http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080229/hl ... rethanonce

Monkey Gene That Blocks AIDS Viruses Evolved More Than Once

A gene in Asian monkeys that may have evolved as protection against a group of viruses that includes HIV has been identified by Harvard Medical School researchers, who add that their finding suggests the current AIDS epidemic is not a new kind of scourge.

The TRIM5-CypA gene found in Asian macaques is a hybrid of two existing proteins, TRIM5 and CypA. This combination creates a single protein that blocks infections by lentiviruses.

This is the second time a TRIM5-CypA hybrid gene has been identified in monkeys. The other one -- TRIMCyp -- was found in South American owl monkeys in 2004. But it's not likely that these two gene combinations arose from a single common ancestor, the Harvard researchers said.

TRIM5-CypA wasn't found in monkey closely related to the Asian macaques and TRIMCyp wasn't found in any other South American primate species. This suggests that the two combination genes evolved separately, once in the macaques and once in the owl monkeys.

This development of similar genetic adaptations in different species is called convergent evolution. A prime example is the development of flight in bats and in birds.

The fact that adaptations involving TRIM5 and CypA occurred at least twice in primates suggests that this combination provided a strong evolutionary advantage, the Harvard researchers said.

It may be possible that the combination genes developed to prevent infection by prehistoric viruses related to modern HIV, they suggested. If this is true, it could mean that an AIDS-like epidemic is not unique to the current time, and such outbreaks may have afflicted the primate ancestors of humans.

The study is published in the Feb. 29 issue of PLoS Pathogens.

awesome:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333874,00.html

Human Speech Area Found in Chimps' Brains

Scientists keep finding more similarities between humans and chimps. They share most of our genes, they seem to be able to handle tools, and they grasp some English pretty well, too. Now researchers have found that we share a similar brain pattern when communicating.

Broca's area, located in the part of the human brain known as the inferior frontal gyrus, has been shown to be critical for human speech and sign language.

When a person speaks, or even plans to say something, this region lights up with activity.

"This is the first time someone has measured activity in that area in chimp brains," said Jared Taglialatela, a biologist at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. "It looks like a similarity between humans and chimps."

Taglialatela and his colleagues used a PET scan to image activity in the brains of three chimps after doing two tasks.

In one, the chimps asked for food by gesturing and vocalizing — making grunts and other noises. In another they passed rocks out of their cages in exchange for food, as they had been taught to do before.

The scientists found that Broca's area was activated in the chimps' brains after making gestures and vocalizing, but not after the rock task, signaling that this brain region is particularly tied to communication.

The finding, reported online Feb. 28 in the journal Current Biology, narrows the gap between humans and chimpanzees a little bit more.

"If we really want to talk about the big differences between humans and chimps — they're covered in hair and we're not," Taglialatela told LiveScience. "Their brains are about one-third the size of humans'. But the major differences come down to ones of degree, not of kind."

He said we share many profound likenesses with our closest animal relations.

They have been shown to possess remarkable language capacities, to have the ability to make and use tools and even to learn behaviors from other members of their community — all traits once thought to be the hallmarks of humanity.

Chimps have been trained to use computer touch screens to communicate with humans and can understand many words of spoken English.

They can also solve basic puzzles, sequence numbers in order, and, in one surprising study, beat college students on tests of short-term memory.

We even share most of our DNA. Reportedly, the human and chimpanzee genomes differ by only 1.5 to 5 percent.

So what does separate us from apes?

"I would really stress that the differences are just a matter of degree," Taglialatela said. "There's some fairly good work with regards to chimps making and using tools in the wild, but of course it doesn't really compare to operating an MRI scanner."

The same goes for language, he said.

"Their English comprehension has been shown to be very sophisticated, but they could never have a conversation like we're having right now," he said. "And recursiveness — the ability to talk about language — is something I think is beyond the ability of chimpanzees."

Taglialatela also said chimps do not have the self-control humans do. Where people often censor their words and actions to fit a social situation, chimps generally act on impulse.

If they are hungry, they will ask for food; if they are angry at another chimp, they might take a swat at him.

"They're not furry little humans, is what it comes down to," he said. "But nonetheless, they're not so different."

chimps also make tools and weapons to hunt other animals

they also descriminate against other chimps based on the color of their skin and their religious backgrounds.

this is the 100th thread with this title

Edible Image? What does Elmo taste like?

Acid tab

some guy told me tonight the human eye is amazingly complex. i jumped off the evolution boat, sorry guys.

OLO

Did you happen to tell him there are and were other organisms with much less complex eyes? I wonder what his answer would be to that.

Fucking idiots.

evolution is a myth! repent!

in reality, though, no, i didn't mention that.

many people seem to have a mental block when it comes to evolution. i consistently hear "it's just a theory, not a law!," or "how did we evolve from cells? what about the human eye? it's just too impossible to believe happened by accident," or "evolution doesn't explain the existence of the universe and everything in it." i am not very well-versed on the topic but these comments boggle my mind.

watch more Nova. I think they devoted an entire show to explaining the evolutionary development of simple light and dark eyelike sensors into eyes that take in color, depth, complexity of detail, the whole nine yards.

more specifically, like tangerine trees and marmalade skies

Wait, so evolution explained this? Where was I?

I'm always surprised that creationists point to the "improbability" of the evolution of the eye as a point in their favour. The evolution of the eye is probably one of the most easily explainable! The eye has evolved independently over 40 different times in evolutionary history. Some animals living today are evolutionary "missing links" between not having an eye and having a very complex eye (i.e. a sensor being able to only sense night/day, not colour, direction of light, or contrast). There is a whole chapter devoted to this in Climbing Mt. Improbably by Richard Dawkins.

a young dawkins on the evolution of the eyes and wings.

part 1

part 2

part 3

SILLY CB! Eyes did not evolve! They're too perfect. God did it!!!


No seriously, awesome, I will watch these when I go home tonight.