Strange Biology Stories of 2007

(extracts from MSNBC.com)

I was looking over the bizarre science stories of last year. One on the strangest was the news the South Korean scientists who transferred genes into cloned cat embryos so that they glowed red under ultraviolet light? There's a serious point behind the glowing kitties. Such alterations may be used in the future to correct genetic flaws. Pix, are you interested in breeding these felines?

Now how about the see through frogs that were developed? I am certain many ask why on earth would you want to breed a see-through frog? Japanese scientists say they're doing it for the frogs. The creatures' transparent skin could let researchers study internal organs and blood vessels without having to dissect the weird-looking amphibians. Having dissected many frogs in my 35 of teaching and research in herpitology, this is a fine alternative to sacrificing animals for study.

Many folks seemed amazed when the Komodo Dragon at an England zoo gave birth without the benefit of a male Komoda. The news headlines read "Virgin Dragon Gives Birth." The media was trying to make a bland story unique. In biology, we know that a multitude of reptilian species can develop young without being fertilized by sperm. The word for today is parthenogenesis. Use it to impress your friends and neighbors. They will probably not know the term refes to reproducing asexually without fusion of the egg with a sperm cell.

Due to my teaching experience, this next story was no surprise. There was the experiment in which young chimps could perform memory tests faster than human volunteers, with roughly the same level of accuracy. Then, there was the research showing that monkeys could do mental math almost as well as students. Did we teachers already know this fact? Yes!

The stories got even stranger in 2007. German scientists studied why monkeys yell during sex. Well, if that is not obvious, I have some swampland in Sand Fork to sell you for your next house. The story on Panda porn was also crazy. Zoo researchers in Thailand researched the question "Do racy videos help get pandas in the mood for procreation?" Seemed the Chinese thought so and used panda erotic videos in their Panda breeding program.

Unfortunately, all the research indicated that the videos didn't get the male panda in the mood, and researchers eventually had to resort to a less, um, exotic method: artificial insemination

Gosh, I can hardly wait for all the new biology discoveries in the year 2008!