Genetic Rescue Boosts Recovery of Endangered Pygmy Possums

         To begin, the article I chose takes place in Melbourne. It was a breeding technique used to help increase the mountain pigmy possum population in Melbourne. Their highest numbers of success are documented now since the year 1996. They took males from Mount Hotham and introduced them to females located by Mount Buller. The two groups of possums have not been introduced in over 20,000 years leading to a lack of generic variation. Therefore it was unable to thrive in its environment leading to their decline of population. 

        Furthermore, the success to this research is a given. Females from mount Buller are a little bigger and have offspring that have survived longer than any other generation. The population is thriving. Genetic rescue is now considered to be a great observation technique and is successful with providing endangered animals with genetic variation. This will overall help with the animals survival. 

        Personally,  I found this article extremely interesting. I also was attracted to the cuteness of the mountain pigmy possum. I hope that more people licensed enough to perform this type of genetic rescuing will do so in order to help other endangered animals survive. The fact that there was not enough genetic variation, can easily be fixed with the help of humans. 

Reference: 

University of Melbourne. "Genetic rescue boosts recovery of Australia's endangered mountain pygmy possums." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171023101750.htm>.

Anti-typhoid Gene Found

 

        

        Researchers say they have found a gene variant that has a natural resistance against typhoid fever. Scientists from the Nossal Institute of Global Health, at the University of Melbourne in Australia, screened the genome of hundreds of healthy and infected people from Vietnam and Nepal. Dr. Sarah Dunstan, the lead researcher of the study, says the were looking for genes "associated with susceptibility, or resistance from typhoid." They found that people carrying a particular variant of the HLA-DRB1 gene provides a better protection against typhoid fever. HLA-DRB1, also known as major histocompatibility complex, class II, DR beta 1, codes for a receptor that plays a central role in the immune system, by recognizing proteins from invading bacteria. Dr. Dunstan says, "this study is the first large-scale, unbiased search for human genes that affect a person's risk of typhoid."

        Typhoid fever, also known as enteric fever, is a serious health problem to underdeveloped countries. Consuming food or drinking water contaminated with the Salmonella Typhi or Paratyphi bacterias is how typhoid fever is contracted. 26.9 million people are infected with typhoid fever, and about 200,000 people succumb to typhoid fever a year. The infecting bacterias are becoming resistant to antibiotics, and currently, there is no licensed vaccine for typhoid fever. Hopefully, this discovery can lead to enhanced vaccines for not only typhoid fever, but also other invasive bacterial diseases. 

 

        Although, I did not initially know much about typhoid fever, this article stood out to me. Just hearing that researchers are getting closer to discovering treatments to serious diseases, makes me happy. This could be the beginning of a discovery that could change the world.

Main Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141111105158.htm

Related Article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285212.php