Recently in Biology Category

By Izah Morales INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philippines--Colored tags attached to tuna species like the “tangi” or “tambakul” can earn fishermen or consumers money rewards, an official of the Department of Agriculture said Monday. “This tuna tagging project carries a $10 reward for yellow tag, $50 for green tag and $250 for orange tag. The latter two have accompanying devices inserted in the body cavity of the fish (near the abdomen). The tag on the former is attached on the back of the fish near the second dorsal fin,” said Malcolm Sarmiento, director Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in DA’s press statement. “We are calling on our fishermen and the consuming public to surrender to BFAR or the LGUs, any tag found in fishes particularly big-eye, skipjack, or yellowfin tuna and other marine fishes, as these are part of scientific studies,” Sarmiento said. Sarmiento told INQUIRER.net that people can return the tags at the nearest BFAR office to get their reward. The official said the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute under BFAR would give the corresponding reward. The Philippines is part of a Tuna tagging project spearheaded by the Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) based in New Caledonia, according to Sarmiento. “The tagging is done to aid the management measures and to validate the changes in migratory patterns of large pelagic species like tuna, which might be brought about by climate change,” added Sarmiento in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net. In a statement issued by OFP, the tagging project would provide information on fishery exploitation rates and population sizes in the Western and Central Pacific.

Izah Morales INQUIRER.net A NEW rodent species discovered in May 2006 in Mt. Hamiguitan in Davao Oriental needs a wider area of habitat, researchers said. Currently, the Batomys hamiguitan or the Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat lives in the Mt. Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, which is 6,834 hectares in total surface area. However, this sanctuary is adjacent to seven Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) also in Mt. Hamiguitan which cover 17,572 hectares, which is half of the mountain's cover. Leonilo Rivera, DENR Protected Area and Wildlife Division Chief of Region XI, said that expanding the protected area will take some time. However, Edwin Domingo, assistant director of DENR Mines and Geosciences Bureau, clarified that there is no mining activity yet in Mt. Hamiguitan. "We don't have any conflict with [the] protected area. Normally, pinag-aaway kami [they let us fight]. Any and all protected and critical areas proclaimed as watershed are closed to mining applications, so if by chance, nagsubmit ka sa amin ng [you submit an] application, and we find out when we double check that you're encroaching in this, we have to tell you that you have to [take] that out," said Domingo. Domingo said the mining applications have already existed prior to the proposal to make the area a protected area. "It is not up to us in the DENR to make that categorical statement because in the NIPAS [National Integrated Protected Areas System] law, there is a procedural guideline. There is a process for consultation. We are not in the position to say, yes or no," said Domingo when asked on their action on the requested expansion of the protected area. Republic Act 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System NIPAS law protects "outstandingly remarkable areas and biologically important public lands that are habitats of rare and endangered species of plants and animals representative of bio-geographic zones and related ecosystems." Through Republic Act 9303, Mt. Hamiguitan was declared as a protected area under the category of wildlife sanctuary in July 2004. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, Mt. Hamiguitan includes at least 11 endangered vertebrate species. "We are requesting the Protected Area Management Board to consider expanding the current protected to cover the majority of the habitat of the rare and restricted Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat," said Jayson Ibañez, coordinator of the field research program of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF). Researchers from the US-based Field Museum of Natural History discovered the Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat during an expedition in the Davao region. Researchers along with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the PEF collected specimens from Mt. Hamiguitan and conducted a biodiversity survey that led to the discovery of the new species. "It took three years because we compared it with other specimens to determine whether it's a new species," said Ibañez. "The Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat is the first mammal to be described from Eastern Mindanao and is the first mammal that is thought to live only in that area. Most mammals unique to Mindanao were described from Mt. Apo or Mt. Kitanglad. This points eastern Mindanao, especially Mt. Hamiguitan as a biologically unique part of the Philippines," added Danilo Balete, team leader and lead author from the Field Museum of Natural History. In a statement released by DENR, it described the Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat as a yellow-brown animal with a long furry tail, which weighs about 175 grams and lives only in elevations of 950 meters and up, and in dwarf mossy forests of areas less than 10 square kilometers. Ibañez added that four species of the genus Batomys can be found in the country. The species Batomys dentatus and Batomys granti lived in Luzon, Batomys salomonseni in Mindanao, and Batomys russatus in the Dinagat Island. DENR Secretary Lito Atienza said that there is a very high rate of more discoveries of new species in the country, but some of these species might already be threatened before they are discovered. "The Philippines has one of the largest numbers of unique species of mammals [in] any place in the world; over 125 mammal species live only in the Philippines. There is truly a wealth of animal and plant life here that is worth protecting," said Lawrence Heaney, curator of Mammals at the Field Museum, in a statement. The Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau endorsed the inclusion of Mt. Hamiguitan to the UNESCO World Heritage. "Mt. Hamiguitan fully deserves to be among the global heritage sites," said Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau director Mundita Lim. The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources and Development (PCCARD) noted in its website that Mt. Hamiguitan in Davao Oriental is also the country's largest pygmy forest, which is also known as a bonsai forest. PCCARD reported that the mountain has been a home to five endangered species, 27 rare species, 44 endemic species and 59 economically important species. These include the golden-crown flying fox, Philippine tarsier, Philippine warty pig, Philippine brown deer, Philippine Mossy-pygmy Fruit Bat, and the Asian Palm Civet.

