texts:
There are bioluminescent creatures and some fungi too. As far as I can see there are no bioluminescent plants. Why is this?

I imagine it would make a good attraction for night pollinators, or even for carnivorous plants so there must be some reason why this hasn't evolved somewhere on our planet. My guess would be that it takes too much energy for the chemical reaction involved and it's not worth the pay out but that's just a guess.


texts: Why is the glomerular filtrate isotonic to the blood in the capillaries?

texts: How can the osmolarity of the filtrate be the same as the blood in the peritubular capillary when there is no red blood cells filtered?


texts: Enrichment of slow growing microbes: Large Test Tubes as an alternative?

texts:
Well, i would like to enrich bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidisers from soil samples using Minimal Salt media. They are slow growing microbes. I would like to enrich them with the aim to produce pure cultures.

I have always used conical flasks for enrichment as they provide better aeration, surface area, better distribution of nutrients, etc. However, due to some unavoidable reason, i would like to find an alternative to conical flask. Is it fine to use large test tubes?


texts: Actual determination of the DNA sequence in the shotgun approach?

texts:
I'm studying bioinformatics and I'm confused by shotgun sequencing. In Sanger sequencing we break up the DNA and use ddNTPs in order to determine the exact position of each neucleotide. How exactly does shotgun sequencing help us determine the sequence structure?

If we break up the sequence randomly and then stitch it back together by looking at the overlapping parts, how does that tell us what order the nucleotides are in? How exactly are the nucleotides read so that shotgun sequencing helps us?


texts: Sequencing the genomes of polyploid organisms

texts:
I've done some transcriptomics work in the past with a polyploid organism, and this presented some unique challenges in the data processing and analysis. Since then, I have been brainstorming about the technical challenges one may face when sequencing and assembling the genomes of a polyploid organism. As far as I am aware, there are no polyploids whose genomes have been sequenced.

If one wanted to sequence, for example, a tetraploid organism, one approach would be to prepare and sequence all of the DNA together and then rely on post-sequencing analysis to tease apart the two co-resident genomes. However, it would be difficult, if not impossible, with this approach to distinguish inter-genome variation from intra-genome variation.

An alternative approach would be to isolate DNA from both co-resident genomes separately, and then sequence and assemble the genomes separately, so that inter-genome variation and homology need not be considered. However, I'm thinking at a very high level and have little intuition as to the technical feasibility of this approach. When there are two or more co-resident genomes, is it be possible to isolate DNA from only one of those genomes? What would this rely on (for example, would thorough cytogenetic/cytogenomic characterization help)? If this task is not possible, what types of limitations must be overcome to enable it?


texts: How many Amperes to kill fruit flies and mosquitoes?

texts: As above. Making a homemade trap to kill them all.


texts: How would I explain different properties of the same protein in different species?

texts:
I recently finished an experiment where I analyzed the rate of ATP hydrolysis of Heat shock protein 104 in three species of fungi. They have shown to all have different rates of ATPase activity. How would I explain these findings based on structure/ATP affinity?  The experiment was done in vitro.

The species under consideration:
Candida albicans,
Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
Schizosaccharomyces pombe


texts: Based on which criteria should i choose the control sample to calculate delta_delta_Ct

texts:
I want to calculate the gene expression of an experiment with the Delta delta Ct method.

I have these results from two runs of a real time PCR (one for the GOI(Gene of Interest) and one for the reference gene ($\beta$ actin) )

Samples | GOI CT | reference gene CT |

1         16.52         16.24
2         18.58         18.47
3         14.55         20.56
wt        23.06         24.17

So to calculate the $2^{-\Delta\Delta CT}$ for my GOI I've done this :

1st - Normalize CTs of GOI to CTs of reference gene

$ΔCT = CT_{sample's} - CT_{reference's}$

This new table then occurs:

Samples | ΔCTs

1         0.28
2         0.11
3        -6.01
wt       -1.11

After this i normalize these ΔCTs to a control sample. And here is where the question was born. On which criteria should i choose the control sample ?

What i've done was to choose the sample with the bigest CT from the first table. And that was the sample No. 2.

