The plight of the Great Barrier Reef has been reported at length for the last decade. In 2003, an article in Science, believed that part of this decline was due to the loss of herbivores. According to the authors the loss of herbivores and preadators exposed the reef to pollution and natural disasters of which it could not recover. This is due to the fact that when a reef is damaged it can usually recover if it is not overrun with algae, which herbivores eat. If the algae is left to grow unchecked it becomes tall, like grass that has not been mowed for a while, preventing common herbivore fish from being able to clean up the mess. Recently researchers at James Cook University noticed a new fish in town.

Prof. Bellwood and fellow researcher Rebecca Fox commented “To our surprise and disappointment, the fish that usually ‘mow’ the reef – parrot fishes and surgeon fish - were of little help when it came to suppressing well established weedy growth. Most herbivores simply avoided the big weeds.
 
“Then, to our even greater surprise a fish we had never seen in this area before was observed grazing on the weed. The rabbit fish (Siganus canaliculatus), came out of nowhere and began to clear-fell the weed placed on the reef crest. The rabbit fish is not a fish you tend to take a lot of notice of,” Prof. Bellwood explains. “Like its terrestrial counterpart, it is brown, bland and easily overlooked – but it could be very important when it comes to protecting the GBR. We hadn’t seen it previously at this site despite conducting over 100 visual censuses. This made its appearance in numbers sufficient to check the weedy growth all the more remarkable.”

This is great news for such an amazing natural wonder. We at Biotech Mashup salute the hard work and strong work ethic of the rabbit fish.

The European Space Agency working with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization have announced a new land cover, the observed biophysical cover of the earth’s surface, map. The map, called GlobCover, is based upon twenty Terabytes of data and will offer resolution ten times greater than any previous attempt. Current Plans are for the map to be released freely to the public sometime after it’s completion in July.

Scientist will use the map to continue to further refine climate models, analyze the impact of human development, and help manage resources. GlobCover comprises of twenty two different land types and is compatible with the UN Land Cover Classification System. John Latham of FAO said ”The GlobCover product will be the first freely available product at 300m resolution and is therefore a milestone product which will be fundamental to broad level stakeholder community.”

Biotech Mashup is eager to see the final product and cannot wait for the inevitable Google Earth modification. A demonstration of the current map is available in the link.

Researchers at Rockefeller University have published in Science the first chemical mechanism on how DEET, mosquito repellent, works on mosquito’s preventing them from biting humans. According to the paper DEET inhibits signals from the olfactory co-receptor  OR83b. This receptor responds to 1-octen-3-ol, a chemical secreted by humans. When DEET is sprayed on human skin it competitively binds to OR83b preventing the mosquito from detecting 1-octen-3-ol.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services DEET has a range of side effects on humans, from skin rashes and seizures to eight reported deaths since 1961. Due to these effects many people do not use DEET, even though mosquitoes carry a multitude of diseases which can be passed to humans. With this recent research, many home remedies such as Citronella, lemongrass, peppermint, eucalyptus, cedarwood, and garlic, can be tested and compared to DEET to see if they behave similarly and can be made into a commercial product. Biotech Mashup can not wait for the day that everyone is spreading peppermint garlic butter on their skins to prevent mosquito bites.

Next time you go to put a handful of fresh, fluffy, white snow into your mouth, think bacteria. A recent report in Science Magazine found that bacteria often function as nuclei in forming snowflakes, a surprisingly common side job for them. Snowflake formation requires the presence of some particulate matter in order to condense around. Atmospheric dust would be the obvious contender. Snow samples were taken from widely dispersed areas including Antarctica, France, Montana and the Yukon, although most bacteria were found in French snow (for whatever that tidbit is worth). In some samples, bacteria comprised up to 85% of snowflake nuclei.

Since cloud seeding is an important way for humans to influence precipitation, this research begs the question of how we can put this knowledge to use to increase snow fall in otherwise lacking areas (ski resorts and drought areas, for instance). Blowing bacteria into the sky may not be the best solution, but by studying what makes bacteria one of nature’s first choices for snow formation, we might be able to come up with something that is both eco-friendly and equally as efficient.