Synthetic Mycoplasma bacteria, TEM

Synthetic Mycoplasma bacteria, coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM). The first self-replicating bacteria cell controlled by a synthetic genome was developed by scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute, and announced in May 2010. The work involved producing a modified version of the Mycoplasma mycoides genome and inserting it into a Mycoplasma capricolum shell that had had its genetic material removed.

Cloning cows, nuclear transfer

Cloning cows, nuclear transfer. Light micrograph of an egg (female reproductive cell) from a cow (Bos taurus) being manipulated by a micropipette (right) and needle (left) during the nuclear transfer stage of the cloning process. At this stage the genetic material from another cell is transferred into an egg cell which has had its genetic material removed. The work is being carried out at the Bio Sidus biotechnology company, in Argentina, which successfully cloned a cow in 2002. The cloned cows are intended to be used to produce human growth hormone (hGH) in their milk. Magnification: x150 when printed at 10 centimetres wide.

Telomere binding protein, molecular model

Telomere binding protein. Molecular model of a TRF2 molecule (blue) bound to DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, yellow and orange). TRF2 binds to telomeres, short repeated sequences at the ends of a chromosome. The complex between the protein and DNA helps to protect the chromosome against degradation and recombination.

Top Ten Discoveries of 2010 | Odd Species Found Off Greenland

Odd Species Found Off Greenland

Photograph courtesy Julius Nielsen, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources

Looking like a creature from the Alien movies, this nightmarish "longhead dreamer" anglerfish was until recently an alien species to Greenland waters (map).

The dreamer, which grows to a not-so-monstrous 6.7 inches (17 centimeters) long, is 1 of 38 fish species found around the Arctic island for the first time, according to a study released in February.

Ten of the species new to Greenland are new to science, too. All 38 were discovered since the last such survey in 1992.

Top Ten Discoveries of 2010 | Lizard Evolving for Live Birth

Lizard Evolving for Live Birth

Photograph courtesy Rebecca A. Pyles

Evolution has been caught in the act, according to a study we covered this summer suggesting that a species of Australian lizard is abandoning egg-laying in favor of live birth.

Along the warm coastal lowlands of New South Wales (map), the yellow-bellied three-toed skink lays eggs to reproduce. But individuals of the same species living in the state's higher, colder mountains are almost all giving birth to live young.

"Yoda Bat," Other Rarities Found | Top Discoveries of 2010

"Yoda Bat," Other Rarities Found

Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International

This tube-nosed fruit bat—immortalized elsewhere as the "Yoda bat"—is just one of the roughly 200 species encountered during two scientific expeditions to Papua New Guinea in 2009, including a katydid that "aims for the eyes" and a frog that does a mean cricket impression, Conservation International announced in October.

Though seen on previous expeditions, the bat has yet to be formally documented as a new species, or even named. Like other fruit bats, though, it disperses seeds from the fruit in its diet, perhaps making the flying mammal crucial to its tropical rain forest ecosystem.

In all, the expeditions to Papua New Guinea's Nakanai and Muller mountain ranges found 24 new species of frogs, 2 new mammals, and nearly a hundred new insects. The remote island country's mountain ranges—which have yielded troves of new and unusual species in recent years—are accessible only by plane, boat, foot, or helicopter.

BLOOD COAGULATION

BLOOD COAGULATION Coagulation (1/3). (Cf. images no. 11796 05 and no. 11797 05 for stages 2 and 3) Coagulation, stage 1: following a vascular spasm, blood platelets immediately form a haemostatic plug, blocking the wound.