By Agence France-Presse PARIS -- A Japanese researcher has put paleo-biologists in a flap by suggesting pterosaurs -- the winged lizards beloved of toymakers and dino movies -- were unable to fly, New Scientist says. Katsufumi Sato of the University of Tokyo carried out an unusual study on the Crozet Islands, in the southern Indian Ocean, to test flying ability among large sea birds. He attached accelerometers the size of AA batteries to the wings of 28 birds from five large species, including the wandering albatross, the world's biggest flying bird. Albatrosses fly by riding shifting winds, thanks to wings spanning 3.5 metres (11.4 feet) whose shape can be varied to exploit each draft. When there is no wind, or if the wind blows at a constant speed, the bird can only stay aloft by flapping its wings, otherwise it is forced down by gravity and air resistance. In a months-long experiment, Sato's instruments showed that the seabirds had two flapping speeds -- fast for taking off, and slow, for keeping aloft when the wind dies, New Scientist says. The bird's flapping speed is limited by its muscle strength, and the speed decreases for heavier birds that have longer wings, Sato found. According to Sato's calculations, animals heavier than 40 kilos (88 pounds) would be unable to flap fast enough to fly in zero winds. A wandering albatross is fine, as it weighs 22 kilos (44 pounds) -- but the news is pterrible for pterosaurs. Large ones would be unable to stay aloft, by this benchmark. The largest pterosaur specimen found, Quetzalcoatlus northropi, had a wingspan of 11-12 metres (35.75-39 feet) and its weight is estimated to be in the order of 100 kilos (220 pounds). Sato presented his results at a Biologging Science Symposium in Stanford University, California last month. He has run into flak from pterosaur fans who are convinced that their creatures were "dynamic soarers" like the albatross and could sustain active flight and not just glide. Differences in anatomy, physiology and environment must be taken into account when comparing the two sets of flyers, they say, according to the New Scientist report.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net WHAT do the sheep Dolly, the dog Snuppy and Amy the cow have in common? They're all clones, exact copies of their parents from a single cell. Now the Philippines is hoping to replicate the same cloning techniques to deliver the country's first cloned carabao or water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis carabanesis). The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) and the Department of the Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD) are working together to create a breed of cloned "super buffalos" for use primarily to improve the country's livestock supply. These super buffalos are actually the regular carabaos that have been naturally bred specifically to yield more milk and meat while resistant to carabao diseases. They have not been genetically modified in any way. The cloning technique to be employed by scientists from the PCC and PCARRD is called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, the same method used by British genetic engineers to create Dolly, the first artificially cloned mammal. It involves cells from an adult animal extracted and then placed into oocytes or immature ovum that will serve as its host. It is similar to in vitro fertilization but instead of using live sperm from a male, the cell is extracted from any part of the animal, including skin and hair. The cell contains the blueprint of all living things, thus using it as a primary cell directly copies the genetic material into the new animal. Afterwards, the cell and the oocyte, now called the embryo, is placed into a host animal. In this case, another healthy carabao will serve as a surrogate parent for the maturing super carabao embryo. During the presentation, PCC supervising science research specialist Edwin Atabay said the project is already in its next phase as they have already cultivated about 1, 500 embryos, all of which will soon be implanted into a healthy heifer. Atabay noted that the failure rate is very high during cloning processes and the PCC and the PCARRD are expecting a success rate of only five percent. “This is because the recipient animal might reject the embryo so we'll have to keep on repeating the process until we succeed,” Atabay said. Atabay hopes that the first live cloned specimen, which would be female, will be born within a year or two, depending on the progress of further testing the viability of the embryos. Atabay added the cloning of carabaos was intended to help the livestock industry improve its cattle and milk yield, which is already in decline in the Philippines. Much of the cattle meat being consumed in the Philippines today is imported, with the Philippines producing 59 percent of the total requirement. Likewise, milk and dairy products are mostly imported with the Philippines producing only two percent of the overall requirement. “On an average, we’re importing 26 billion pesos worth of milk and dairy products and another 24 billion for carabeef (carabao meat),” Atabay said. PCARRD director for Livestock Research Edwin Villar said that by creating genetically superior carabaos the country can start producing its own requirements for beef, milk and dairy products, which helps not just the consumer but also the local livestock industry. He also hopes that their research coming from the cloning procedure of carabaos will be useful for global research on animal cloning. Villar said the PCC and PCARRD have already invested around P6 million in the project, which includes improvements in PCC laboratories specifically for cloning, as well as training of scientists in this field. He also said that the resulting cloned animals will not be sold commercially, but will be the source for subsequent production of live animals to be distributed to livestock farmers nationwide. And like all proud parents, the PCC and PCARRD are hoping to name their first-born cloned carabao after an important person. "We may call it 'Estrella,'" Villar joked, referring to Science Secretary Estrella Alabastro, who discreetly requested both agencies not to name the animal after her.

