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Geneskool Needs You – Volunteer and become a Science Ambassador

Posted on November 2, 2017 | Comments Off on Geneskool Needs You – Volunteer and become a Science Ambassador

 
Geneskool needs you:
 
GeneSkool has two volunteer opportunities for students: 
 
1) The students can become our ambassadors to promote our events in their high schools and get volunteer hours. No meeting is required, they only need to fill in a form and send their resume to ubclifesciencescircle@gmail.com .  The form can be found at https://lifesciencescircle.sites.olt.ubc.ca/become-a-member/. They can also contact us through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UBCLifeSciencesCircle/ if they have questions 
 
2) The students can join us to develop an app that connects students and mentors, requires some knowledge and interest in coding. They can send us an email if they are interested! 

Genome BC

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Question Show – become a questioning Allstar and submit your science question to be answered by an expert

Posted on October 29, 2017 | Comments Off on Question Show – become a questioning Allstar and submit your science question to be answered by an expert

Do you have questions?  Science questions anyone?  Submit your science questions to Quirks and Quarks and have a science expert answer your questions.

Questions can be submitted online via this link

 

Learn more about Canada’s Top Science Show – How the Zika Virus mutated and became a terrifying Plaque

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) has evolved into a global health threat due to its unexpected causal link to microcephaly. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that contemporary epidemic strains have accumulated multiple substitutions from their Asian ancestor. Here, we show that a single serine to asparagine substitution (S139N) in the viral polyprotein substantially increased ZIKV infectivity in both human and mouse neural progenitor cells (NPCs), led to more significant microcephaly in the mouse fetus, and higher mortality in neonatal mice. Evolutionary analysis indicates that the S139N substitution arose before the 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia and has been stably maintained during subsequent spread to the Americas. This functional adaption makes ZIKV more virulent to human NPCs, thus contributing to the increased incidence of microcephaly in recent ZIKV epidemics.
A single mutation in the prM protein of Zika virus contributes to fetal microcephaly
Science  28 Sep 2017:
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DOI: 10.1126/science.aam7120

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GMO’s in Action: Learn more about how genetically modified mosquitoes are being used to protect against contracting the Zika Virus

Posted on October 20, 2017 | Comments Off on GMO’s in Action: Learn more about how genetically modified mosquitoes are being used to protect against contracting the Zika Virus

Learn more about GM Mosquitoes and Disease Vectors

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Gravitational Waves help us to understand the origin of heavy metals in the universe

Posted on October 16, 2017 | Comments Off on Gravitational Waves help us to understand the origin of heavy metals in the universe

What are gravitational waves and how can the presence of gravitational waves help us to understand the origin of heavy  metals?

 

 

 

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What makes a GMO different from natural selection (Lucky Hits)?

Posted on October 12, 2017 | Comments Off on What makes a GMO different from natural selection (Lucky Hits)?


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Mutant animals – fur colour that is considered mutant (born to die)!

Posted on October 6, 2017 | Comments Off on Mutant animals – fur colour that is considered mutant (born to die)!

Learn more about how animal breeders and farmers are converting farm land into pasture land in order to raise hunting stock.

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Bee Time “Lost in Translation”

Posted on October 4, 2017 | Comments Off on Bee Time “Lost in Translation”

Science starts with seeing.  Check out some of the amazing wild type and mutated bee forms

What visible features are present in the wild type bees that are not observable in the mutated bees?

Is head colour a mutation or an acceptable variation in head colour in bees?

Is the colour of the bee relevant? Does the colour of the bee make an evolutionary difference to the survival of the bees?

How are bee eyes adapted to see flower colour? Do bees prefer flowers with a certain colour?

Does the size of the head of the bee make a difference in the bees evolutionary success?

Does this bee’s orange neck ring make a difference to the bees success?

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Bee Spotter – Honey Bee Genome

Posted on October 2, 2017 | Comments Off on Bee Spotter – Honey Bee Genome

Learn more about the Bee Spotter Program

 

 

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How can a single allele that has independent assortment produce a colour change in human skin?

Posted on October 1, 2017 | Comments Off on How can a single allele that has independent assortment produce a colour change in human skin?

Learn more about how skin colour is a function of melanin presence which varies according to UV radiation.

 

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Niche – the fun way to learn about natural selection

Posted on September 27, 2017 | Comments Off on Niche – the fun way to learn about natural selection

Learn a lot more about genes, chromosomes and mutations by exploring the learning links on our genetics page:

 

Learn more about how grassland creatures are about to co-exist due to niche partitioning. Each species is able to co-exist if it occupies a unique biological niche.

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