2nd - Normalizing all samples to the control sample

$\Delta\Delta CT = \Delta CT_{sample} - \Delta CT_{control}$

and the final results are

Samples | ΔΔCTs

1         0.17
2         0
3        -6.12
wt       -3.08

Is that method correct ? If yes, let me write once more the question.

On which criteria should i choose the control sample for the last normalization ? Should i choose the sample with the highest Ct or the lowest one ? And why ?

I hope now be more clear.

Question edited to be more clear.


texts: Could some identify this bird call? (from the hu - wolf totem)

texts:
What species is making this sound?

You can hear the sound it makes at the end of the music video: The HU - Wolf Totem


texts: What is the evidence that plants and animals had a common ancestor?

texts:
According to the theory of evolution (which I don't dispute), plants and animals evolved from a common ancestor, probably a eukaryote. I'd like to know how we know that to be true.

Specifically how did scientists come to that conclusion, and what verifiable facts did they rely on? It would also be interesting to know who (and when) was the first to propose that plants and animals had a common ancestor. Was it Darwin himself?

Note that I'm not asking for the details of when and how that happened (the diversification/evolution of eukaryotes into plants, animals and other types), but rather the evidence we have to support it.


texts: Are different eye colors indicative of chimerism?

texts: If an animal or person has different colored eyes, does that mean they are a chimera?


texts: In DNA replication, are there phosphodiester bonds in the primer ? between the RNA nucleotides before being replaced

texts:
When hydrogen bonds happen between the RNA nucleotide bases and the DNA bases , do phosphodiester bonds form between the RNA nucleotides in the primer ?
No source I read is clear about this, are their bonds between the RNA nucleotides ?


texts: How does sequence independent single primer amplification work?

texts: I'm having difficulty finding an explanation of how single primer amplification of DNA works in the literature available to me, can anyone explain the methodology and what it accomplishes?


texts: What specific biochemical processes are involved in inducing meiosis rather than mitosis? Why are gonadal cells the only cells in the human body which do undergo meiosis?


texts:
Toady a friend saw an insect in his garden, in the UK (England).

It looks like a combination of a hover wasp, a wasp and a dragonfly. Whist flying, I'd describe it more similar to a dragonfly.

I've used Google images to try and identify it, and come close, but the creature was about 3 inches long and up to 1 inch wide. I thought it was a broad-bodied chaser but he assures me (possibly incorrectly) it wasn't big enough


texts: Organ donation compatibility based on DNA

texts: As far as I know, multiple tests are made before organ transplant to determine matching. Would it be possible to do the matching based on the DNA of the patients, rather than the actual serum antigen/antibody? If yes, is it any better/cheaper/easier?


texts: I'm trying to rig a 3D model of a penguin, but I don't know where to put the bones near the ankle because I can't tell if they're digigrade or plantigrade. Nearly all birds are digigrade, but penguins spend a lot of time walking and don't generally grasp or run with their talons.


texts: Effects of direct and indirect cholinergics on cardiovascular system

texts:
If I give intravenous acetylcholine then the effects produced on cardiovascular system are hypotension , tachycardia and increased cardiac output.
Now if I give intravenous acetylcholine esterase inhibitors on another patient then the effects produced on cardiovascular system are hypertension, bradycardia and decreased cardiac output.
Ach esterase inhibitors also increase acetylcholine concentration then why does the effects are exactly opposite in the above mentioned two cases.
Reference for abovementioned data : Cholinergic drugs ,
katzung pharmacology, 14th edition.
Is it because Ach esterase inhibitors increase Ach concentration locally in the tissues which produce more direct effects while the Ach is rapidly metabolised in the plasma so can't reach into the tissues so it produces more indirect effects via baroreflex ?


texts:
What possible theories are out there, regarding the evolutionary benefits of having consciousness? Why is not all information processing done subconsciously?
Can it have something to do with language and communication? But then, a lot of animals can be considered to be communicating without "qualia".

