Genecks Posted September 1, 2010 Share Posted September 1, 2010 (edited) Interesting article I came across while viewing sciencedaily.com a few days ago. I thought the stuff was cool and quite critical. I suspect when I get a chance, I'll be looking into the original articles For now, I suspect some of you who like studying modern biology and various aspects of animal/bug psychology and sociology would find this article an interesting read. As follows, there is a link and a bit from the article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100826141221.htm Genomes of Two Ant Species Sequenced: Clues to Their Extraordinary Social Behavior Dr. Reinberg has devoted most of his career to understanding the molecular machinery that determines how genes are turned on and off. He is especially interested in how epigenetics may influence longevity -- in some ant colonies the queens live up to ten times longer than worker ants. Although he was always fascinated by ants, it took years for the technology to catch up with the inspiration to study the interaction of epigenetics with longevity and behavior in these animals. Edited September 1, 2010 by Genecks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmydasaint Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 I have gathered what I deemed to be the salient parts of the article below: In fact, Dr. Reinberg and his colleagues found an over-expression of proteins linked to longevity, including the enzyme telomerase, in these replacement queens. Interestingly, replacement queens also contained an abundance of small RNAs, short stretches of genetic material that fine tune gene expression in many organisms, including humans. ...Even though these two types of worker ants begin life remarkably similar, epigenetics sculpt their brains and behaviors in different ways leading to their specialized tasks. Comparing major and minor workers, Dr. Reinberg and his team discovered large differences in the expression of genes that function in the brain, a small but important step toward understanding how genes influence behavior in ants... ...The next challenge is to start manipulating the genome of ants so that we can learn the function of specific genes related to aging and behavior. Article This is an absolutely fascinating field of study, no doubt. It would be useful to have an epigenomic study, or an epigenetic map of the ant genomes at the level of vital genes, for example, to study histone protein modifications or methylation patterns, and to examine their effects. It almost seems to be Neo Lamarckian, in the sense that the switching of genes 'on' or 'off' by factors that are not DNA based has a huge effect on the development of ant behaviour. IIRC, there was a longitudinal study on the 'happiness' of people whose forefathers had experienced starvation and those whose forefathers were well fed with a balanced diet. Guess which set of people were more likely to be mentally content? My problem is that you have several layers of complexity involved and that gene interactions are likely to have several effects rather than a single cause leading to a single effect. I think this is called pleiotropy and, IMHO, it will be difficult to unravel all the effects of genes on each other before looking at epigenetic effects. Great find Genecks and it deserves more replies really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted September 4, 2010 Share Posted September 4, 2010 (edited) What did the Pink Panther say after stepping on an ant? dead ant, dead ant, dead ant dead ant dead ant, dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant... Hi ho silver..... Edited September 4, 2010 by Moontanman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmydasaint Posted September 4, 2010 Share Posted September 4, 2010 What did the Pink Panther say after stepping on an ant? dead ant, dead ant, dead ant dead ant dead ant, dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant... Hi ho silver..... I think this post needs clarification, if I read it correctly. Listen to the main part of the tune and replace 'durunt, durunt, durunt, durunt, durunt' by 'dead ant', 'dead ant', 'dead ant'....I can't believe that I am trying to explain the Pink Panther tune or if I understood your post Moontanman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moontanman Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 (edited) My apologies jimmy you are entirely correct, the original question was, "What did the Pink Panther say after stepping on an ant?" The correct answer to that would been "nothing", The Pink Panther never spoke. What I was remembering was The Blue Aardvark, who at least once, asked that question as he tried to step on a bunch of ants and as he stomped around he said "Dead ant, dead ant, Dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant, dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant ... which should be in the style of The Lone Ranger theme song.... edit: In later years new Pink Panther cartoons did allow the pink panther to speak, I never saw those... Edited September 5, 2010 by Moontanman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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