DNA Sequencing to Survey Ecosystems
The Mekong river is located in Southeast Asia. With an estimated length of 4,350km, it flows from the Tibetan Plateau through China’s Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, on its way to the South China sea. The Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world, second only to […]
Could the Revolution of New DNA Sequencing and Editing Technologies Bring Species Back from Extinction?
Rapid developments in genetic technologies including next-generation DNA sequencing and CRISPR, may make it possible for scientists to bring some extinct species back to life (de-extinction). A meeting held at the International Centre for Life in Newcastle (UK) in June 2015 brought together twenty-two scientists and other interested parties to discuss the possibility that the […]
Tracking Down the Genes that Allow Viruses to Spread
The genus of viruses known as the flaviviruses are emerging globally as a significant cause of human disease. A flavivirus currently in the news and causing a lot of concern is Zika virus. Other medically important flaviviruses include dengue, yellow fever, St. Louis encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), Japanese encephalitis and West Nile viruses. Flaviviruses contain […]