EDIT:
Some background. Philosophy student here. Recently ventured into reading a bit of genetics. Every aspect of life seems to be slowly evolved out of need, either survival or atleast survival till reproduction occurs.
Consciousness, according to me, would be the constant "subjective experience" of our lives, the inner movie as they would say.
My question, then, is why would a part of the brain be dedicated to generating an integrated coherent experience when zombie-like information processing could suffice? Did the ability of movement, along with certain cognitive skills, really make the upper mammalian habitat so unpredictable that genes had to adapt to "every-situation-might-be-a-new-situation" level of brain capacity?
Has any biologist written about the evolution of intelligence (which is a precursor to the consciousness I'm talking about) corresponding to early humans?


texts: how to estimate phylogeny without using DNA sequences?

texts:
I am new to bioinformatics, I am reading ‘Analysis of Phylogenetics Second Edition and Evolution with R’ from Emmanuel Paradis.
I can create phylogeny from DNA sequences, by first calculating the distances and then using (ie nj() function).
My question is: if instead of DNA I have trait data (ie height and weight of species), how can I estimate a phylogeny? (is the same process valid? somehow calculate distances and pass that to nj()?)


texts: Muscle contraction/extension percentage during normal ranges of motion

texts:
What is the typical percentage range/limits of extension/contraction during normal ranges of motions for muscles?  Assuming a rest length in a typical relaxed state.

I'm mostly interested in humans but I am also curious if it is typically the same range across other animals too?


texts: Hodgin-Huxley model for a single neuron - continuation

texts:
As  continuation to This question I have posted. Another set of questions is given for the same model :

This time it is also given that for $t<0$ the membrane potential is $u_0$, and at $t=0$ it is instantaneusly jumps to $u'$, and that $u_0,u',u_2,u_{ion}$ are maintained for $t \geq 0$.
So, with this additional data I could actually compute $r(t)$ and $s(t)$ for $t \geq 0$ in the following way:

For $t \geq 0$, $u(t)=u'$
so $r_0(0)=r_0(u') \approx 1$ and $s_0(0)=s_0(u') \approx 0$.
Also, $\tau_r(0)=\tau_r(u') = 1$ and $\tau_s(0)=\tau_2(u') = 15$.

So, we get:
$r' = -\frac{r-1}{1}$ and $s'=-\frac{s-0}{15}$ $\Rightarrow$
$r' + r = 1$ and $s' + \frac{s}{15} = 0$.

These are a first order linear diff. equation of the form:

  $y'(x)+p(x)y=q(x)$

So their solution is of the form:

  $e^{-\int{p(x)dx}}(\int{q(x)^{\int{p(x)d(x)}}}+C)$ ($C$ is a constant)

So I get:
$r(t)=C_1e^{-t}+1$ and $s(t)=C_2e^{-t/15}$.

I think that we have no way of knowing our initial conditions $r(t=0)$ and $s(t=0)$ (am I right?)
So for simplisity let's assume that $C_1=C_2=1$ and we get:

  $r(t)=e^{-t}+1$ and $s(t)=e^{-t/15}$.

So for example: $r(t=100) = e^{-100}+1 \approx 1$ and $s(t=100) = e^{-100/15} = 0.0013$ and $r(t=3) = e^{-3}+1 = 1.0498$ and $s(t=3) = e^{-3/15} = 0.8187$

So my question is:
How come answers 4 and 7 below denoted as true?


texts: What is a good source that will help me classify protists?

texts: I am a 15 year old that enjoys looking at the micro world. The only issue that I have is that I can't find a good online source that will help me classify the name of the micro organism that I'm looking at. Does anyone know a place that will help me do this? Thanks in advance.


texts: Are there any enzymes without aromatic amino acids?

texts:
I'd like to try a new spectroscopic technique to study enzymatic reactions (which reaction doesn't especially matter, something simple and with fast kinetics like catalase would do fine - I'm just trying to test the technique).

Unfortunately, for this technique to work, it is best if there aren't any aromatic amino acids around since it is entirely in the UV range.

I did a quick search in UniProt, and - somewhat surprisingly - there are very few proteins without aromatic amino acids, let alone any enzymes.  The yeast protein sequences database contains zero(!) proteins with no aromatic AAs.  The human database contains a few proteins (~20): for example many metallothioneins, proline-rich proteins, and HMG proteins have no aromatic AAs.  No common enzymes turn up in that search.

