According to a new analysis, four genes were uncovered that determine nose shape. The study’s evidence will aid scientists in understanding the origin of the variations in nose shapes, researchers claimed. “Finding out the role each gene plays helps us to piece together the evolutionary path from Neanderthal to modern humans,” study participant and co-author, Kaustubh Adhikari, a cell and developmental biologist at University College London, said in a statement. “It brings us closer to understanding how genes influence the way we look, which is important for forensics applications.”

Nose shape is ascribed to facial aesthetics, but analysts surmise that the different shapes evolved according to environmental divergence. The study’s lead author and biologist at the University College London, Andrés Ruiz-Linares, said, “For example, the comparatively narrower nose of Europeans has been proposed to represent an adaptation to a cold, dry climate,” and “Identifying genes affecting nose shape provides us with new tools to examine this question, as well as the evolution of the face in other species.”

The study incorporated 6,000 subjects from Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Mexico who had cooperated in the CANDELA study, an ongoing observation of the biological diversity of populations living in Latin America. This particular culture was chosen because of its ethnic diversity consisting of Caucasian, African and Native American ancestry causing a wide spectrum of facial features. Prior research conducted in this region led to the discovery of genes that cause people to go gray.

Scientists detailed participants’ facial characteristics and administered a 3D reconstruction for each of the 3,000 subjects. Then particular genomes were studied, which indicated three genes that drive bone and cartilage growth that also determined nose shape. Two of the genes, GLI3 and PAX1, largely affected nostril width, as another, DCH2, predicted nose pointiness. And a fourth gene, called RUNX2, was correlated with the breadth of the nose.

 

The three genes, however, only changed during humans’ modern evolutionary period in contrast to ancient history such as during the era of the  Neanderthals and the Denisovans. Scientists conclude that these genes adapted to environmental pressures. The study’s details were published May 19th in the journal Nature Communications. The report was originally published in Discovery News.

The prospect of engineering a human in a lab is becoming closer to reality. Researchers associated with Harvard University conducted a restricted meeting on the subject on May 10. Attendees included scientists, business leaders, and others, excluding members of the press. Much controversy has surrounded the meeting and subject matter.

Meeting participants believe that the ability to create human genomes will be possible within a decade. Even if scientists are able to develop a human genetic code within this timeframe, however, the sequences would need to be harvested within a cell to test the genome. Only making this leap will a fully formed synthetic human be created.

Genetic sequencing has rapidly evolved over the last several years making the feat less costly. Building each structure of a genetic code cost about 4 dollars in 2003. Fast forward 13 years, the cost has dropped to 3 cents per letter; with the human genome consisting of 3 billion base pairs, structuring an artificial human would amount to $90 million today as opposed to $12 billion in 2003.

At this rate, the liability to build a person would dive to only $100,000; researchers, however, believe these ambitions would only manifest if there was a progressive incentive to forward innovation. Laurie Zoloth of Northwestern University and Drew Endy of Stanford University, said, “While we strongly agree that sustained improvements in DNA construction tools are essential for advancing basic biological science and improving public health we are sceptical that synthesising a human genome is an appropriate demand driver.”

Despite if and when we can manipulate the human genome, there are a host ethical concerns. Generally, is right or wrong to build a program of social Darwinism with a shopping mall of the best genes?

Regardless, the scientific community is eons away from making this happen. But we have conceived synthetic species before, namely, in 2010 when JCVI-syn1.0 was created. Even with the ability, only the theory remains if scientists could artificially beget a human being. But the day will arrive sooner than expected. The report was originally published in Tech Times.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover recorded seasonal patterns in Mars atmosphere. It recently completed its second Martian year observing two full cycles of environmental changes placed within Gale Crater roughly four Earth years ago. The study assists in separating sporadic changes from established patterns.

During the first southern-hemisphere autumn in Gale Crater, for instance, a large spike of methane was recorded but didn’t occur during the second autumn. Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California affirmed, “Curiosity’s weather station has made measurements nearly every hour of every day, more than 34 million so far.” 

Vasavada also said, “The duration is important because it is the second time through the seasons that lets us see repeated patterns.” This particular event is so far unexplained. But Rover captured slight shifts in methane concentrations, however, that may correlate with seasonal changes scientists speculate. 

Temperature, air pressure, ultraviolet light surface levels, and limited water vapor in Gale Crater’s air indicate cyclical seasonal patterns. Curiosity‘s Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) recorded air temperatures from 15.9 degrees Celsius on a summer afternoon dipping to 100 degrees Celsius on a winter night.

German Martinez from University of Michigan said, “Mars is much drier than our planet, and in particular Gale Crater, near the equator, is a very dry place on Mars.”

A Martian year equates to 687 Earth days. Curiosity was stationed on August 5, 2012 and May 11 of this year marked the rover’s third Martian year and the mission’s 1,337th Martian day, otherwise known as “sol.” A sol lasts roughly 39.6 minutes longer than an Earth day, and a Martian year equates to 668.6 sols, scientists said.

And relative humidity—an interplay of both temperature and water-vapor—on Mars reached up to 70 percent, prompting scientists to consider the formation of frost The Times of India reports. 

