BioScience articles from September 2004

BioScience archives from September 2004

More education for evolution teachers.(Editorial)
September 1, 2004... An energized and vocal conservative religious movement has in recent years demonstrated a desire to reshape our nation's K-12 curricula to reflect its belief system. In states across the nation, elements of this movement have exerted political...

Ecological interactions and evolution: forgotten parts of biodiversity?(Viewpoint)
September 1, 2004... Organisms are shaped contemporaneously by ecological processes and over long periods of time by evolution, processes that have led to the diversification of life. But is the diversity of life all biodiversity is? We argue that biodiversity is...

Become a better biologist: read the advanced placement biology essays.(Viewpoint)
September 1, 2004... Regulatory (control) mechanisms in organisms are necessary for survival. Choose THREE of the following examples and explain how each is regulated. 1. Flowering in plants 2. Water balance in plants 3. Water balance in terrestrial...

Francis Crick, 1916-2004: Francis Harry Compton Crick, who with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 for elucidating the structure of DNA and its significance in biological information transfer, died on 28 July at the age of 88.(In appreciation)
September 1, 2004... James Watson's opening thrust in The Double Helix--"I have never seen Francis Crick in a modest mood"--has something of the same status in the world of scientific biography that the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has in the...

Origins of HIV: the interrelationship between nonhuman primates and the virus.
September 1, 2004... By now, the statistics are sickeningly familiar: As many as 42 million people worldwide are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); last year, about 3 million people died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and perhaps 5...

OMB considers new federal peer review policy.(Washington Watch)
September 1, 2004... The academic community recognizes that peer review is essential for evaluating research. Indeed, in recent years the scientific community has vigorously defended the integrity of the peer review process and championed its use for evaluating...

Dynamic causal patterns of desertification.
September 1, 2004... Using a meta-analytical research design, we analyzed subnational case studies (n = 132) on the causes of dryland degradation, also referred to as desertification, to determine whether the proximate causes and underlying driving forces fall into...

The cell walls that bind the Tree of Life.
September 1, 2004... Cell walls have evolved independently in many phyletically diverse clades, including the Eubacteria and Archaebacteria. However, a review of the available genetic and biochemical evidence indicates that the machinery responsible for...

A conceptual framework to develop long-term ecological research and management objectives in the wider Caribbean Region.
September 1, 2004... The Caribbean Sea and its watersheds show signs of environmental degradation. These fragile coastal ecosystems are susceptible to environmental impacts, in part because of their oligotrophic conditions and their critical support of economic...

The role of recreational fishing in global fish crises.(Forum)
September 1, 2004... Exploitation of fishery resources has become a major conservation issue on a global scale. Commercial fisheries have been repeatedly blamed for the worldwide declines in fish populations. However, we contend that the recreational fishing sector...

How well do biology teachers understand the legal issues associated with the teaching of evolution?(Education)
September 1, 2004... Courts throughout the United States have consistently supported the teaching of evolution and have rejected the teaching of creationism in the science classes of public schools. Although knowledge of these court decisions can help teachers...

Exploring human origins.
September 1, 2004... Lowly Origin: Where, When, and Why Our Ancestors First Stood Up. Jonathan Kingdon. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2003. 408 pp., illus. $49.50 (ISBN 0691050864 cloth). T he first systematic review of the anatomical differences...

Removing finalism from developmental biology.
September 1, 2004... The Development of Animal Form: Ontogeny, Morphology, and Evolution. Messandro Minelll. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2003. 323 pp., illus. $75.00 (ISBN 052180851 cloth). In the preface to his engaging and...

Following Penguins.
September 1, 2004... The Adelie Penguin: Bellwether of Climate Change. David G. Ainley. New York, Columbia University Press, 2002. 310 pp., illus. $59.50 (ISBN 023112306X cloth). The Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is one of the most appealing and well...

New titles.
September 1, 2004... Advances in Chemical Ecology. Ring T. Carde and Jocelyn G. Millar, eds. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2004. 341 pp., illus. $90.00 (ISBN 0521792754 cloth). Alien Species and Evolution: The Evolutionary Ecology of Exotic Plants,...

AIBS, 12 other societies issue statement on principles of peer review.(AIBS news)
September 1, 2004... Public policy officials increasingly advocate the use of scientific peer review to evaluate the data and information that underpin federal management and regulatory decisions. While most scientists generally support an expanded role for peer...

Recent articles online at www.actionbioscience.org.(AIBS news)
September 1, 2004... Original articles in English * "Ethical Issues in Genetic Engineering and Transgenics," by Linda Mac Donald Glenn (McGill University), a health-care ethics educator with the American Medical Association. * "Avoid Misconceptions When...

Recent education reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)
September 1, 2004... * Teaching biology with bioinformatics: The BiuQUEST approach * Nationally recognized educators to participate in evolution symposium * Keep track of state news on teaching evolution * Organization for Tropical Studies: Fostering...

Recent public policy reports online at www.aibs.org.(AIBS news)
September 1, 2004... Public Policy Report for 2 August 2004 * ACTION ALERT: NSF research budget slashed by $200 million--your letters needed * NEON gets thumbs-up (and $6 million) from House Appropriations Committee * National Science and Technology...

Calendar of meetings.(Calendar)
September 1, 2004... September 12-15 Restore America's Estuaries' Second National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration, Seattle, WA; Web site: www.estuaries. org/2ndnationalconference.php 16-19 Organization of Biological Field Stations,...

Ecological modeling in the news.(BioBriefs)
September 1, 2004... MODELING WATER QUALITY IN CHESAPEAKE BAY The Chesapeake Bay Program, the governmental and scientific consortium dedicated to restoration of the Chesapeake Bay, has been criticized recently for using a computer model to determine how the...