Can anyone think of an enzyme - or perhaps a small catalytically active fragment of one - which has no aromatic amino acids?

If not - this is maybe a more general question - what makes aromatic amino acids apparently necessary for most enzymes?

P.S. The yeast results are:
lowest aromatic AA content is 4% in vacuolar ATPase (many DNA/RNA polymerase subunits are also quite low);
median is 11%, many common enzymes eg alcohol dehydrogenase, glutathione oxidoreductase etc fall in that range;
highest is 24% in sterol methyl oxidase

UPDATE A thorough search of the RefSeq NR protein sequence db does turn up a whole lot of stuff, but it tends to be from weird species, mostly bacteria... eg oxaloacetate decarboxylase from Rubrivivax benzoatilyticus (which - maybe no surprise - eats aromatic compounds).  It still seems like there is a strong selective pressure to incorporate aromatic AAs in enzymes


texts: Is there a limit on how big a free living unicellular mono-nuclear organism can be?

texts: When I looked for the largest protozoan I've found the name Syringammina fragilissima. According to wikipedia " .. Syringammina fragilissima, is among the largest known coenocytes, reaching up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in diameter." The catch is it is multi-nucleated organism, not exactly what I had in mind. The reason I am interested in the upper limit of the size of the free living unicellular organism is because I want to have a sense of the limitation of single center has in emitting and receiving information across a large span of space. My interest is not about non-compartmentalization (as in the case of multi-nucleated unicellularity)  rather about single center.


texts: When going through this link, Table 1, what are the numbers mentioned there? How is one quantifying toxicity?


texts: variation in expression accounted for a SNP -- what's a usual percent?

texts:
I am reading a GWAS paper that found a SNP associated to predisposition to colon cancer and was assessed for gene expression of the nearby gene. They found that the genotype accounted for 55% of the variation in the nearby gene expression. 55% sounds like a lot to me, what is the usual percent accounted for a significant SNP in a study like this?

 Dunlop MG, Dobbins SE, Farrington SM, Jones AM, Palles C, Whiffin N, Tenesa A, Spain S, Broderick P, Ooi L-Y, et al.. 2012. Common variation near CDKN1A, POLD3 and SHROOM2 influences colorectal cancer risk. Nature genetics 44: 770–776.


texts: Which data source gives the present status of research in extending human lifespan?

texts:
I have seen this book in Springer:
The Future Of Aging (Pathways to human life extension)

That book seems to be of 2010; I am not finding any such new books, giving data on the present status of the research.

Which data source (journal articles, books, etc) gives the present status of research in extending human lifespan (longevity)?

I read Wikipedia (Life Extension, Immortality), they don't seem rigorous.


texts: Figuring out if populations from two regions share the same Neanderthal haplotypes

texts:
I am going to preface this post in that I am not sure if it belongs here, but considering it has been ignored everywhere else I have tried I thought it is worth a shot. I am a graduate student who is still relatively new to bioinformatics and is currently utterly and completely lost.

I am studying Neanderthal ancestry in modern populations from two different regions of the world. These two regions have relatively similar levels of Neanderthal ancestry, and they aren't that far from each other. I have SNP data from an Affymetrix genotyping array (the data are in Plink format) for these populations as well as for the corresponding sites from Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes.

Using the SNP data, I need to try to find out if they have Neanderthal haplotypes in the same parts of their genome. I've found a map of putative Neanderthal introgressed haplotypes from 1000 Genomes Project's European and East Asian genomes (http://akeylab.gs.washington.edu/Vernot_2014/all_haplotypes_populations.bed.files.tgz).

I am trying to figure out where the individuals from each regions have Neanderthal haplotypes and how they differ between regions. Does anyone have guidance on how I could proceed?


texts:
I wonder if the thrombus can pass through the brain-blood barrier because I think small molecules like O2, CO2 and ethanol can pass it.
Probably, in some diseases where the permeability of the barrier changes.

Can systemic intravascular thrombosis cause brain infarction?


texts: Why is flash light harmful to what aquatic life forms?

texts:
When visiting an aquarium, it's often not allowed to take photographs with a flashlight on. It is said that the flash light with very high intensity is harmful to the displayed life forms.