An analysis of an ancient canid bone that was recently discovered reveals that canids may actually have been omnivores. The finding counters the established theory that canids were strictly meat-eaters. But the ancient dog belonging to the Borophaginae classification, otherwise known as “bone-crushing dogs,” is believed to have died out in competition with ancestors of today’s coyotes, wolves, and foxes, the Tech Times reports. Borophaginaes existed in North America between 10 million and 30 million years ago.

Scientists also refined their theories with other species as well, including the Cynarctus wangi, which they believed were carnivores because of the ancient animal’s powerful jaws. But further study indicated they showed similar behaviors with modern hyenas. Steven Jasinski of the University of Pennsylvania said that roughly two-thirds of the animal’s diet comprised of insects and plants resembling mini-bear’s diet.

Yet conflicting speculations exist relating the anatomy, behavior, and diet of canids. One study postulates that dogs can’t be 100 percent carnivores because their molars have flat surfaces designed to crush and grind food particles. Yet a conflicting school of thought believes that modern dogs don’t have flat molars but that their set of long and sharp teeth are adapted for shredding and ripping the meat of prey.

But modern dogs are confirmed to have evolved from carnivorous wolves 15,000 years ago, explaining their modern formed teeth, jaws, gastrointestinal systems, and behavior. But they also possess omnivore characteristics, however, such as the ability to digest roughly 100 percent of carbohydrates in their diets. Also, they can metabolize fat and starch despite their external anatomy adapted for meat consumption.

And dogs have large stomachs with a high concentration of acids to break down animal protein. But historically, dogs were able to survive on human leftovers pointing to the conclusion that dogs can have vegetables in their diets.

President of Maybeck Animal Hospital and veterinarian Roger Welton advises that dogs today should have a combination of protein and complex carbohydrates in their diets.

 

New research counters the assumption that Earth’s ancient atmosphere billion of years ago was thick to level out weak sunlight. But scientists from the University of Washington studied trapped bubbles inside old geological formations and discovered evidence that Earth’s atmosphere was thinner than Mount Everest’s is today, according to a Tech Times report.

Researchers also investigated remnants of gases and how the interplay of the shifting ancient climate and young biology affected our planet’s development. Roger Buick, University of Washington and space sciences professor and co-author of the study, said that trapped bubbles in cooling lava were used to measure the time-worn lava elevation. What’s known as a paleobarometer was used to record the weight of ancient air.

But the scientific team needed to source a location where ancient lava formed at sea level. Tim Blake from the University of Western Australia and co-author led them to the Beasley River hosting 2.7 billion-year-old basalt lava.

As lava settles from the top to bottom, trapped bubbles residing at the bottom become noticeably smaller than those at the top. The size variations relate to varying degrees of air pressure exerted on the lava’s layers as it cools. Researchers bore through geological layers to record the bubbles’ differing sizes.

On-site samples indicated that the primordial atmosphere was quite lightweight and later supported by more detailed x-ray scans from various lava flows. Specifically, the bubbles showed that pressure was half of what Earth’s is today. “We’re still coming to grips with the magnitude of this,” said Buick, and “It’s going to take us a while to digest all the possible consequences.”

The study’s results implicate the ancient climate in many ways. Previously, researchers verified the presence of liquid water meaning that the old atmosphere was comprised of many greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane and only traces of nitrogen. Blue Marble Space CEO and lead author Sanjoy Som, said, “We are 95 percent sure that the pressure was between 0 and 0.5 atmospheres.” These measures correspond to Mount Everest’s elevation of 5,500 meters (3.4 miles).

Various samples of stromatolite suggest that single-celled microbes thrived in the harsh thin atmosphere when the sun had less penetration.

 

 

The Kew Royal Botanical Gardens released a report detailing that 21 percent of all global species are facing extinction. More than one-fifth of the 390,000 vascular plant species around the globe were included in the survey. Kew Gardens is the world’s largest collection of living plants located in the United Kingdom.

Comprised of 80 scientists, the study took more than a year to conduct, urging other researchers to unite to save tens of thousands of plant species from extinction. Biologists need to know the varieties of plants existing in a certain population before they can be cultivated on regional and national scales.

Tech Times reports thousands of new plant specimens are discovered around the world year by year. Botanists found 2,034 unknown plants in 2015. New strains are discovered in an array of environments such as in the wild, greenhouses, and now, even on social media. Facebook posted that its efforts identified one of the largest meat-eating plants in the world rising 5 feet in length. The constant flux of new plant life challenges the scientific community in keeping record.

Steve Bachman of RBG Kew identified,”But there are still large parts of the world where very little is known about plants. Identification of these important plant areas is now critical. Similarly, we still only know a fraction of the genetic diversity of plants and whole-genome sequences are currently available for just 139 species of vascular plants. Activity in this area needs to speed up.”

Plants are essential to sustaining all other forms of life. Not only do they serve as a food source for many types of life but provide primary connections in the pollination cycle. Moreover, many types of plants are used as a steady supply of medicine. A major disruption could affect all life in the ecosystem.

To save the species, organized efforts between local governments and scientific organizations need to be created to keep the plants growing. But the major challenge is to find ways to protect the plants for future generations while serving human interests.

Ethiopia’s early planning initiatives where climate change threatens the nation’s staple coffee crops serves as an example of preserving the biodiversity of plants. The full Kew Report can be read on its website.