✔️ The A&P Professor Science & Education Updates - Issue #111

Life Science

Mutations of DNA do not occur as randomly as previously assumed, according to new research from Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen in Germany and University of California Davis in the US. The findings have the potential to dramatically change our view of evolution. The insights have far-reaching implications, from better knowledge of crop domestication to predictions of the mutational landscape in cancers.

Extra chromosome alters chromosomal conformation and DNA accessibility in neural progenitor cells; study establishes senescence as a potentially targetable mechanism for future treatment.

In Down syndrome, the third copy of chromosome 21 causes a reorganization of the 3D configuration of the entire genome in a key cell type of the developing brain, a new study shows. The resulting disruption of gene transcription and cell function are so similar to those seen in cellular aging, or senescence, that the scientists leading the study found they could use anti-senescence drugs to correct them in cell cultures.

Earliest human remains in eastern Africa dated to more than 230,000 years ago. The age of the oldest fossils in eastern Africa widely recognized as representing our species, Homo sapiens, has long been uncertain. Now, dating of a massive volcanic eruption in Ethiopia reveals they are much older than previously thought.

The stunning Covid vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna drew upon long-buried discoveries made in the hopes of ending past epidemics.

Scientists are piecing together why some people lose their sense of smell after contracting Covid-19.

Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives.

Lateral flow tests for COVID-19 can be very accurate and specific when used as directed, but introducing acidic fluids can cause the tests’ detecting antibodies to clump, which may read as a positive result.

Teaching & Learning

Politics bleeding into college operations, new regulatory action, continued expansion of online ed and more are stories we'll be following in 2022.

TAPP News & Notes

Audio episodes focused on using slides with art and style to make our presentations work better for student learning

Audio episodes focused on teaching human anatomy & physiology (A&P) featuring award-winning A&P professor and author, Dr. Kevin Patton.