(Book review)
May 1, 2009... Positive Interactions and Interdependence in Plant Communities. Ragan M. Callaway. Springer, 2007. 415 pp., illus. $249.00 (ISBN 9781402062230 cloth). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Throughout most of the history of ecology, competition has...

A bazaar concept.(Biobazaar: The Open Source Revolution and Biotechnology)(Book review)
May 1, 2009... Biobazaar: The Open Source Revolution and Biotechnology. Janet Hope. Harvard University Press, 2008.448 pp., illus. $27.95 (ISBN 9780674026353 cloth). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From the early 1980s, the implications of including...

Did disease indeed destroy the dinosaurs?(What Bugged the Dinosaurs?: Insects, Disease, and Death in the Cretaceous)(Book review)
May 1, 2009... What Bugged the Dinosaurs? Insects, Disease, and Death in the Cretaceous. George Poinar Jr. and Roberta Poinar. Princeton University Press, 2008, 264 pp., illus. $29.95 (ISBN 9780691124315 cloth). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As an...

New titles.(Spring Spotlight on Books)(Brief article)(List)
May 1, 2009... Aptamers in Bioanalysis. Marco Masdni, ed. Wiley, 2009. 336 pp., illus. $125.00 (ISBN 9780470148303 cloth). Complexity: A Guided Tour. Melanie Mitchell. Oxford University Press, 2009. 349 pp., illus. $29.95 (ISBN 9780195124415 cloth). ...

Registration and poster submissions open for 2009 AIBS annual meeting.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)
May 1, 2009... The 2009 AIBS annual meeting, "Sustainable Agriculture: Greening the Global Food Supply,' will be held 18-19 May at the Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The program chair is 2009 MBS President May R. Berenbaum, of the...

AIBS annual meeting and council meeting to be live online.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... AIBS is taking another major step forward in its plans to make its meetings available online for worldwide access, on the general principle that doing so reduces energy use and enfranchises individuals and organizations who could not otherwise...

AIBS names 2009 emerging public policy leaders.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Anna Maria Stewart and Adam Roddy)
May 1, 2009... AIBS has selected Adam Roddy, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, and Anna Maria Stewart, a graduate student at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), to receive the...

AIBS now hosting NESCent's "Evolution in the News" on YouTube.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... AIBS is pleased to host on its YouTube channel the video series "Evolution in the News" from the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina. The series is a collaboration of NESCent and the Understanding Evolution Web site...

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.org.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Original article in English * "The Value of Healthy Estuaries,' by Robert R. Christian, distinguished professor of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, and research distinguished professor of biology at East Carolina University...

Recent education reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... * How can we improve the AIBS Education Report? * Education sessions at the AIBS annual meeting in May * A new volume of resources to teach ecology now available * Biology Education Leadership Scholarship program * Society...

Recent public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Public Policy Report for 30 March 2009 * AIBS asks House to fund science in FY 2010 * NSF releases stimulus guidance * Education secretary talks to science teachers * Congress passes long-awaited ocean research legislation ...

Calendar of meetings.(American Institute of Biological Sciences)(Calendar)
May 1, 2009... May 18-19 American Institute of Biological Sciences, Arlington, VA; www.aibs.org/annual-meeting/ annual_meeting_2009.html 23-28 Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, Baltimore; www. ...

Sonoran Desert plants climb warming Santa Catalina Mountains.(BioBriefs)
May 1, 2009... A University of Arizona husband-wife team of scientists has documented a significant shift in where plants flower in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson as average temperatures have risen in the Sonoran Desert. The study, by ecologist...