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How Elk Hoof Disease Alters the Animal’s System

Elk treponeme-associated hoof disease, previously thought to be limited to deformations in elks’ hooves, appears to create molecular changes throughout the animal’s system, according to epigenetic research from Washington State University.

The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, also suggest those changes may be heritable. It remains to be seen though whether this means subsequent generations of elk may be more, or less, prone to catching the devastating disease that severely impairs the elk’s ability to find food and escape predators.

“It’s not just the absence or presence of the infection. It’s affecting the animal’s entire physiology, all the cells,” said senior author Michael Skinner, a WSU biologist. “It shows that there’s a molecular impact by the presence of the disease organisms.”

Epigenetics are stable molecular processes that can influence how genes behave independent of the DNA sequence itself. Changes in an organism’s epigenetics can be caused by nutrition or environmental factors – and as this study shows, by an infectious disease.

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Big Country News
Phys.org

Ask Dr. Universe: Why do whales use echolocation and what is it?

Toothed whales—like dolphins and belugas—might live in the ocean, but they have some big things in common with cave-dwelling bats. They’re all mammals that live in dark places and use echolocation.

Christine Portfors.
Portfors

That’s why I talked about your question with my friend Christine Portfors. She’s a biologist at Washington State University. Her lab keeps a colony of bats.

Many bats sleep in caves and zoom around at night. Their world is dark, so they use sounds and their echoes to perceive the world around them, which is called echolocation. Toothed whales live in dark oceans or murky rivers and lakes. That’s why they use echolocation, too.

“Whenever there isn’t enough light for an animal to do the things that it needs to do like navigate, collect food and find mates, then it has to use some other sensory system besides vision,” Portfors said. “So, they send out sound. That sound bounces off objects in their environment and comes back as an echo. They use those echoes to identify objects and navigate.”

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Ask Dr. Universe

Ask Dr. Universe: How does hair grow?

My whole body is covered in thick, glossy cat fur. Humans look mostly furless. But people grow hair on every part of their bodies except the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Most human hair is just super fine and hard to see.

That’s what my friend Edward Johnson told me. He teaches classes about the human body in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University.

He also told me hair grows from follicles. Those are special organs in the top layer of the skin. Everything you need to grow hair is inside the follicle.

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Ask Dr. Universe

Some Lake Erie anglers consider algae blooms helpful — but what are the health implications?

Anglers say fish gather under blooms. Scientists say fish show levels of a liver toxin

Despite often being described as smelly and not nice to look at, algae blooms can be helpful when it comes to catching more fish in Lake Erie.

Rene Shahmohamadloo.
Shahmohamadloo

René Shahmohamadloo has published a research paper on how Lake Erie fish are safe to eat despite being afflicted by algal hepatotoxins, but he’s also concerned about the health of the fish.

The ecotoxicologist and postdoctoral scientist said he hopes his work can advocate for a “voiceless” fish population.

“What about the fish themselves who have no choice but to swim in these potentially very toxic baths?” said Shahmohamadloo, who’s dually affiliated with Washington State University’s School of Biological Sciences and the University of Guelph in Ontario.

“I find it fascinating how we can look at this story because it shows how human centric we’ve become … if it’s not an issue to us as a human species, let’s keep life going on.”

After two rounds of sampling, Shahmohamadloo said their study suggests the levels of concentrations would be of concern to fish population growth and development.

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CBC News
The Weather Network

Six WSU faculty named new members of Washington State Academy of Sciences

Mechthild Tegeder.
Tegeder
Tahira Probst.
Probst
Jan Dasgupta.
Dasgupta

Three members of CAS faculty are among six WSU professors recently elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS): Nairanjana Dasgupta, in mathematics and statistics and data analytics; Tahira Probst in psychology; and Mechthild Tegeder in biological sciences.

They are part of the 29-member class of 2023 inductees who join the nonprofit organization with a mission to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.

“WSAS is proud to elevate these exceptional individuals for the many ways in which they have advanced scientific and engineering excellence,” said John Roll, WSAS president and WSU professor and vice dean of research at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. “We look forward to engaging them in addressing complex societal challenges not only for the benefit of the citizens of Washington state but for all citizens of the world.”

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WSU Insider