Science Buzz Lunch in Mixer Room, Bldg 1, Room 214, April 1, 2013
Topics discussed included:
1) A recent report in National Geographic magazine about the seasonal migration of Galapgos Island adult (but not juvenile) Galapagos Tortoises
from low elevation to higher elevation (a distance of about 6 km at a speed of 300 m/day) during the dry season. This migration was known to local people, but not known to scientists until recently. We discussed how this migration might favor the survival of the juveniles due to decreased competition for food resources (grass) during the dry season.
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1234150
Topics discussed included:
1) A recent report in National Geographic magazine about the seasonal migration of Galapgos Island adult (but not juvenile) Galapagos Tortoises
from low elevation to higher elevation (a distance of about 6 km at a speed of 300 m/day) during the dry season. This migration was known to local people, but not known to scientists until recently. We discussed how this migration might favor the survival of the juveniles due to decreased competition for food resources (grass) during the dry season.
2) A recent report about a series of fascinating links between toxoplasmosis and animal and human behavior in which the obligate, intracellular, parasitic protozoan (Toxoplasma gondii) that causes toxoplasmosis affects host behavior in a way favorable to transmission of the parasite by inducing formation of GABA by dendrites that carry the parasite.
3) Some prospects for rational design of effective immunogens for rapidly evolving, weakly immunogenic viral pathogens such as HIV, as described in the recent paper
Rational HIV Immunogen Design to Target Specific Germline B Cell Receptors
by Joseph Jardine et al.
