Stem Cells from Fat Used to Grow Teen's Missing Facial Bones

Surgeons have reported success in first human bone growth procedure using fat stem cells.

Stem cells so far have been used to mend tissues ranging from damaged hearts to collapsed tracheas. Now the multifaceted cells have proved successful at regrowing bone in humans. In the first procedure of its kind, doctors replaced a 14-year-old boy's missing cheekbones—in part by repurposing stem cells from his own body.

The technique, should it be approved for widespread use, could benefit some seven million people in the U.S. who need more bone—everyone from cancer patients to injured war veterans.

Read more in the original article here.

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Fossils Push Back Earliest Complex Animals 40 Million Years

A series of fossils unearthed in southwestern China has revealed the origins of complex life in unprecedented detail, and pushed its beginning back by at least 40 million years.

The specimens come from the Doushantuo formation, a layer of sediments deposited about 590 million years ago, just before the Ediacaran period’s primordial fauna gave way to the complex creatures of the Cambrian explosion.

During the Ediacaran, even the most structurally complicated animals had flat bodies with simple symmetry, like living quilts or mattresses. It was only during the Cambrian that animals developed what’s known as bilateral symmetry — a distinct front and back, top and bottom.

The Doushantuo fossils date to the cusp of this transition, and are so finely preserved that scientists can distinguish the structures of individual cells. The latest fossils aren’t even fully formed animals, but embryos.

Using synchrotron radiation microtomography — a microscopy technique that combines thousands of of X-rays taken from different angles — researchers reconstructed the embryos in three-dimensional detail. They found that the embryos were bilaterally symmetrical, and were organized so differently that they belonged to two distinct taxonomic groups. For those groups to be so different, bilateral symmetry must have been around for a while.

Original article here.

Giant Orb Spider Discovered

Scientists have found the world’s largest species of golden orb-weaver spider in the tropics of Africa and Madagascar. The discovery marks the first identification of a new Nephila spider since 1879.

Females of the new species, Nephila komaci, measure 4 to 5 inches in diameter, while the male spiders stay petite at less than a quarter of their mate’s size. So far, only a handful of these enormous arachnids have been found in the world. Its only definite habitat is a sand forest in Tembe Elephant Park in KwaZulu-Natal.

Like all Nephila spiders, females of the new species spin huge webs of golden silk, often more than 3 feet in diameter. In the report of the discovery of this rare spider, the researchers also addressed the evolution of the dramatic size difference between male and female orb-weavers.

By mapping out the evolutionary tree of all known orb-weaver species, the scientists discovered that as the spiders evolved, females got bigger and bigger, while males stayed roughly the same size.

It is good for females to be big, because they can lay so many more eggs. In addition, large size probably helps females avoid being eaten by predators. Males, on the other hand, are better off staying small and reaching sexual maturity at a young age. Because males spend most of their time underground, hunting for a mate is one of the most dangerous activities they undertake.

Original article here.

Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko

Yes, that is what it is called!

The Uroplatus phantasticus is a species of gecko endemic to the island of Madagascar. The satanic leaf tailed gecko is also commonly known as the eyelash leaf tailed gecko or fantastic leaf tailed gecko.

These geckos are an arboreal species relying on their natural camouflage as they dwell among the leaves and leaf litter of the northern and central tropical forests of Madagascar.

DNA Replication Video

Below is a clip from a PBS production called "DNA: The Secret of Life." It details the latest research (as of 2005) concerning the process of DNA replication.

Microscope Photography

The pictures below were taken from a microscope photography gallery and represent current and past winners from Nikon’s annual Small World photomicrography competition.

Male sex organ of a flowering plant:



Mouse embryo:



Mouse colon:



House fly:



Rat cerebellum:



Fresh water rotifer feeding among debris:



Mangrove leaf:



Clink the link here to see additional examlpes of photomicrography.

Jaw bone created from stem cells

Scientists have created part of the jaw joint in the lab using human adult stem cells. They say it is the first time a complex, anatomically-sized bone has been accurately created in this way.

It is hoped the technique could be used not only to treat disorders of the specific joint, but more widely to correct problems with other bones too.

The bone which has been created in the lab is known as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).

The latest study used human stem cells taken from bone marrow. These were seeded into a tissue scaffold, formed into the precise shape of the human jaw bone by using digital images from a patient.

The cells were then cultured using a specially-designed bioreactor which was able to infuse the growing tissue with exactly the level of nutrients found during natural bone development.

Original article here.

Infrared Video of 500,000 Bats Emerging From Cave

Bats use echolocation to see in the dark, but unfortunately human scientists cannot do the same.

That poses a problem for ecologists who want to know, for example, how many Brazilian free-tailed bats live in the Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico. Researchers can’t shine a light on them because that disrupts their behavior, but they can’t see them without light. The answer? Infrared cameras.

By installing infrared sensors, scientists were able to study the bat colonies in great detail from less than 50 feet away. The above video shows the infrared camera capturing a half million bats emerging from the cave to feed at night.

Original article here.

Glow-in-the-Dark Mushrooms Discovered

Scientists have announced the discovery of several species of glow-in-the-dark mushrooms. The findings increase the number of aglow mushroom species from 64 to 71, shedding light on the evolution of luminescence in nature.

The newly identified mushrooms, which emit a bright, yellowish-green light 24 hours a day, were found in Belize, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia and Puerto Rico. They include four species new to science and three new reports of luminescence in known species.

Three quarters of glowing mushrooms, including the newly identified species, belong to the Mycena genus, a group of mushrooms that feed off and decompose organic matter.

As for why the mushrooms glow, one scientists speculates that some fungi glow to lure in nocturnal animals that aid in the dispersal of the mushroom's spores, which are similar to seeds and are capable of growing into new organisms. Fungi, along with plants, animals and protists are considered eukaryotes by biologists, meaning "true kernel," due to the packaging of the genome into the membrane-bounded compartment called the nucleus. (Simple bacteria and archaea, which lack a cell nucleus, are considered prokaryotes.)

Original article here.