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Science In Action: 18/09/2009

18/09/2009

BBC World Service - Science In Action, 18/09/2009

Tiny T rex ancestor;DNA barcode to track bushmeat;Lake Balkhash;cure for colourblindness?

T rex’s ancestor was same but much smaller; DNA barcode to track bushmeat species; finding out what’s causing Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan to dry out; a cure for red-green colour blindness

A fossil find in northern China has shown that the classic Tyrannosaurus rex body shape evolved tens of millions of years earlier, just in a much smaller form.


The trade in bush meat is changing.  Wild animal meat in Asia, South and Central America and West and Central Africa is getting too expansive for the locals to buy, yet overseas, international trade is growing.  Conservationists are worried about rare species being exploited.  Now scientists have found a way of determining the species of animal from just a hunk of dried meat or a scrap of leather – using a DNA barcode method.


Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan is the second largest Asian lake next to the Caspian Sea.  But there are worried that the shallow lake is drying out.  Robin Forrestier-Walker goes out with scientists sampling the lake to see if they can find out if it’s a natural fluctuation or whether man is having an influence.


Red-green colour blindness, whilst not the most debilitating genetic disorder, is a problem for sufferers.  Scientists have managed to correct this problem in monkeys using gene therapy.  Overcoming the issue of whether the brain can cope with this sudden sensory overload of colour from the eyes.  Will it work in humans?

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