A new look at the Naked Mole Rat

At first glance this small mammal is not very appealing to the human eye but they are now playing a unique and significant role in upcoming scientific studies. Their social behavior and genetics are in the spotlight for more research, due to little known about this underground creature. Most scientists have thought that this mole rat has a unique social hierarchy with inbreeding tendencies.
"Why would this rodent have evolved to socialize and mate so differently from other mammals? From a natural selection standpoint -- where advantageous traits are passed down to succeeding generations -- what is gained by limiting genetic diversity by limiting the breeding pool?"
This specific type of mammal has a hierarchy similar to bees. They live in colonies or groups and have a head female (queen). Responsibilities of workers are assigned based on the ranking of the animal. The social structure is fragile and the loss of one animal can change the duties of many. This new study has identified that these creatures are in fact not inbred. The researchers conducted a study of different mole-rat populations from Africa, and compared them to the genetics of a long-studied mole-rat population. They found that the populations of mole-rats studied for decades are "inbred" only because they originally came from a small, genetically isolated population of naked mole-rats from south of Kenya's Athi River. This is a very specific and isolated population that was studied and used to determine the whole basis of naked mole rats and their breeding processes. This brings up another issue within the scientific community...
"It also suggests, she said, that laboratory animals, isolated and repeatedly re-bred for studies, might over time represent behaviors and genetics that are different from the diverse wild populations from which they originally came."

I thought this article was interesting because it made me research more about this unique mammal and their social structure. It is now critical for scientists to keep studying this animal due to its other interesting qualities we still have no idea about like their temperature regulations, social hierarchy, and their unique evolution.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151022141702.htm 

for more information about this species and their genome:

http://www.naked-mole-rat.org/

Support G.M.O. Free food

The question that most mothers and fathers are asking food companies is; are your products G.M.O. free? Genetically modified foods have been in the recent headlines with people wondering if the food that they are feeding their children is safe. A lot of people look for that specific stamp/certification that the food they are buying is G.M.O Free.

"Last year alone, Vermont passed a law requiring the labeling of foods that contain G.M.O.s (Connecticut and Maine have labeling laws that will go into effect only when surrounding states also pass them). And Whole Foods Market, with 410 stores in 42 states, Canada and Britain, announced that it would require all foods they sell with G.M.O.s to be so labeled by 2018."

So what is the big deal about G.M.O.'s? Humans have been genetically modifying food and feed for plants and animals for millenniums, until recently only by repeatedly crossing existing ones with relatives that have more desirable characteristics. Genetically modifying something by taking genetics into our own hands, allows humans to achieve their desired outcome within one generation. An example of a genetically modified food would be corn. Corn DNA is injected with a bacterial gene which helps the organism withstand drought. The F.D.A has approved G.M.O.'s which developers must test the product for toxicity and allergenicity as well as assure that its nutrient content is at least as good as its non-G.M.O. counterpart.

"A legitimate safety concern involves possible delayed deleterious effects of genetically modified products on consumers, the environment or the “balance” of nature. As with an organism’s natural genes, introduced ones can mutate or disrupt the function of neighboring genes. Thus, continued monitoring of their effects is essential."

This article caught my eye for multiple reasons. I am one of those shoppers that looks free non GMO products from what was being said on the news ect. I didn't do much research on the subject but  believe that organic is always better then non organic. Now reading this article I have decided to better research GMO products and better understanding the reasoning behind genetically modified foods.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/fears-not-facts-support-gmo-free-food/

here is another article pertaining to this subject:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/more-foods-boast-non-gmo-labelseven-those-without-gmo-varieties-1440063000

New venomous snake species found

 A new species of the highly venomous snake, the death adder, has been brought to attention of Australian scientists. The newly identified species looks very similar to other death adders, with the same brownish tan color and length of 21 inches long. In Australia, this snake is found in the Northern territory where many other adder species are located. This gave them the opportunity to hide in plain site with their similar patterns and size. The death adders are a unique species in how they hunt their prey. They lure small rodents, lizards or other small animals, by shaking their worm like tail. This makes the small animal think their is food but indefinitely their fate is sealed when the snake sinks in their teeth.

"Maddock made his discovery not by trekking through the Australian outback but by studying the DNA of various death adders, a group of snakes native to Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia that are among the world's most venomous."

Maddock and his team of scientists were gathering DNA from 8 different species of the death adder and found a strange finding. There were DNA samples that just didn't match the rest. He then analyzed 112 specimens in total, including 32 of the new death adder species. This finding came from a simple coincidence and shows the importance of DNA analysis to identify species. 
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150929-death-adders-snakes-species-animals-australia/

I found this article very interesting and informing. It's exciting that this snake was hiding in plain sight identifying itself as the death adder even though its a subspecies. The technology we have today has made this possible and I'm sure there will be great discoveries within species identification.

Another link about death adders: http://www.factzoo.com/reptiles/snakes/australian-death-adder-worlds-deadliest.html