Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
Our planet in crisis This term we have embarked on a School-wide initiative, ‘The Big Draw – A Climate of Change’, aimed at creating a large art installation of origami cranes with a positive message to help our planet (thank you Miss Baron).
Cranes are majestic white birds which live in communities and frequent marshes and shallow lakes. Drastic loss of marshland has threatened their existence. In 1940 only 15 of these birds remained. Due to the Endangered Species Act protection, these majestic red-crowned birds made an amazing comeback from the brink of extinction. Following decades of effort, whooping cranes are now on the path to recovery. The crane is considered a messenger of God and symbolises good fortune and for good things to come. Read more about cranes in the UK later in the newsletter. In line with this project, if there is one thing that you should do this half-term, please watch David Attenborough’s new documentary on Netflix, ‘A life on our Planet’. David movingly maps how significantly humanity has impacted the planet’s biodiversity in his own lifetime. Young people are the future of the planet, and it is essential that you are all aware of the changes that you can all make to help save our planet.
Historic Nobel prize in Chemistry Two scientists, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, have just been awarded the Nobel prize in Chemistry for their gene editing technology, CRISPR-Cas9. There are two things that are especially astonishing about this particular Nobel. The first is how quickly the prize was awarded after the discovery of these ‘genetic scissors’, a mere 8 years. But perhaps more extraordinary is that the Nobel prize in Chemistry has never been awarded to two females scientists in its 119 year history! Hopefully this will open the doors to a more diverse and inclusive award. Read more about these two amazing women here YouTube explaining CRISPR-Cas9
Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
‘Autumnwatch*’ with Mr Coleman Helping nature through the winter This Autumn why not make your garden a haven for wildlife as our horizons start to shrink again over the cold, dark winter months. You can improve the survival chances of all sorts of animals and derive pleasure from that fact alone. You can also, of course, enjoy observing any wild visitors that have been attracted by your efforts. Whereas a summer birdfeeder is more of a luxury; when food, water and shelter is scarce, nature really does need a helping hand. ‘Oi mate, leaf it out!’ By now there will be plenty of leaf litter scattered over the ground. Many gardeners feel it looks messy, but this can harbour insects and other invertebrates and these are a good source of food for birds and mammals. Hedgehogs root around in leaf litter before they hibernate, and toads and newts will use it for shelter. Earthworms will break down the leaf material, benefitting your soil and therefore lawns and plants in years to come. If you want to be a little bit tidy you could rake the leaves into a quiet corner or into the borders - leaf mulch makes great compost
Another fine mess… Don’t be too tidy as a gardener, particularly where thicker shrubs, evergreens or climbers are concerned. Excessive pruning reduces the amount of shelter for wildlife in the winter months. Under the ivy, for example, there are handy little reservoirs of insects for birds like dunnocks, robins and wrens to fall back on when everywhere is frozen. Seed heads of numerous garden plants are great for finches, so don’t deadhead your perennial flowering plants too soon. Small mammals, including hedgehogs, love a good tussock - is there a corner of your lawn or patch of a flowerbed that you can leave untouched, with plenty of dense cover at ground level? Similarly, wait to cut back any berry-bearing hedges or trees (like hawthorn, rowan, holly or elder until the crop has been eaten by wintering birds. Water you like All birds need to drink everyday so it’s vital through the winter that they can access water. Bathing even in freezing temperatures is important for birds to keep their feathers in good condition, maximising heat retention. (continued on next page)
*in meteorological terms, Autumn starts on the 1 st September but astronomically speaking, it started on the equinox, September 22nd. Of course, the natural world doesn’t recognise these specific dates but the signs of seasonal change are all around us if you get outside and notice them!
Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
‘Autumnwatch*’ with Mr Coleman Helping nature through the winter To keep a supply of unfrozen water in the garden float a tennis ball on the surface of the water so that the breeze will keep it moving and slow the freezing process. Alternatively, you could empty the water in the evenings where a hard frost is forecast and fill it again in the morning.
Hedgehog housing During lockdown we were looking to encourage you to get out in your garden and build insect hotels or bird boxes. Now that autumn is upon us, why not consider a hedgehog house? Hedgehogs usually hibernate between November and March (more on this next time!) but if you build it now it will give them plenty of time to get settled before then. Instructions are below to help out our spikey little friends.
Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
‘Biology in the news’ with Mrs Oatridge Is it time for human challenge trials? Human challenge trials, which involve deliberately exposing human volunteers to the virus behind Covid-19, could start as soon as January. In these trials, the participants are given the experimental vaccine and then exposed to the virus. These trials give quick results and have been used before in early research on smallpox and malaria. However, they are riskier than randomised control trials (where tens of thousands of participants are given either the placebo or vaccine and monitored). Participants are likely to be paid more than £4000 and already 2000 people have signed up; many of which are young and likely to come across the virus anyway. The Government look set to give human challenge trials the green light, but questions of ethics remain. Pampered allergies?
pets:
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For years it has been theorised that our obsession with hygiene is making children more vulnerable to allergies. Now scientists suggest this has been extended to our pets. A recent study reveals that 20% of dogs in the UK suffer from allergies and many of these are attributed to their pampered lifestyles. Spending long periods of time inside, sitting on the sofa and not the floor, and eating human food are all denying dogs the early exposure to infections that would challenge their immune systems. “A lot of domestic dogs are working breeds,” says Dr Dan O’Neill, a senior lecturer for the Royal Veterinary College. They’re bred to be outside and in kennels, but now we have them inside. While that may be good for the dog – it’s warm – it’s an environment more likely to trigger allergies.” Summarised from ‘The Week’
Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
‘Free meals from the sky’ by Mr Lynch We all know that many bird species migrate south over autumn in order to find food and breed, but a recent study found that this mass movement of bird life also provides a handy meal for one of my favourite sharks – the Tiger shark. Known as the ‘dustbin of the sea’, they have a reputation for eating anything and everything they come across. The stomach contents of captured tiger sharks have included stingrays, sea snakes, seals, birds, squids, and even license plates and old tyres. The initial spark of interest for this study began when a tiger shark being captured in the Gulf of Mexico for tagging purposes threw up a mess of old feathers. Fisheries ecologist Marcus Drymon of MSU collected the feathers and sent them to a molecular ecologist friend of his at the Field Museum in Chicago. After carrying out DNA barcoding on the mitochondrial DNA, the feathers were found to belong to a terrestrial songbird. The question was, how did these come to be in the stomach of a shark? Drymon spent the next eight years collecting feathers from the sharks he captured and observing shark numbers and behaviour before publishing his findings in 2019. Overall, 11 different species of terrestrial bird were found in the stomachs of tiger sharks. Drymon got in touch with an ornithologist and found that all these birds had migratory paths in the area. Flying over water carries many risks for terrestrial birds, as they do not have the water-proofing adaptations of their marine relatives. Bad weather may cause them to land and then once in water they simply could not take off again and became easy picking for tiger sharks in the area. What was also interesting was that the tiger shark’s breeding season was coinciding with the migrations of these birds, allowing young sharks to feed whilst they were still less efficient hunters and gain the nutrition they need to reach maturity. This shows both the complex relationships that build up in ecology that I find fascinating, and also the importance of communication and collaboration in science.
Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
Black squirrels…who knew?! These little black squirrels were photographed by our lovely receptionist Mrs Lough in her garden. She says: ‘There are two of them. One is smaller and blacker, the other larger, with a slight brown tinge. They must be nesting in our copper beech as earlier in the year they were frequently seen running up it with mouthfuls of grass (looking like large moustaches!). Apparently they don’t nest in pairs though. I think they moved from the top of a very tall scotch pine when some extremely noisy magpies became their neighbours (or took over their nest?). We also have a couple of comparatively dull grey squirrels who occasionally try to chase the black one(s), but perhaps they’re just playing. They’re a joy to watch even though I know they’re only grey ones in disguise!’. Mrs Lough is absolutely right: these cute little creatures are indeed grey squirrels in black ‘clothing’. Increasingly common across Beds, Herts and Cambridgeshire, the black (melanic) squirrel is the same species as the much more familiar grey (Sciurus carolinensis) but with a defective pigment gene. The black squirrels living in the UK are through to have originated from a private zoo, having been imported from the United States. The first black squirrel was spotted in Woburn, and indeed Year 7s were lucky enough to see a black squirrel on our trip to Woburn Safari Park on the autumn Field Day. It is currently unclear what the selective advantage of the black fur gene is, but if you want to find out more look at this website BBC news
Autumn leaves Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of year. As the leaves change colour, our world is full of oranges, browns and reds. Although evergreen trees will keep their leaves throughout winter, deciduous trees, which are abundant in the UK, lose theirs as it’s energetically more favourable for them to do so. As the pigments within the leaves break down (thus causing the beautiful change in colour National Geographic), and the resultant nutrients are transferred to the tree, plant hormones such as auxin signal to the plant that it is time to shed their leaves. Why not get out and about this autumn to collect some of these fallen leaves. Then you can either do a simple Biology experiment to separate out the pigments by chromatography, or use them to create a beautiful masterpiece. See here for instructions
Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
Autumn photography competition
Celebrating some amazing biologists in the UK
We are in the middle of autumn and all around us we see the changes if we look for them! Your aim is to capture the essence of autumn and all that it signifies, but your photo must have a biological slant (think leaves, fungi, animals preparing for the winter). You can send in up to three photographs on the theme of ‘Autumn’. Please note that the photographs must have been taken by you, this year. There will be winners from the Lower, Middle and Sixth form sections of the School. We will be delighted to feature the winning entries of each category in the next Biology Newsletter.
