Why don't more animals change their sex?
Most animals, like humans, have separate sexes - they are born, live out their lives and reproduce as one sex or the other. However, some animals live as one sex in part of their lifetime and then switch to the other sex, a phenomenon called sequential hermaphroditism. view more (2009-02-04)
Pollutant threat to oyster industry
A study published today reveals that a common industrial chemical causes sexual deformities in oysters, producing large numbers of hermaphrodite animals. The chemical, nonylphenol, is a breakdown product from a surfactant widely used in detergents, dispersing agents, herbicides, spermicides and cosmetics. Dr Helen Nice who undertook this study at... view more... (2003-07-14)
Hermaphroditic plants have genetic advantage in areas where extinctions are frequent
In one of the first studies to empirically compare the reproductive success of hermaphrodites and male and female populations, biologists from the University of Oxford make use of the rare and extreme sexual diversity displayed in a species of European weed to test the hypothesis that hermaphrodites have been selected in regions with frequent... view more... (2006-02-22)
First experimental evidence for speedy adaptation to pesticides by worm species
Scientists at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC) and the Faculty of Science of the University of Lisbon, in Portugal, have shown that populations of the worm Caenhorabditis elegans become resistance to pesticides in 20 generations, that is, in only 80 days. view more (2008-12-18)
Living laboratory found on shoreline statues
A team from the University of Liverpool's School of Biological Sciences have found that the 100 life-size statues which make up Antony Gormley's 'Another Place' art installation on Crosby Beach have become a haven for a settlement of a particular breed of barnacle-Elminius modestus. view more (2006-10-23)
Science Of Strawberries
Goran Ivanisevic's offer to serve strawberries at this year's Wimbledon may be a more useful job than he imagined. As well as delicious with cream, this symbol of the summer could help fight cancer according to scientists. Research has shown that natural plant chemicals in strawberries can inhibit the growth of cancer cells. And now scientists at... view more... (2003-06-19)
Mate or hibernate? That's the question worm pheromones answer
If worms could talk, they might tell potential suitors, "I like the way you wriggle," complete with that telltale come slither look. view more (2008-07-25)
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