Are Cancers Actually a Newly Evolved Parasitic Species?
Cancer patients may feel like they have alien creatures growing inside their bodies, robbing them of health and vigor. According to one cell biologist, they’re exactly right. The formation of cancers is really the evolution of a new parasitic species. Just as parasites do, cancer depends on its host for sustenance, which is why treatments…
Six Biological Engineering Experiments That Could Save The World
The future of industrial production doesn’t depend on drilling for oil and mining minerals. It depends on biology. Scientists are transforming microbes and other life forms into tiny, specialized factories that extrude plastic, turn waste water into fuel, and even clean up radioactive waste. Here are five experiments in genetic engineering that are making the…
Rainbow toad rediscovered after 87 years
This is one of the first-ever photos of the Bornean rainbow toad, which hasn’t been seen since 1924. Ansonia latidisca was rediscovered in Malaysia by Indraneil Das of the University of Malaysia, Sarawak. Last year Das found the Old World’s smallest frog, about the size of a pea, in the same area. The toad is…
Hermaphrodite insects fertilise daughters with parasitic sperm
The life of the cottony cushion scale insect reads like something from the most ridiculous of tabloid newspapers. Dad leaves parasitic body parts in his own daughter, which produce sperm that fertilise her eggs. He is both father and grandfather to his own grandchildren. On top of that, these insects are mostly hermaphrodites. With the…