Wolves love dogs, Dogs love wolves

Here's an article (New World Wolves and Coyotes owe debt to Dogs) that relates to our understanding of the species concept. “This is an important paper that among other things should make us revisit and likely revise what we mean by a ‘pure’ species.”
Geez, how much biology can you learn! Speciation, genetics, mutations, adaptive advantage, interbreeding, hybridization. Wow!

What are you doing to solve Global Warming?

After viewing an "Inconvenient Truth" you should understand that we do have solutions to the problem of global warming. This article (Trashing the Fridge)might sound a little radical but what are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint? Can you do more?? If so, what will you do???

Dumping crop waste in the ocean

As we begin our Ecology Case Studies, here's an interesting article about one method of potentially reducing global CO2 levels - A Carbon Keeper - "crop waste sunk to the deep ocean" - Do you think this is actually feasible? Do you foresee any potential problems? How might this dumping effect organisms in the deep sea? Should we proceed with crop waste dumping?

Breaching Genetic Privacy?

Since the human genome was sequenced, many people have argued for the development of a national DNA database; basically every baby born would have their DNA sequenced and stored in a computer database. Many others perceive this idea as a terrifying privacy issue. This article is about a recent ruling in the United States that will expand the current practice of collecting genetic information from convicted felons. Immigration and civil liberties groups are condemning this policy to collect DNA samples from all noncitizens detained by authorities and all people arrested for federal crimes.What do you think?

Genetic testing to determine if Little Johnny should be a sprinter or marathoner?

This article talks about a single human gene affecting whether muscles are better suited for speed and power (such as sprinting) or longer-term strength, such as distance swimming or running marathons. There's now a commercially available genetic test, so parents now have the capacity to figure out which types of sports might best suit their child's genetic makeup. Is this the direction in which our world is moving? Are there ethical issues here? Would you test your kids?

Pregnant Man is Pregnant Again

Here is a story of Thomas Beattie - a "man" expecting his second child. This story is getting lots of media attention, though not many are really talking about the biology behind the story. Thomas was born a woman, but went through surgery and hormone treatment to become a male. He stopped taking hormones (testosterone in particular) to become pregnant.

An interesting situation pops up here.....Thomas is legally a man, though biologically female, and is married to a woman. But how do those favoring Prop 8 feel about this?

Frequency of blood types in different countries

Wikipedia lists the frequencies of different blood types in a number of countries across the globe. It's kind of interesting to see some of the regional differences. For instance, in China/Hong Kong and South Korea, it is extremely rare to have Rh- blood type. What might that mean for a person with Rh- blood who was traveling in those countries and needed a blood transfusion? Ireland has by far the largest percentage of O+ blood compared with any other country - it is notably higher than listed for the UK - what might that have to do with Ireland being an island nation? I wish there was data for some African countries and/or Southeast Asia...