Philanthropic funders: team up to jump-start innovative science
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Related Concept Videos
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Altruistic behaviors are “unselfish” behaviors—those that help another individual at the expense of the individual carrying out the behavior. Despite the negative consequences for the altruistic animal, these behaviors are thought to have evolved for several reasons.
Reasons for Altruistic Behaviors
First, most altruistic behavior occurs between individuals that are related. Altruism is particularly pronounced in animals that live in colonies with one reproductively capable...
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The scientific method is a detailed, empirical problem-solving process used by biologists and other scientists. This iterative approach involves formulating a question based on observation, developing a testable potential explanation for the observation (called a hypothesis), making and testing predictions based on the hypothesis, and using the findings to create new hypotheses and predictions.
Generally, predictions are tested using carefully-designed experiments. Based on the outcome of these...
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Speciation describes the formation of one or more new species from one or sometimes multiple original species. The resulting species are discrete from the parent species, and barriers to reproduction will typically exist. There are two primary mechanisms, speciation with and without geographic isolation—allopatric and sympatric speciation, respectively.
Allopatric Speciation
In allopatric speciation, gene flow between two populations of the same species is prevented by a geographic...
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To learn more about the function of a gene, researchers can observe what happens when the gene is inactivated or “knocked out,” by creating genetically engineered knockout animals. Knockout mice have been particularly useful as models for human diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes.
The Process
Genes can be randomly knocked out, or specific genes can be targeted. To knock out a particular gene, an engineered piece of DNA called a targeting vector is used...