I respect that and try to capture images without flash.

I'd still like to know how flash light interacts with the animals (or even the plants) in an undesirable way? Is it harmful because they are not used to it?

The light emitted from the arc of a welder for example is so intense, that it destroys the human eye. Laser is another example. Technology is so advanced that we can produce harmful light sources that not even the winking reflex can protect us against. Maybe a flashlight used for photography is the welding arc for aquatic life?

Additional light can increase growth of algae, which would in turn influence the (very little) ecosystem in an aquarium. On the other hand, I don't think the short bursts of light from photographic flashes introduce enough light to have an impact. Or do they?

The motivation for this question is not to be knowledgeable about what creatures are not harmed by flash in order to fry them in light. Advancements in camera technology make it unnecessary to add more light to the scene in the form of flash light. What made me curious about it is that except for the industrial light sources mentioned above, we rarely consider single bursts of light to be dangerous for us humans. We are much more concerned about the continuous sunlight.


texts: Is there any difference between hydrogen acceptor and hydrogen carrier?

texts:
As what i have learnt, hydrogen carrier (NAD+ and FAD) gets H (H+ and e-) from glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase or Pyruvate dehydrogenase, and then transport H to electron transport cycle.

Do NAD+ and FAD act as hydrogen acceptor, hydrogen carrier, electron acceptor, and electron carrier?

Does this mean hydrogen acceptor = hydrogen carrier = electron acceptor = electron carrier?


texts: Are aquatic filter feeders effective at cleaning water to a safe level?

texts:
I've been raising Daphnia magna cultures over the last few months as feedstock for freshwater aquarium fish. From my reading, Daphnia feeds on bacteria and single-celled algae, as well as other small crud suspended in the water column.

Practically, yeast or soy flour can be suspended in water and poured into a tank containing a population of Daphnia, and the critters usually clear the water in a few days. The clarity of the resulting water is quite impressive. Which leads me to...

My question: How effective are these types of organisms at removing harmful bacteria and substances from a volume of water? Lets say you only needed a few gallons of clean water each day, could you have a tap that drew from a tank containing a dense culture of Daphnia, and use that water as drinking water?

I've not found information that studies the quantities of bacteria in the water column before and after introduction of Daphnia or other filter feeders.

P.S. I thought about posting this question in the Sustainability SE but figured I'd get more accurate information here.


texts: Why do you get an increase in bicarbonate ions after vomiting?


texts: Why people fear GMOs? Can't we map a plant composition?

texts:
My main question is can we map what a fruit is made of? For instance apples are made of 0.0002% of protein X, 0.00001 of protein Y, 0.001% of amino acid Z... etc...

If we can, then my next question would be why do people fear eating GMOs?
I understand the argument that if you introduce a new compound to your body you don't know its effect on you, but if for instance you insert a new gene into the plant where it is resistant to drought- can we not simply analyze its product and if its composition haven't changed than everything is alright?

Thank you very much!


texts: Need for proper air filter for bioreactor?

texts:
I am going to build a simple bioreactor for microalgae growth.

I already have fluid filters pore size: 0.2um, diameter: 25mm
https://nl.vwr.com/app/catalog/Product?article_number=514-4039

I wonder if I can use them for air filtration to avoid the bacteria when pumping in the air.
Or do I necessarily need air filters?


texts: Can the Human body Synthesise Vitamin D from Phytosterols?

texts: I know that the human body can synthesise vitamin D from cholesterol, but can it do so from phytosterols?


texts: On Deformation of the body due to dipole orientation in the cells

texts:
Our bodies are made up of billions of atoms and molecules, and each cell has many molecules with dipoles that are initially random and orient themselves in one specific direction when an electric field is applied.