By Louise Daly Agence France-Presse CHICAGO--It sounds like something out of "Star Trek" -- a tropical plant that uses toxic and come-hither odors and rising temperatures to ensure pollination. But in fact, this scenario is straight out of nature. In a paper released Thursday, US biologists report that the Australian cycad, a primitive tropical plant with large seed cones, uses a novel "pull-push" method to manipulate the tiny flying insects, or thrips, that it relies on for pollination. The thrips tend to congregate in the male cones (which are much like pine cones) where they feed and make their homes -- but at a certain time of day, the plant will heat up and emit a toxic order, repelling the insects. The pollen-laden insects then fly to the neighboring or surrounding female cones which are emitting a more attractive odor, where they pollinate the female plant's eggs. "The cycads are trading food for sex," said Robert Roemer, a co-author of the paper in the journal Science. "Pollen is the only thing these thrips eat, so they totally rely on the plants. And the thrips are the only animals that pollinate the plants." The curious "mating ritual" only occurs during a short pollination period that occurs once a year to once every several years. "Then they are done and the cones disintegrate," said Irene Terry, the University of Utah biologist who was lead author on the paper. During the pollination period, the cycads can increase the temperature in their cones each day between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm. The male cones particularly tend to raise the temperature higher -- up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the ambient air. The plants, use a metabolic process to turn up the heat -- burning sugars, starches, and fats that have been stockpiled to fuel routine cell functions. This process is accompanied by a massive release of odors. One chemical in particular, named beta-myrcene, increases to toxic, lethal levels and drives the pollen-covered insects out of the male cones. A similar process is occurring in the female cones, but because the female plants don't heat up so much, the odors generated aren't offensive. In fact at lower concentrations the beta-myrcene chemical odor is slightly attractive, so the insects end up taking refuge there and pollinating their eggs. The novel push-pull pollination strategy that the cycads evolved may be an intermediate evolutionary stage on the path from plants using odors to repel herbivore predators to plants using attractive odors to attract pollinating insects, Terry said. "It is thought that early on, these odors were used as defensive mechanisms to repel plant eaters, and that some early pollination systems evolved with insects that used the odors to find the plant," she said. Cycads belong to the same group of plants as modern conifers such as pines or firs. They are known as "living fossils" because they date back 250- 290-million years to the Permian Period. This species can be found in the coastal mountains of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net BALDOMERO OLIVERA'S name may not ring a bell for many Filipinos. He is not an actor or a politician -- and he certainly is not a criminal whose name lands in the headlines of local newspapers. Yet he has given Filipinos all over the world a reason to be proud by being named Harvard Foundation’s 2007 Scientist of the Year. Dr. Olivera is a distinguished professor of biology in the University of Utah. The man is so popular and respected in that institution that a research laboratory is named after him. Olivera’s scientific research into the medicinal aspects of the ubiquitous but deadly cone snails landed him the distinction of being named Scientist of the Year. In keeping with his modesty, Olivera did not expect to win the award but merely worked hard to come up with comprehensive studies on the cone snails. Luckily, Dr. Olivera is back in the Philippines to talk with fellow scientists and aspiring students regarding his work on the viability of cone snail venom for medicinal purposes. His foremost research has already become the basis for a commercial drug called Ziconotide (Prialt), which blocks out extreme pain. Ziconotide is considered more effective than morphine and does not result in addiction. The soft-spoken Olivera was the key speaker during the quarterly Innovation Forum held by the Ayala Foundation and Information Development Program. Olivera, who comes back to the Philippines at least twice a year, spoke to a small group of scientists, businessesmen and journalists regarding his work and the potential of Filipino scientists in the field of biotechnology. Olivera was a summa cum laude graduate from the University of the Philippines in 1960 and moved to the US to take up his graduate degree in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. Long before his days in college, Olivera already started wondering about cone snails, which are common in Philippine seas. Cone snails are among the deadliest animals in the world, with a harpoon-like proboscis that injects lethal doses of venom that could kill a person within hours. The deadliness of the venom left the young Olivera wondering why the venom of such small creatures could be so deadly to humans. His curiosity took on a different form when he wanted to learn if the venom of cone snails could actually have pharmacological purposes and, after college, Olivera worked on various aspects of cone snail venom. The genus Conus magus, a more common and bigger type of cone shell, was the main focus of Olivera and he produced over 150 publications on the cone shell toxin. Olivera said during the Innovation Forum that his research only involved a handful of cone snail species and he estimated that over 10,000 species of the sea creatures reside in the Philippines. He also said that in each cone snail, one can find at least 700 compounds that each have different potential efficacies for medical uses. "Scientists are researching on useful medicinal compounds from hundreds of thousands of plant species but there is also so much to acquire from cone snails. It's one of the least understood creatures of the sea but it may hold the key to solving many of today's diseases," Olivera stressed. Olivera added that very few scientists like him are focused on cone snails and he went on to invite aspiring young scientists to enter the field of biotechnology research. Likewise, he also invited potential businessmen to focus on providing assistance to Filipino scientists who can do research on commercially viable projects, not just on biotechnology, but also in other fields of research. "Our work as scientists does not involve just winning these [awards] but to find ways to make lives better. I would like our Filipino scientists to strive hard in their chosen field and be proud of what they do no matter how small it is," he said.

