Spanning evolutionary biology, genetics, development, neurobiology, endocrinology and psychology, as well as current events and sports, students explore the complexities of the biology of sex.
After a chance discovery in the lab, this team used IVF to make hundreds of coral babies for restoration projects in New South Wales. So far the IVF babies are doing well in the wild.
Climate change and the nuclear threat are raising concerns about our planet’s future ability to support human life. If we launch a species survival mission, who should go?
Few animals have babies without sex, so biologists assumed asexual reproduction must have evolutionary drawbacks. But a self-cloning Australian grasshopper shows things might be more complicated.
Researchers were surprised to find two female condors had managed to hatch chicks that had no fathers. But virgin birth does not seem to produce healthy birds that could strengthen the population.
Disasters highlight the cost of society’s love of efficiency. Nature, in contrast, favors resilience. Being more like nature offers benefits for society, especially in the face of the climate crisis.
Mercedes Burns, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Parthenogenesis, a form of reproduction in which an egg develops into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm, might be more common than you realized.
Sexual organs similar to what we see in sharks and rays today appeared many millions of years ago in much more primitive ancient fishes than was previously thought.
Rotifers are tiny creatures found in ponds or puddles and can reproduce without sex. The theory says they should not have survived so how have they done it?
Evolution also does not claim humans evolved from primates. Neither does it say non-human primates, including monkeys, baboons, chimpanzees and gorillas, will evolve into humans with time.
The fossilized plant Montsechia relied on water to disseminate its genetic material and may rewrite the book on when and how the first flowering plants evolved.
Recent research into the health effects of the plastic-making chemicals phthalates has reignited concerns about low sperm counts. But the evidence is far from conclusive.