Biology

Tiny lab mice just got a mammoth-sized upgrade — genetic tweaks have given them thick, woolly fur, bringing science one step closer to reviving traits of extinct species.

The brain plays a vital role in controlling reproductive functions. It helps to maintain a delicate balance of hormones, all of which can be affected by the metabolism. Investigating the impact of the metabolism on reproductive development and function is critical to a better understanding of health and diseases. Professor Carol Fuzeti Elias and Dr Cristina Sáenz de Miera Patín from the University of Michigan in the USA, carry out groundbreaking research in neuroscience, exploring the molecular and neural mechanisms at play.

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Author: Louise Archer | Postdoctoral Fellow, Biological Sciences, University of Toronto

Despite being the largest land carnivore and a top Arctic predator that can weigh over 600 kg, polar bears start off surprisingly small. Blind, almost hairless, and weighing just 600g at birth, cubs are born in maternity dens under the snow. These snow caves keep newborns warm and safe for the first few months of their life, when they grow rapidly by nursing on their mother’s rich milk.

After three to four months in the den, cubs will have grown to about 20 times their birth weight and will be large enough and furry enough to follow their mothers out into the frigid Arctic spring.

In a study published in The Journal of Wildlife Management, we used remote cameras to study polar bear families as they emerged from their dens in Svalbard, Norway, gaining insight into the behaviour of mothers and cubs as they experience the world outside the den for the first time.

Researchers have announced the discovery of an ancient mud volcano 400m deep in the Barents Sea, and they think it’s a sanctuary for vulnerable Arctic species.

"Today we have discovered something exceptional,” says Professor Giuliana Panieri from The Arctic University of Tromso (UiT) in Ocean Census’ video sharing the discovery of the Borealis Mud Volcano.

"One would think that a volcano was not the most hospitable place for living organisms,” says Panieri. But using REV Ocean’s remotely operated vehicle, they could observe the volcano closely and learned that the crusts around its crater provide animals with habitat, shelter and food.