Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle

Sponsored by the American Physiological Society

Archive for July 2021

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What can hibernators teach us about obesity? Q&A with Dr. Courtney Kurtz, University of Wisconsin

We are pleased to talk with Dr. Courtney Kurtz, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh about her research on hibernation and how her research might lead to treatments for obesity. Ground squirrels are a natural model organism for many physiological processes. Can you tell us why you use ground squirrels in your research?  ​Ground squirrels are hibernators.  They spend the majority of the winter in a […]

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Can lobsters lead us to the proverbial ‘Fountain of Youth’?

When thinking about lobsters, some people may think of: Aside from being a favorite menu item, did you know that American lobsters (Homarus americanus) are one of the largest bottom dwelling (i.e. benthic) invertebrate in the ocean? In fact, they seem to be able to grow indefinitely and have been observed to reach over 1 meter in length? For this reason, scientists suspect they may be a rather long-lived species […]

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Bioaccumulation of metals in sharks

A new study highlights the impact of metal accumulation (cobalt, manganese, nickel, copper, iron and mercury) on the health of twenty individual sharks representing 8 species that were accidentally caught by fisheries in Brazil. Necropsies of the animals showed high levels of metals in the liver, gills and rectal glands. Perhaps not surprisingly, larger animals had more accumulation of the metals in their gills than smaller animals. Higher accumulation in […]

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A whale shark’s superpower: Healing

Da-dum, da-dum…that’s right! Shark week is back!! It starts tonight on Discovery channel. Grab some popcorn, it’s going to be a wild ride! To kick off the week in our own way, I found this interesting study that examined wound healing in whale sharks, the world’s largest fish. These animals often exhibit scars resulting from collisions with boats and new research shows they have impressive wound healing capabilities. In the […]

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Q&A with Dr. Jon Harrison, Meredith Johnson, and Jordan Glass

We recently interviewed Meredith Johnson (graduate student), Jordan Glass (graduate student), and Dr. Jon Harrison from the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University about the research they presented at the 2021 annual Experimental Biology conference.   Q: You mentioned in one of your presentations that insects have an ‘unusual’ respiratory system. Can you explain how it differs from mammals?  Dr. Harrison: Insects exchange gases through blind-ended air-filled tubes called tracheae. There […]

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