New Tick-Borne Virus Discovered

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control Prevention) has reported the discovery of a new virus belonging to the genus Thogotovirus.  It was discovered after blood samples taken from a Kansas patient were analyzed for tick-borne illnesses.  Unfortunately, the patient died from complications of the infection. 

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/5/15-0150_article

Five Mutations in H5N1 Bird Flu Will Make It Transmissible to Humans

This is truly worrying news.  The Spanish flu killed millions of people in 1918, and it is possible that another pandemic could come our way.  Scientists have discovered that the flu strain H5N1 needs just five mutations to become transmissible to humans.  What this means is that presently, H5N1 is not a threat to humans, but if the virus acquires the necessary gene mutations, it will make the jump to humans and could spread like wildfire.

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-bird-flu-five-mutations-20140410,0,6818032.story

Scientists Revive 30,000 Year-Old Virus

Scientists have revived a 30,000 year-old virus from Siberian ice.  This virus, named Pithovirus sibericum, even resumed its infectious activity after being thawed out.  It is also a very large virus, measuring 1.5 micrometers (that's larger than some bacteria).

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/giant-virus-resurrected-from-30000-year-old-ice/

This article caught my eye.  A neurobiologist won a micro-photography contest by snapping a picture of the carnivorous aquatic plant known as the "humped bladderwort".

http://www.livescience.com/41973-carnivorous-plant-image-wins-bioscapes-competition.html 

Been away for a while!  Anyway, here are some nice pictures.  In the first picture, we can see a human blood smear viewed at 400x magnification.  Clearly visible are numerous red blood cells along with some white blood cells.  The second picture is of cardiac tissue, with nuclei clearly visible due to staining.  One of the distinct features of cardiac tissue are the striations, which unfortunately are not visible in the picture.  For a good example of these striations, see the following:


http://www.kumc.edu/instruction/medicine/anatomy/histoweb/muscular/muscle16.htm

This is a video of a Tardigrade (Phylum Tardigrada), a microscopic animal.  Also known as "water bears", these organisms are truly one of nature's most amazing sights.  Research has shown that they can survive for years without water and can even survive in the vacuum of space, even when exposed to high levels of radiation!  This is due to a remarkable adaptation, namely the ability to assume an inactive state.  This state is known as a "tun".

They are typically found in dried lichen or moss.  Once exposed to water, water bears will come out of their inactive form.  When I first collected a sample of moss from a tree in my backyard, I found nothing resembling tuns, although there were some strong candidates.  When I checked a day later, I came upon the water bear shown in the video.  It may have been in its inactive state for months or even years.

The above are pictures I took on my microscope of one of my favorite microscopic organisms, Blepharisma.  This ciliate can be easily distinguished from other protists by its size and its reddish color, which is usually present in darker environments.  When viewed in areas with bright light, Blepharisma loses its reddish color.  This is due to the reduced production of a pigment in areas of bright light.

Notice in the above pictures, the organisms have ingested other protists.  The one on the bottom has ingested a large protist.  In the first picture, the ingested food is encircled by a clearly visible food vacuole, which digests the ingested food.