Testament: Oh dear! My opponent is attempting to close the distance on me so that they may inflict physical harm on me and win the match on their own terms! If only there were some way for me to keep them at bay....
Largest animal genome sequenced — and just 1 chromosome is the size of the entire human genome
Scientists sequenced the largest known animal genome in a species of lungfish — ancient fish that breathe air.
Scientists have sequenced the largest known animal genome — and it's 30 times bigger than the human genome.
The genome belongs to the South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa), a primeval, air-breathing fish that "hops" onto land from the water using weird, limb-like fins. The fish's DNA code expanded dramatically over the past 100 million years of evolutionary history, racking up the equivalent of one human genome every 10 million years, researchers found.
The findings could shed light on how genomes expand across the tree of life...
Read more: Largest animal genome sequenced — and just 1 chromosome is the size of the entire human genome | Live Science
A special eye protein is helping birds to “see” Earth’s magnetic field! If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.
The ability to see Earth’s magnetic field, known as magnetoreception, relies on the presence of specifically the blue wavelength of light. The complex process involves “radical” intermediate molecules which are sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field. The Earth’s magnetic field, as it relates to the direction the bird is facing, could alter the intermediate radical molecules differently, giving the bird a sense for where it is facing in relation to the Earth’s magnetic field.
While the exact way birds visualize Earth’s magnetic field is part of further investigation, scientists believe the Cry4 protein acts as sort of a filter over the bird’s vision. This filter would allow birds to see a sort of compass of the Earth and direct their migratory flights accordingly.