Agriculture and Life Sciences News ? Websites of Interest

The APS Archive of Teaching Resources: A Collaborative Digital Library of Life Sciences: The American Physiological Society (APS) Archive of Teaching Resources is a digital library of peer-reviewed science teaching resources that contains over 2,200 lesson plans, teaching journal articles, and audiovisual materials. A range of learned societies contribute materials to the archive, including the APS itself and the International Union of Physiological Societies. On the homepage, visitors can click on the Featured area for a nice introduction to some of the most popular materials on the site. Here they can look over the Top 100 resources for use with K-12 students, undergrads, graduate students, and those in continuing education. Moving along, the Research Bytes area contains links to recent news items that cover everything from brain fatigue to exercise strategies that successfully combat Type 2 diabetes. Visitors are encouraged to sign up for their own account on the site, which will allow them to save and categorize resources for their own use.

CAST: The Science Source for Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Issues: The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) was formed in 1972 as a result of a meeting sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences? National Research Council. CAST?s mission is to ?assemble, interpret, and communicate credible science-based information regionally, nationally, and internationally to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector and the public.? Visitors will find the Education tab near the top of the page to be particularly helpful for those who want to pursue agricultural careers or learn about agricultural education, such as 4-H or Future Farmers of America. The CAST Videos section has a number of PowerPoint presentations on current topics of importance in agriculture, such as ?The Science and Regulation of Food from Genetically Engineered Animals,? ?Food Safety and Fresh Produce,? and ?Probiotics in Human Health.? A number of the papers that accompany the PowerPoint presentations are available for free.

iBioSeminars: Cone Snail Peptides: Have you ever considered the venom of a snail? Most people think of snakes when they think of venom, but overlook snails. There are, however, almost 10.000 species of venomous predatory snails according to this engaging lecture from Professor Baldomero Olivera. In his talk, Professor Olivera explores how these venoms have been used to understand the nervous system and develop new drugs. The lecture is divided into three different sections, and visitors shouldn?t miss Part 2 (?How a Fish Hunting Snail Captures Its Prey?). Visitors are also welcome to download the entire lecture and the accompanying slides. Topic areas for other lectures include Biological Mechanisms; Bio Techniques; Cell Biology & Medicine; Chemical Biology & Biophysics; Developmental Biology & Evolution; Ecology & Behavior; Global Health & Energy; and Neuroscience.

The Seed Biology Place: This remarkable site was created by Professor Gerhard Leubner and his colleagues at the University of Freiburg in Germany. Here, visitors can take advantage of a veritable cornucopia of reference materials related to seed biology, such as diagrams and illustrations of seed germination, plant hormones, endosperm weakening, and seed dormancy. Neophytes may wish to start by looking at the Seed Structure and Anatomy area, which features a concise and well-written overview of the structure, anatomy, and morphology of mature seeds. The same section contains information on the seed structure of the castor bean and other legumes. Another fascinating section on the site is dedicated to Seed Evolution. Visitors can discover a wealth of information here, including such topics as the evolutionary trends of angiosperm seeds and the seed ferns of the Late Permian period.

What is Bioinformatics?: For students studying genetics and biology, this very nice bioinformatics tutorial from Bates College will be most useful. Created by staff members in the chemistry and biology departments, the tutorial is designed to help students learn about how to compare the molecular structures of different enzymes and also how to use online DNA and protein sequence databases. The tutorial contains step-by-step instructions, complemented by screen shots and other illustrative materials. Visitors can also use the sections on the homepage to browse around the different areas of the tutorial. Also, the site contains a host of additional links to other sites that address some of the basic principles behind bioinformatics.

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