So with the static fair-weather electric field in the atmosphere being ~150 volts per meter (V/m) near the Earth's surface,the dipoles in molecules of our body would orient themselves and provide charge to the cell thus changing its geometry, then why isn't all of our bodies deformed?


texts:
It's my understanding that aerobic cellular respiration is summarized in the formula $C_6H_{12}O_6+O_2→CO_2+H_2O+ATP$ (unbalanced). The glucose is thrown through a series of chemical reactions, ultimately resulting in the binding of a phosphate group to ADP to form ATP to store energy, and the carbon dioxide is a byproduct of this process. At the very end of this chain, though, there's a few electrons left hanging, and the oxygen is used to bind these to loose protons to form water.

It is also my understanding that the primary purposes of the lungs are to intake $O_2$ and exhale $CO_2$ for this process and their role in speech.

Assuming this is all correct, are the secondary, minor functions of the lungs important enough that if there was a way to siphon the $e^-$ and $CO_2$ to some other function and find something else to allow the larynx to work we wouldn't need to breathe?


texts:
I think most biologists here on this site will not  consider my question below to be unfit for posting on Biology SE.

I came across this article about the hadeeth (a hadeeth is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)) on a fly:

  "If a housefly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the
  drink), for the one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure of
  the disease." [Bukhari, vol. 4: 537].

where an attempt is made to show the truthfulness of the hadeeth with an experiment: they dip a fly into water in a petri dish wholly and partially in another petri dish and different kinds of bacteria appear in each petri dish. This experiment is carried out 3 times and results are different in each round. (Please, read that article thoroughly before answering) I want to know biologists' point of view on that experiment, i.e.

Do you believe this hadeeth based on the experiment? (i. e. do you consider it to be pseudoscience or not? If yes, please provide your proofs.)

Can pathogenic bacteria arise in such an impressive quantity in water just by dipping fly into water? If yes, could you explain how?

Do you agree with the notion in the hadeeth 'he should dip it (in the drink)?

Thanks very much for your answers in advance!


texts: How to do research in bioinformatics without wet lab experiments?

texts: I graduated in physics from Bangladesh and keen to work in the field of biology. Like, systems biology, computational biology, bioinformatics or systems medicine. I have not produced any research work in such fields as of now. I am studying sequence alignment and RNAseq and later plan to study flow cytometry bioinformatics. I have no affiliation with any institute now in my country as they don't accept students from other disciplines. Is it possible for me to do research on my own by using databases available? If so, I would be really grateful if anyone can suggest how to approach my research topic/work.


texts: Obvious phenotypic inheritance markers in humans

texts: In humans, are there phenotypic markers that prove parenthood? For example, if mother and father have <trait characteristic> (let's say, specific ear lobe form), then any child will have <trait characteristic>. If the child does not exhibit that characteristic, than either father or mother or both are only alleged, not actual.


texts: Bio-fuel efficiency as aviation gasoline

texts:
Can biofuels replace petroleum for aviation fuel?

I've read in the news that Alaska Airlines was flying with 10~20% biofuel and 80~90% petroleum. Is biofuel efficiency comparable to the efficiency of petroleum? I am curious whether or not the maximum speed of the airplane is same when it uses bio-fuel 100%.


texts: Why do people perceive blood pressure as the force that moves the blood forwards (see details)?

texts: For example "Veins contain a lot of valves because the blood pressure inside them is low.". This wouldn't make any sense unless if blood pressure was perceived as the force that drives the blood forwards. But in reality blood pressure is the force exerted by the blood on the inner walls of the blood vessels so can someone explain to me why low blood pressure results in increased likelihood of back flow of blood ?


texts:
I would think that there would so many chemical reactions going inside our body,friction produced by blood in veins, subcutaneous and visceral fat acting as heat insulators.

I was wondering to what extent different factors play a role in protecting our
body against cold.for example say blood circulation might be responsible for
creating 70% of the body heat and also a person with high blood pressure may produce more heat in his body.

also, perhaps fever or any other disease would be an exception to the normal
heat creating process in our body.just like the gonads or testes which are
cooler than the rest of the body.


texts:
Do the relationships between alleles always form a hierarchy? Ignoring partial and codominance, can alleles have a cyclic relationship? For example, is there anything that exists analogous to the following 3 fictional alleles:
Rock -> Scissors -> Paper -> Rock
If so, it's easy to see what would happen in a diploid relationship and which phenotype would be expressed. But what would happen in a triploid organism? Would nothing be expressed because each allele was dominated by another?


texts: What kind of chrysalis or pupa is this? It’s about an inch and 3/4 long and is hanging off the brick siding of a house in Piedmont North Carolina. It wiggles when it is touched. It has been hanging there for at least two or three weeks.


texts: What species of snake found in central Alabama, US?

texts:
The snake in the image below was found in the attic of a home in a relatively well-forested suburb of central Alabama, south of Birmingham about 20 minutes. It was safely released outside in the wooded backyard area. What species is the snake in the image below?

