Credit: Hellenic policeGreece’s police announced that a 39-year-old retired boxer is dead after a drive-by shooting on Monday morning in southern Athens, in what appears to be a mafia-style execution.Tasos Berdesis, a former Greek champion, was shot on Andrea Papandreou Street in Vari. Investigators say Berdesis was shot several times while sitting in the front…
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Two beetles donated to the London Institution by a farmer were found to be nearly 4,000 years old, scientists say.
The two beetles were donated by a farmer who was scared that they might be invasive pests that might threaten crops. The farmer was from eastern England and found the two insects when he was gathering wood and ploughing. They were dead when he found them. He submitted them to the institution with the large wet oak tree they inhabited. After examination it was concluded that they weren t harmful, hence they were stuffed in a drawer.
(Photo : Pixabay)
New Discovery About The Bog Beetles
(Photo : Wikimedia Commons )
Scientists have seen how the Colorado potato beetle earns its reputation as a notorious pest because of its capability of resisting various kinds of pesticides.
A research team led by University of Vermont professor Yolanda Chen found that the beetles resist imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide, by managing their DNA. The beetles do this not by changing their genetic code, but instead by altering their DNA regulation.
They do this by turning particular genes off or on through DNA methylation. It is an epigenetic strategy that allows the beetles to shore up their defenses, probably by putting certain genes into overdrive that helps them tolerate many toxins. These strategies may be in the form of an enzyme flush or a more rapid excretion rate.