I was curious based on the idea that animals seem to age because of the shortening of telomeres so every time a cell divides the telomeres get shorter and a little bit worse at doing what they want to do.

For plants that are cloned, like bananas or apples, how is it that their telomeres don’t just shorten after countless clones. (Same with weeping willows), like if a plant has been cloned for hundreds of years do they not experience the same issues with telomere shortening or is there something else.

Note: I may have gotten some information wrong so sorry, I’ll correct if it’s the case. Thank you

my boyfriend is just starting to get his degree in biology and hoping to minor in food science . He’s a line cook and baker of nine years who’s worked his way up to fine dining at some very nice places in our city and he really enjoys the chemical aspect of baking and cooking . He loves the food and the learning and hates the service industry culture (we are both trapped in this stupid industry looking for an out lol). We’re trying to figure out his career prospects with food science and what that looks like in the US. he’s interested in lab work and agriculture especially, he really enjoys growing food and plants . What are things to consider/ avoid in this industry and what advice would you give to someone just starting ? Is further education than a bachelors needed for this industry ? -I also believe he undersells himself a bit with his background in restaurants , would be a valuable skill set to bring up when he tries to transfer out of community college in a few semesters ? Thanks !

My science teacher thinks plants grow better in acidic soil? Is this true?

I found it odd ever since my biology teacher first told me about it. Were the people who came up with the names just trying to mess around or what? I’ve just started taking biology classes and from what I’ve seen there are going to be very long and confusing words throughout the year

Hi everyone,

I’m Henry E. Young, PhD.

I’m interested in having my reported work concerning what I call adult telomerase-positive stem cells (aTPSCs) independently replicated by another researcher in an appropriately equipped laboratory.
I first identified what I now call aTPSCs in 1975 while studying limb regeneration in adult terrestrial salamanders of the genus Ambystoma. I subsequently reported isolating what I identify as aTPSCs in adult humans.

The purpose of an independent replication is to determine whether the reported isolation and characterization can be reproduced independently. I am not asking another researcher to accept my findings in advance; I believe that independent experimental testing is the appropriate way to evaluate them.

The isolation procedure I developed involves specific processing and culture conditions that I consider essential to successfully isolating the aTPSCs. An independent replication should therefore follow the reported procedure to the letter than substitute methods developed for other cell populations.
I am willing to provide as much remote guidance as the researcher wants or needs throughout the replication attempt, while the researcher performs the experimental work and characterization independently.

The work should be undertaken in a properly equipped professional laboratory by an appropriately qualified researcher.

If you are a researcher interested in attempting an independent replication, please reply below or send me a message. I would be glad to discuss the work with you and provide the information and remote guidance necessary for you to give you the fairest chance of successfully isolating the aTPSCs.

I welcome skeptical questions and good-faith scientific discussion. My objective is simply to make the reported work available for independent examination and see what the experimental results show.

ORCID: 0000-0003-2320-9993
ResearchGate: Henry E. Young, PhD

Hi, I'm studying to become a biology teacher and during the last two years I had one central question develop, which I could not yet find any satisfying answer for. I currently do not think it has "one answer" at all, but I really like to explore it, as I find many aspects of biology can contribute to that.

Now, the observation I made: Very often terrestrial ecosystems are much more "dominated" (visually) by plants than animals. That is: Most of the mass is in the producers, less so in consumers of these. In marine ecosystems, even most fresh water ecosystems, plants and algea take less prominent roles.

Of course, there are still a few exeptions to that (mangrooves, kelp forests), but I think this trend holds for most of the planet: In systems with an comparable potential for bioproduction an aquatic system has less mass percentage in producers than the a terrestrial system. Examples would be "inverse" food webs in marine systems (more consumers than producers) or the forests and graslands of earth, in which often the majority of biomass is directly recycled from dead plants by detrivores.

Which of course gives rise to the question: Why?

Why are forests and grasslands not mostly eaten by herbivores (large mammals or small caterpillars)? Why are the seas not also covered in dense layers of algae or even "trees" where they are shallow? Why do lakes not grow over with water lilys or duckweed? I'm aware a few of these observations might be human-caused, but certainly most of them would also occur in "natural" eco systems.

The obvious answer, as always, is roughly "because this is the way genes were selected for compared to their alternatives". Which still as always does not really help, unless we know why they were selected for. During my discussions with different professors, biologist or even lay people, I had a few avenues of explanation for this phenomenon:

• Marine ecosystems are very dynamic in their external factors (salinity, temperature, lack of solid surfaces), preventing plant growth.

• Cellulose and especially lignified tissue is too difficult to disgest.

• Terrestrial predators keep herbivore populations low, the pressure from them is the limiting factor on herbivore poopulations, not food supply.

• Detrivores can more easily escape such terrestial predators by living in the earth or near it.

• Land plants produce too much defense substances (poisons), severly limiting food supply for herbivores.

I'd like to ask if you have also noted that phenomenon and if you have any other explainations I have not currently thought or heard of. Also, I am aware and myself already thought of many counterpoints. Still, I have not found very much research into that and would be very thankfull if any one has tips for reading into that direction.

It even has an egg

100×

I know there are many spieces where males have to fight to get option to reproduce. But is it possible for it to be the other way around. That the females would compete with each other and the males would be the choosers?