Some additional details that may be helpful follow. It emitted musk while being coaxed into the box. I don't recall seeing much striping, except near its head, as can be seen in the image below. I did not get a good look at the belly color, but I believe from the glimpses I got that it was similar to the lighter color on its back and sides. It appeared to be close to 3 feet (~90 cm) long.

I attempted to use Google to identify the snake, and the closest matches were various rat snakes. None had quite the same patterning.


texts:
I need a Protein Protein Interactions network of Cancer (any type - just I want a PPI of any type cancer), I search and see DIP PPI and ....

How to specify that is  Cancer PPI and how to get a PPI of Cancer ?


texts: What, other than genetic factors, influence which individual survives a parasite and which perishes?

texts: What factors other than "good genes" are at play in determining whether one individual survives a parasite and another individual in the same species perishes as a result of the same parasite?  For example, is there variation in the amount of the parasite (not in the amount of parasite species but in the amount of one species) with which an individual is infected and how might this occur?  I'm mainly interested in this first example, but another example:  Might infection occur at different parts of life-history in which vulnerability varies? (I am asking generally about any parasite species and any host species.)  Thank you very much.


texts: 'Obviously True' Statements that turned out to be false?

texts:
As someone who studies mathematics, there are plenty of examples by which some theorem that was considered as "obviously" true later turned out to be completely false. I was discussing this with my friend when she asked me to cite examples outside of math. The first thought that popped in my mind was the notion of spontaneous generation, but I'm not sure if it was so completely agreed on to be true that it was "obvious". As she is currently a biology undergraduate, I wish to tailor my examples to her interests.

In short, I'm wondering if there are any examples in the history of biology where some "fact" was so seemingly simple and obvious that researchers took it for granted, but it ended up being found to be completely false.


texts: Do any birds beside the family Columbidae (or any reptile or mammal) feed their young "Crop Milk"

texts: Birds from the family Columbidae (e.g., doves and pigeons) produce a fatty, milk-like substance in their crop.  The secretion is often referred to as "crop milk."  They feed crop milk to their young through regurgitation.  Does anyone know of another bird or reptile group (or even mammals) that has evolved such a mechanism; not regurgitation but secretion of a milk-like substance for feeding young?  Also, both male and female doves produce crop milk; are there cases where males of a mammal species produce milk?


texts: Can an attenuated virus cause infection in some rare cases?

texts: I just read in some comments, that some children got measles one week after getting the MMR shot. Afaik. MMR contains attenuated live virus, and the incubation period of measles is 10 days (+/- ? days). Can we be certain, that they didn't get infected by the vaccine?


texts: Why is angiotensin converting enzyme localized in the lungs

texts: I understand that it's also found elsewhere, such as in renal capillaries, but I can't see logic behind it being located in the lungs. Isn't ACE's function, through making more angiotensin II, causing increased fluid and sodium retention and increasing peripheral resistance? What benefit does that purpose get from ACE being mainly in the lungs?


texts: What are the known energy capturing processes in biological systems?

texts:
I am not a biologist. I am aware that photosynthesis is the main process for capturing electromagnetic energy from the Sun. Also, I am aware that some bacteria can capture energy from boiling water and others from certain chemicals.

What are the known energy capturing processes in biological systems other than photosynthesis? I am looking for references or a good survey of all known mechanisms.
Is there an explanation for the ingenuity of evolution in solving the energy capturing (transforming) problem via multitude of mechanisms?


texts: Can you find malaria parasites in saliva?

texts: Can you find plasmodium parasites (malaria) in saliva under microscope from someone who's infected? Or it's only in the blood?