Dr Donald Palmer (born 1962) is Associate Professor of Immunology at the Royal Veterinary College, London. His main research interest focuses on how the immune system ages, in particular the role the thymus plays. Hear him speak about science being an international language here, and explaining how the immune system interacts with the pathogens that surround it here
Deadline: Friday 30th October midday. You may write a caption for your photograph (max 40 words). Make sure the title of your email indicates that it is for the Autumn photography competition
Image credits: Debbie Rowe (left), The Remarkablz (right)
Email: Shiradski_s@habsboys.org.uk Enjoy half term and we look forward to seeing your entries!
Image credits: Debbie Rowe (left), The Remarkablz (right)
Dr Steven Spoel (born 1980) is Principal Investigator & Head of Molecular Plant Sciences at The University of Edinburgh. His lab aims to understand the mechanisms that govern the activation of gene expression. They explore the mechanisms by which multicellular organisms reprogram gene expression in their environment to survive. For more information on an overview of his research group look here , and here for an overview of his most recent research on redox signalling and proteasemediated gene expression. By Mrs Shiradski
Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
Conservation work on critically endangered species Trigonostigma somphongsi – Sacha Holt, U6M2 During the summer holiday I was offered the opportunity to breed the Somphongsi rasbora, endemic to Thailand and critically endangered due to habitat loss as a result of dam construction. This affects seasonal river flooding, disrupting their breeding cycle. The species was thought to be extinct for 30 years, and only until a few specimens were found amongst bycatch of other rasbora species for the aquarium trade, was its conservation status reverted to critically endangered. Due to my success breeding other rasbora species, I was given 6 of these fish back in June and managed to successfully breed them in September. Stimulating breeding in these fish is very difficult without proper equipment, as you essentially need to simulate a flooding river. A reverse osmosis unit was used to produce water free from minerals (such as calcium which increases water pH) and tannins were added to decrease its pH. The water was also cooled to 5 degrees below what the fish were acclimated to, as this simulates colder rain temperature. Finally, this was all done when the outside air pressure was low (during stormy weather). Fish are much more sensitive to changes in pressure than humans are, and hence this is one of the most important triggers for breeding fish native to Thailand or Amazonian river basins.
Autumn scavenger hunt As always, we want you to get out into the fresh air this autumn, and make the most of the weather while it is still relatively mild. Why not try an autumn scavenger hunt? You can make your own list of plants, animals and fungi to look for before you go out, or you can download a sheet from the Wildlife Trust like the one here. Wildlife Watch
Biology Department Newsletter Issue 14: First half of Autumn term, 2020
Some good news about common cranes in the UK The crane Grus grus is re-establishing itself in the UK for the first time in nearly 400 years. Cranes are large beautiful birds. Their trumpeting calls sound astonishing and they have a courtship dance that must be seen to be believed. Before hunting and the draining of our wetlands wiped them out, cranes were plentiful and widespread in the UK. Between 2010 and 2014, 93 common cranes were hand-reared to release onto the Somerset Levels and Moors, doubling the UK population, and helping to secure the future of the crane in the UK. The initial six-year phase of The Great Crane Project is now complete, with eggs collected annually in Germany from 2010-2014, transported to the UK for hatching and rearing, and subsequent released in Somerset. Cranes made a natural return to the UK in the late 1970s with the first fledged chick for 400 years being produced in the Norfolk Broads in 1982. With a lot of conservation effort, the population has grown and spread over the last 30 years with small numbers of cranes now also regularly breeding in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Yorkshire and North East Scotland. The breeding cranes in Somerset had a very good year in 2019 and the seven fledged juveniles continue to thrive. Read more about The Great Crane Project here By Mr Glanville
Reducing your carving footprint Every year, millions of pumpkins are grown in the UK in time for Halloween, but sadly the vast majority of them go straight in the bin after 31st October. This year, why not make the most of this versatile fruit. Use the flesh in your cooking, turn your lantern into a bird feeder, leave it out for the wildlife to enjoy, or smash it up and compost it for the minibeasts. What to do with a pumpkin