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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Smart Stimulation: Zoo Conservation For 21st Century Zoos, Lauren Retallack Apr 2008

Smart Stimulation: Zoo Conservation For 21st Century Zoos, Lauren Retallack

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

According to a 1992 survey, "an estimated 102 million people, more than attend professional football, baseball, and basketball games combined, visit 162 accredited North American zoos and aquariums each year" (2). People frequent zoos for a variety of reasons, from entertaining children for a few hours, to learning about the wildlife which inhabits their region and foreign places. Regardless of intent, once at the zoo, visitors are presented with a unique opportunity to learn about conservation and the plights of endangered species. It is the job of zoo directors, keepers, staff, and volunteers to get people thinking about conservation while …


Ancient Dna Identification Of Early 20th Century Simian T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1, Sebastien Calvignac, Jean-Michel Terme, Shannon M. Hensley, Pierre Jalinot, Alex D. Greenwood, Catherine Hanni Jan 2008

Ancient Dna Identification Of Early 20th Century Simian T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1, Sebastien Calvignac, Jean-Michel Terme, Shannon M. Hensley, Pierre Jalinot, Alex D. Greenwood, Catherine Hanni

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The molecular identification of proviruses from ancient tissues (and particularly from bones) remains a contentious issue. It can be expected that the copy number of proviruses will be low, which magnifies the risk of contamination with retroviruses from exogenous sources. To assess the feasibility of paleoretrovirological studies, we attempted to identify proviruses from early 20th century bones of museum specimens while following a strict ancient DNA methodology. Simian T-cell leukemia virus type 1 sequences were successfully obtained and authenticated from a Chlorocebus pygerythrus specimen. This represents the first clear evidence that it will be possible to use museum specimens to …