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net DR. Baldomero Olivera, a Filipino award-winning scientist who has discovered new drugs for pain, Alzheimer’s and epilepsy in the Philippine wildlife, is set to visit the country next month. Technology Business Incubator and the Brain Gain Network have invited Dr. Olivera to an innovation forum in Filipinas Heritage Library on July 6 to speak on his discoveries of new sources of painkillers, including deadly sea snails, among others. Olivera was recently awarded by the Harvard Foundation as Scientist of the Year following his three decades of work in developing drugs from the animal wildlife, according to a copy of his brief profile. Dr. Olivera has published about 158 works on Conus toxins, and is co-founder of Utah-based startup Cognetix. A summa cum laude graduate from the University of the Philippines in 1960, he eventually took his PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (1966), and did postdoctoral work at Stanford University from 1966-1968. Olivera then returned briefly to the Philippines to become a research associate professor of Biochemistry at the UP College of Medicine before returning to the US to become an associate professor at the University of Utah in 1970. He has held the title of Distinguished Professor of Biology since 1992. His work on conotoxins was eventually picked by Forbes Asia which published it on its July 2007 issue. Olivera and his team made a breakthrough when they discovered a family of biomolecules they collectively called conotoxins from Cone shells found in tropical waters of the Philippines, another online biography said. “As a boy in his native Philippines, Baldomero Olivera spent countless hours scouring for seashells on the beach. Once he’d made his finds, he’d rush home and pore over marine-life books to identify his treasures. He was particularly intrigued with cone snails, beautiful but deadly sea snails that kill their prey with venom. Thirty years later Olivera’s fascination with cone snails would open a new pipeline of drugs for discovery,” the Forbes article, penned by Dennis Posadas, said.

TALK about a massive undertaking. A free website will catalogue the planet's 1.8 million known living creatures, allowing scientists from all over the world to collaborate online. Here's an excerpt from the Agence France-Presse article:

The site "will provide valuable biodiversity and conservation information to anyone, anywhere, at any time," said James Edwards, a biologist picked to head the project. "Through collaboration, we all can increase our appreciation of the immense variety of life, the challenges to it, and ways to conserve biodiversity," he said. Edwards told Agence France-Presse he hopes the Encyclopedia of Life will have the same catalytic effect the Human Genome Project has had on biology. "Making the information about the genetic sequences of organisms public has . . . revolutionized the way we do molecular biology and genetics," he said.