Charles Darwin.
Charles Darwin British scientist, who laid the foundation of modern evolutionary theory with his concept of the development of all forms of life through the slow-working process of natural selection. His work has been of major influence on the life and Earth sciences and on modern thought in general. Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, on February 12, 1809, Darwin was the fifth child of a wealthy and sophisticated family. His maternal grandfather was the successful china and pottery entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood; his paternal grandfather was the well-known 18th-century doctor, poet, and savant Erasmus Darwin. His father was a successful provincial physician with a dominant personality; his mother died when Charles was only eight, after which time he was looked after by his elder sisters. Known as a rather ordinary student, Darwin left Shrewsbury School in 1825 and went to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. Finding himself squeamish at the sight of human blood and suffering, Darwin left Edinburgh and went to the University of Cambridge, in preparation for a life as a Church of England clergyman, which he thought would best allow him to pursue his increasing interest in natural history. At Cambridge he came under the influence of two figures: Adam Sedgwick, a geologist, and John Stevens Henslow, a botanist. Henslow not only helped build Darwin's self-confidence but also
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a world leading research-based pharmaceutical company with a powerful combination of skills and resources that provides a platform for delivering strong growth in today's rapidly changing healthcare environment.
INTRODUCTION GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a world leading research-based pharmaceutical company with a powerful combination of skills and resources that provides a platform for delivering strong growth in today's rapidly changing healthcare environment. GSK's mission is to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. Headquartered in the UK and with operations based in the US, the new company is one of the industry leaders, with an estimated seven per cent of the world's pharmaceutical market. GSK also has leadership in four major therapeutic areas - anti-infectives, central nervous system (CNS), respiratory and gastro-intestinal/metabolic. In addition, it is a leader in the important area of vaccines and has a growing portfolio of oncology products. The company also has a Consumer Healthcare portfolio comprising over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, oral care products and nutritional healthcare drinks, all of which are among the market leaders. Based on 2001 Annual Results, GSK had sales of £20.5 billion ($29.5 billion) and profit before tax of £6.2 billion ($8.8 billion). Pharmaceutical sales accounted for £17.2 billion ($24.8 billion) with new products representing 22% of total pharmaceutical sales. GSK had four products with sales of over $1 billion and a total of 16 products with sales in excess of $500 million. GSK
Review and discuss the significance of animal cloning (such as: Dolly the sheep)
Review and discuss the significance of animal cloning (such as: Dolly the sheep) Animal Cloning is the production of one or more identical copies of a genome of a particular animal. Embryo splitting (or blastomere separation) and nuclear transfer are two methods by which animals may be cloned. Both of these methods require gestation in the uterus to attain complete development. Embryo splitting is the process whereby an embryo has its cells (blastomeres) separated soon after fertilization at the 2nd, 4th or 8th cell stage. At this stage, each cell is considered to be at a stage where the genetic material has not been programmed to develop into a select tissue, it is undifferentiated and can therefore develop into a variety of tissues, or a complete organism given the correct conditions. This is referred to as totipotency and it allows scientists to split animal embryos into several cells to produce multiple organisms that are genetically identical. Modern techniques begin with stripping the embryo of the protective layer. After each blastomere has been separated from the embryo mass, the cell is encased in its own protective synthetic layer. Each blastomere cell, is now considered a new separate embryo and is cultured in vitro and later in vivo in a surrogate mother until birth (Roberge, 2004). Cloning by nuclear transfer is based on the concept that the animal's genome is
Horse Evolution
Horse Evolution The horse family is a classic example of evolution and is supported by extensive fossil evidence. It has been comprehensively studied to form possibly the most complete evolution of any animal after humans. Horses are believed to have first appeared around 55 million years ago in the form of the Hyracotherium, or 'hyrax-like beast' (The World Book Encyclopedia). They originally inhabited North America and Europe, where the oldest fossils of possible ancestors were found (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007). The Przewalski's Horse, Equus ferus przewalskii or Equus caballus przewalskii, belongs to the family Equidae in the order Perissodactyla, which means odd-toed ungulates (Wikipedia, 2007). Animals in this order all have hoofed feet with an odd number of toes, mobile upper lips and similar tooth structure. Other animal families in this order are tapirs and rhinoceroses. In the evolution of the horse, the change of the teeth, toes, legs and overall shape of the body are of particular significance. These characteristics evolved as adaptations to changes in their environment and the progress from a smaller minor species to one of the largest species today. The equids diet began to change from foliage to grasses when grasses first began to flourish, causing the equids to have larger and more durable teeth. Equids also became further under threat from predators as
Discuss the Need for Osmoregulation in animals, using specific examples and environments
Discuss the Need for Osmoregulation in animals, using specific examples and environments All external environments fluctuate frequently. They can be relatively stable with small stochastic changes, or extremely random. So, no matter in which habitat they live, all organisms have to have the ability to survive in changeable circumstances. This is the fundamental basis of homeostasis, the process of maintaining a relatively constant internal environment. One of the major factors in homeostasis is the process of maintaining a constant osmotic pressure. Osmotic pressure is "the pressure that can potentially be created by osmosis between two solutions separated by a semi-permeable membrane"(Eckert Animal Physiology). This osmotic pressure is effectively the amount of pressure necessary to prevent osmotic flow between two solutions, and so it is important to maintain this value at a constant rate. Water entering a cell with no cell wall, as in animals, at a high rate, can cause the cell to swell until it bursts. This can be fatal. By contrast, water leaving a cell down its concentration gradient can cause the cell to become flaccid and dehydrated to such an extent that it dies, because metabolic reactions cannot occur with the diluted solutes. Osmosis is the movement of water molecules only across a semi-permeable membrane down a concentration gradient. The amount of
"Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Ecologism as a new ethic."
"Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Ecologism as a new ethic." It is argued that "all ideologies are born of crisis."1 Starting from a shared sense that the world is not as it should be, ideologies attempt to explain or account for society's problematic features, and then on the basis of these explanations, they offer diagnoses and prescriptions for the perils of a troubled time. The crisis out of which Ecologism has emerged arises in connection with the ecological and environmental damage and degradation caused by population growth, pollution of air and water, the destruction of tropical rain forests, the rapid extinction of entire species of animals and plants and the so-called greenhouse effect - the warming of the earth's atmosphere due to the depletion of the protective ozone layer. This crisis is the result of human actions and practises over the last two centuries. Hence, a central concern of Ecologism as a political ideology is the relationship between human beings and their environment. Men tend to see nature as a resource base to be harnessed for such human purposes as growth and economic development. Humans have taken over, and despoiled, too much of the earth, all in the name of progress. They have clear-cut old-growth forests, destroyed animal habitats and entire ecosystems, dammed rivers, turned forested mount sides into ski slopes - all the while
Kin Recognition - Why should animals be able to recognise their kin? Can they? How?
Kin Recognition Why should animals be able to recognise their kin? Can they? How? Ethology concerns the interaction between the animal in question and it's environment. Perhaps one of the most interesting fields of ethology is how animals interact with each other. This could be noting the behaviours between predator and prey or interspecies competition, but the area that raises the most questions (mainly because so little is known about it) is that of how intraspecies behaviours occur and what are their underlying mechanisms. In this essay I will talk about one specific intraspecies behaviour, kin recognition, why animals do it, does it really occur and if so how it occurs. Kin recognition is best described in it broadest sense as being the differential treatment of conspecifics (including self) differing in genetic relatedness (Sherman & Holmes 1985). What this refers to is how an animal reacts in its behaviour towards members of its own species depending on how closely they are related. But this differential treatment must have a selection-based context, why do animals display different behaviours towards one another. The animals who perform these behaviours must derive some benefit, whether it be personal or through the constraints of selection. Surprisingly very little research has been performed on what the fitness consequences of kin selection are, mainly because
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"An ape, a most ill-favoured beast. How like us in all the rest?" (Cicero)[1]. How does Great Apes support this view?
"An ape, a most ill-favoured beast. How like us in all the rest?" (Cicero)1. How does Great Apes support this view? All literary works provide the reader with an escape - an escape into a world other than their own, where they can immerse themselves in someone else's life and adventures, and so for a while forget their own. However, the difference with Great Apes is that we are not actually allowed to forget our own world - instead we have to confront it. Will Self lets us begin the story in a recognisably human world, but then we are frighteningly transported into this chimp society, where we follow the journey of Simon Dykes, a former human, through this opposite but strangely similar world of chimpunity. Through the use of humour and satire the continuum of behaviour that links humans to apes is revealed, and this is what forces us to assess just what it means to be human. The novel clearly borrows from the Fourth book of Gulliver's Travels, where Lemuel Gulliver finds himself in a land where horses are the dominant species, and human beings are regarded as little more than savage animals. Self has taken this conceit a step further by making the dominant species chimpanzee's, which as we know from scientific research only differ from humans in approximately two percent of their DNA. Unlike Swift, who created a world which was completely unlike our own (and the
What are the impacts of interspecific hybrids on species conservation?
What are the impacts of interspecific hybrids on species conservation? Rates of hybridisation are increasing dramatically worldwide because of human activities such as the translocation of organisms, habitat fragmentation and modification. As a result, many species have faced, or are facing, extinction. However, hybridisation is also a natural process which has long been recognised as playing an important role in the evolution of plants, and recent studies have found that hybridisation has also played an important role in the evolution of animals. Thus, conservationists need to distinguish between species that have arisen through recent, anthropogenic means and those that have arisen through ancient, natural hybridisation. Conservation policies need to protect the latter species, and also reduce rates of anthropomorphic interspecific hybridisation. Humans often translocate organisms and introduce them into new areas, often with catastrophic effects on the native species. This problem is exemplified by the introduction of the ruddy duck Oxyura jamaicencis from North America into Europe. This species is closely related to the white-headed duck O. leucocephala which is commonly found in Britain and north-western Europe. If these two species meet they interbreed, and the abundance of the ruddy duck suggests that the outcome would be the eventual extinction of the native
Purpose Work - The Lake District
Wildlife For my purpose work in the Lake District I chose to study the wildlife in the area. Through photographs and observations on each route I noted the different things I saw. This was relatively easy to do as I found that the area was rich with nature. The wildlife proved interesting and it was something that the entire group found fascinating. The thing that made it so much more interesting was the variety of things. There were common farmyard animals but also many other things. I have, below, compiled information about the nature we saw. I have also used pictures to illustrate the text. Foot and Mouth Disease It was obvious when walking, the implication of Foot and Mouth Disease in the area. Many footpaths were closed and walkers were asked to be careful when walking. The situation was very bad although the disease had not had any outbreaks for a while. It was bad in the area due to the amount of farms around and the fact that many sheep roam around in the hills. Our paths were not actually affected but we saw many that were. Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly infectious viral disease in which fever is followed by the development of vesicles or blisters - chiefly in the mouth or on the feet. There are 7 main types of virus, which produce similar symptoms and which can only be differentiated in the laboratory. FMD can spread by direct or indirect contact with