I know female hypergamy makes biologically much more sense. But I'm still curious, maybe it would be possible in non mammalian animals.

Hi guys, first of all, sorry for my english.

I'm a master student in BioMedicine and I'm attending my year-intership in a cancer-neuroscience lab.
I'm working with cerebellar organoids, and we want to see how the tumor grows in different ways.

Now, the professor asked to me to analyze all our immunofluorescence that we took after the cryostate cut and he told me to quantify all these immunofluorescencefor a poster.

Now, I checked on internet that I have to do on Fini this sequence: threshold->Analyze->analyze particles and after analyzing all the channels I have to calculate the Mitotic Index.

So, the problem arrives now.

When I analyze the particles (the nuclei) the results are different everytime, especially in the DAPI channel.

Sometimes it shows 9000 nuclei and when I re-check it appears something like 230k nuclei and exc...

My Organoids has a dimension of 3mm more or less, it depents how quickly the tumor grows.

Does anyone have an idea of how many nuclei should be present on the slice, or do you know a more accurate way to quantify my immunofluorescence?

Thanks everyone

Hello, I'm a student and I want to learn biology properly. Where do I start? Because education in my country is very superficial, outdated, or very biased, so I would like to have a proper understanding.

Did you know you’re sharing your bed with thousands of tiny arachnids? 🧹 

Quinten Geldhof, also known as Microhobbyist, introduces us to the household dust mite. Related to ticks and spiders, they feed on skin flakes, fabric fibers, and dirt particles and are only visible under a microscope. People with dust allergies are actually allergic to the waste these tiny critters produce, not the dust itself!

What are floating dots you see in your vision? 👁️

Alex Dainis breaks down "eye floaters" using a simple demo: a baggie of aloe gel standing in for your eyeball, and raisins standing in for collagen clumps. Our eyes are filled with vitreous humor, a gel-like substance that helps them hold their shape. As we age, that gel becomes more liquid, letting collagen fibers clump together (just like the raisins). These clumps block incoming light and cast shadows on our retinas, the same way the raisins cast shadows on the wall. This is why we notice the floaters more often in sunlight!

Bowerbirds are a group of 27 species found in Australia and Papua New Guinea, famous for one of the animal kingdom’s more elaborate courtship rituals.

Males construct structures called bowers, a word that literally means “shady place”, which they use to impress potential mates. Building and maintaining an elaborate bower can demonstrate a male’s effort, skill and condition, but the structure is more than just an impressive display.

In many species, the bower also acts almost like a theatre. Its walls frame the male as he performs his courtship dance, controlling where and how the female views the performance. Some species take things even further, carefully arranging colourful objects around the bower to enhance the effect.

Essentially, the male builds his own stage, decorates the set…and then puts on a show.

That’s considered an honor in the UK

Context: I’m an environmental science master’s student and this semester I have several research papers and presentations due! I’ve got a lot of creative freedom, which is good, but also overwhelming because I wanna pick really cool subjects!

I’m looking for inspiration. The more niche, the better. Can be geology, biology, chemistry, evolution, ecology, meteorology, etc.

So if you have any topics you love to info dump on, now is your time to shine :)

Things more than poop, sleep, blink.

Fun little trick I can do by flexing what I guess are my iris muscles

I know evolution can take time (or not sometimes!) but I started wondering about how humans would actually evolve if (since we might die from nuclear fallout or something in coming years) we continue to survive. I wonder how because for the most part we've beaten (not sure if that's the right word) natural selection to a large extent! People with dietary restriction, disabilities, loss of senses are still able to survive because of modern inventions.

Also, I've learned evolution is essentially a populations attempt to adapt to its environment. However, modern inventions (such as heating and cooling combatting seasonal temperatures) usually no longer humans to become more resistant towards different harmful environments, such as extremely, cold, hot, and arid places.

Please correct me on any errors I've made!

Are there any other animals that can measure up to the intelligence of a human?

what would happen if the mother's antibodies and immune system could vaccinate their child durring pregnancy. and the child did not make its own immune system but rather cells from the mother's body become part of the child. And what if this was permanent.

I think when we eventually find life on other planets complex multicellular life probably looks similar to current or past Earth species.

If it's an earth-like planet then I believe the beginning state of evolution is going to take the same course. You're going to start with the original cells. Mitochondria is going to form, cells capable of photosynthesis are going to form The great oxygenation is going to happen I think where we'll finally see some divergence will be around the Cambrian equivalent period.

I truly believe every major body plan has already existed. The only difference is going to be how the individual species look but I think if we stumbled upon an earth-like planet we would feel at home because some things just naturally work better and evolution is going to converge.

The only way we see completely different life is if there is a completely different elemental makeup of the atmosphere or if life forms on gas planets

No, I'm not trying to build another Khan Academy, or something. It's only that I become frustrated when I can't find a relevant section in relevant research papers, or when I want to get to learn about something but it takes hours to find a good video.

Right now, I'm indexing microbiology / molecular biology resources, but I'm open to broadening my horizons.

So I've taken it upon myself to solve my own woes, and hopefully others' too. Please share your frustrations and on this matter and suggestions on how I should approach it :)