Spotlight
Biologist Bill Loomis on Life As It Is
UC San Diego cell biologist Bill Loomis explores the interplay of social issues, ethics and the biological sciences in his new book, Life As It Is: Biology for the Public Sphere (University of California Press, 2008).
At a time when the gap is widening between scientific discovery and what the public and policy makers understand about science, Loomis asserts that scientific evidence needs to be considered when making socially important decisions about such controversial issues as abortion, euthanasia, use of embryonic stem cells, cloning, and overpopulation.
Academic Sections
Support Services
Events
Biological Sciences Seminar>> More Events
News Clips
Video
Biology and the FutureThe role of biological sciences in finding solutions to global health, environmental and economic issues. (12 min.)
>> More Learning Resources
News
-
Mustard-plant seedlings glow as the genes that control rhythmic plant growth turn on just before dawn......then fade as the genes turn off in a daily cycle.Biologists Identify Genes Controlling Rhythmic Plant Growth
A team of biologists from UC San Diego, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Oregon State University has identified the genes that enable plants to undergo bursts of rhythmic growth at night and allow them to compete when their leaves are shaded by other plants.
The researchers report in this week’s issue of the journal PLoS Biology that these genes control the complex interplay of plant growth hormones, plant light sensors and circadian rhythms that permit plants to undergo rhythmic growth spurts at specific times of the day or year in response to varying levels of light and other environmental conditions.
-
Olfactory Fine-Tuning Helps Fruit Flies Find Their Mates
Fruit flies fine-tune their olfactory systems by recalibrating the sensitivity of different odor channels in response to changing concentrations of environmental cues, a new study has shown. Disable this calibration system, and flies have trouble finding a mate, the researchers found.
Just like overly bright light can wash out a photographic image, strong smells can overwhelm the olfactory system and eliminate an animal’s ability to detect subtle differences, such as changes in concentration that would allow it to track a scent.
Now neurobiologists at UC San Diego, Stockholm University and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development have evidence that the fly nervous system can dampen its response to intense smells to prevent strong signals from overloading the circuits, they report in the July 31 issue of Neuron.
>> More News
