Why do normally harmless desert locusts suddenly become aggressive and cause widespread destruction in farms?   The answer has now been obtained, and the discovery has excited the animal control world. (more…)

Scientists have identified a faulty gene that causes epilepsy in dogs.  The researchers have developed a test that could soon help breeders eliminate the disease by imposing restrictions to select against dogs that are likely to pass these genes on to future generations.  The discovery should also aid the quest to understand the more severe human form of the condition, Lafora disease, and other similar afflictions.

The latest development is an example of how the human and dog genome projects are expected to benefit both species.  Researchers are comparing and contrasting the "life codes" of the two with many other creatures to track down the genetic causes of ill-health. The researchers showed that the jerky behaviour and seizures suffered by purebred miniature wirehaired dachshunds were caused by a form of epilepsy called EPM2.

The double-stranded DNA molecule is held together by four chemical components, or bases:
Adenine (A) bonds with thymine (T); cytosine (C) bonds with guanine (G).
Sequences of these components, called genes, regulate the production of proteins thereby controlling life.  There are estimated to be about two-and-a-half billion base pairs in the dog genome, wound into forty distinct bundles, or chromosomes.  Written in the DNA are possibly 25,000 genes, which dog cells use as templates to make proteins.   These sophisticated molecules build and maintain the animal’s body.

The affected dogs all share a mutation in their EPM2b gene, involving multiple repeats in the DNA code that prevent the proper production of protein.  It is thought five percent of miniature wirehaireds have the disease and perhaps as many as a quarter of them may be carriers of the faulty gene.

Owners usually start to notice a problem with their pets when they are about six years old.  These animals will (more…)

Tests made at the Brazilian Federal University of Sao Carlos have shown that a protein found in the venom of the Urutus (a poisonous Brazilian snake) can address a number of serious medical conditions. (more…)

Kristina Narfstrom, a veterinary ophthalmologist at the University of Missouri-Columbia, implanted microchips into the eyes of eleven Persian cats, half of whom were severely visually impaired or blind. The microchips were implanted inside the retinas of the cats, where the chips produce small electrical impulses that help the cats to see. Each chip includes several thousand micro-photo-diodes that react to light and produce electrical impulses in the retina. The microchip is two millimeters in diameter and only twenty-three micrometers thick. (more…)