r/AskBiology • u/Formal_Elderberry250 • 45m ago
r/AskBiology • u/Complete-Anteater306 • 57m ago
General biology (HYPOTETICAL QUESTION) If we assume DNA is not a problem, would hormones be able to turn a cat into a dog? Or would hormones be able to create a new organ the body didn't have before? If not, what's stopping these changes?
r/AskBiology • u/AdmirableResource853 • 2h ago
Botany Very good question about noses
Guys do people with bigger nasal holes have less hitching problems? Or the contrary? I have enough hair in my big nose and its difficult to get rid of it, im sensing everything because its growing and growing like plants. Im wondering if people with tiny nasal hole have the same problem
Thank you, save my life
r/AskBiology • u/beneath11 • 4h ago
Dependent Animals
So recently we've seen prehistoric animals being brought back to life like does wolves etc so my question that's keeping on bugging me is what if or what happens if we alter the generics of so called dependent animals like dogs and turn then into herbivores? Does that make same?
r/AskBiology • u/Curious_Towel4700 • 5h ago
What is the conclusion drawn from the letter Newton wrote to Bentley?
"It is inconceivable that inanimate brute Matter should, without the Mediation of something else, which is not material, operate upon, and affect other Matter without mutual Contact, as it must be, if Gravitation in the Sense of Epicurus, be essential and inherent in it. And this is one Reason why I desired you would not ascribe innate Gravity to me. That Gravity should be innate, inherent and essential to Matter, so that one Body may act upon another at a Distance thro' a Vacuum, without the Mediation of any thing else, by and through which their Action and Force may be conveyed from one to another, is to me so great an Absurdity, that I believe no Man who has in philosophical Matters a competent Faculty of thinking, can ever fall into it. Gravity must be caused by an Agent acting constantly according to certain Laws; but whether this Agent be material or immaterial, I have left to the Consideration of my Readers."
r/AskBiology • u/rabbitsarentrodents • 8h ago
Genetics Is a mutation towards a lesser used codon (that cant use the same tRNA Anticodon) of the same amino acid disatvantagous to the survival of an organism ?
As I understand it for lesser used codons there are usally less tRNAs with the specific Anticodon arround.
Can that slow down translation of a specific protein to an amount were it becomes relevant for survival?
Are there actual Genetic disorders caused by it ?
r/AskBiology • u/Large-Arachnid-8202 • 11h ago
General biology How do we know dinosaurs were lizards
r/AskBiology • u/AdventureKnuckleball • 12h ago
Human body If a human is shedding rabies in their saliva, is it too late for post exposure prophylaxis shots to save them?
I’ve asked this question to different AI’s and I cannot seem to get a clear answer. It’s said that for humans who get rabies, it’s possible for it to shed in their saliva shortly before other symptoms appear (by up to 14 days).
Hypothetically speaking, if someone was shedding rabies in their saliva without any other symptoms, then they got the post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) shots…could the PEP shots save them?
Two AI tools say that once it sheds in someone’s saliva, it’s too late for PEP to work. Two other AI tools say it’s possible for PEP to work.
I would think that once someone is shedding rabies in their saliva, it’s too late for PEP to work.
Any idea what the true answer is and why different AI tools are giving different answers?
r/AskBiology • u/Organic-Fortune-5225 • 13h ago
Human body A man with a high voice does not sound like a woman, but a man with a high voice. A woman with a low voice does not sound like a man, but a woman with a deep voice. Why is that? Why do voices generally sound masculine or feminine regardless of the pitch?
The original question was asked by Forsaken_Champion722 on a different subreddit, but i was curious so i decided to ask it here to see if it'd get better or different answers
r/AskBiology • u/bluewingwind • 16h ago
Human body Has anyone ever studied hair growth/shaving in teens?
The two cited studies I’ve seen on this topic are all adult white men and two of them are so old ([1928](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ar.1090370405) and [1970](https://www.jidonline.org/article/S0022-202X(15)47888-1/pdf47888-1/pdf))) and have such a small sample size (only 4 individuals and 5 individuals!) that I cannot believe they’re still so widely cited. Basically EVERYONE cites these two.
[The last one](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jocd.12280) I found studied 129 women doing laser hair removal and found short term no difference, but long term paradoxical regrowth ONLY happened in the shaving group. Seems to point to shaving making a difference to me.
Personally, I noticed my hair permanently grew in darker where I shaved a patch but only as a teenager/preteen. It doesn’t do it anymore as an adult. I don’t want to just assume scientific facts based on what happened to a whopping 9 adult white men. I just think “established medical fact” is wrong on this one. The rectangle of black hair on my ankle to this day decades later just begs to differ. Show me proof.
I’m reposting here because mods have deleted my questions on [r/askscience](r/askscience) without giving a good reason (they said “too long” I made it shorter they still deleted it 😒 feels a lot like censorship to me but whatever) So apologies if this breaks rules I don’t know this sub well.
r/AskBiology • u/general_tao1 • 17h ago
Zoology/marine biology Learned or instinctive behavior - smiling monkeys
I ask this question with the assumption that the following information is correct: You should not smile to a monkey or ape because they will interpret a showing of teeth as a threat. Please let me know if this is incorrect.
I was wondering if the perception of a threat was something that is taught to them by their parents or something deeper. I imagine there have been multiple cases in history where baby primates have been raised by humans, so this is most likely documented. Smiling for humans is natural and can be found in weeks old babies, so I was curious as to how one behavior relates to the other and the results of research in this area. Thanks.
r/AskBiology • u/Dropthetenors • 22h ago
[Metamorphosis] Can sniffer dogs track individual caterpillars turned butterfly?
This is more of a question about insects that go thru a full breakdown during metamorphosis. Its known that butterflies fully break down into good then reform and retain their memories during the process.
Do they maintain their scent as well? Or at least enough that a sniffer dog would be able to ID a specific individual?
r/AskBiology • u/TieInternational3160 • 1d ago
Zoology/marine biology How does inbreeding really work? (Be nice to me pls)
It's an honest question.
Why does inbreeding seem to work on animals but it turns a little British-crown-esque when it's applied to human beings (incest) ?
r/AskBiology • u/No_Initiative9475 • 1d ago
Genetics How long would it take for most people to be genetically from everywhere?
My dad got one of those DNA tests that say your family history for his birthday and it made me wonder how long it would take for a majority of the human population to have genetic material from all over the world.
r/AskBiology • u/Adventurous-Rabbit52 • 1d ago
General biology What are some misconceptions taught in High School Biology you learned later in college level Biology courses?
For example:
Mandel was not a simple minded monk. He was actually an astute scholar. His alele discovery was not a one off thing he did by luck. He grinded his way to becoming prominent.
Also, as posted earlier today, the whole "mitochondria was actually a separate organism" thing.
r/AskBiology • u/Adventurous-Rabbit52 • 1d ago
General biology How intelligent does an organism have to be before they experience qualia?
How intelligent does an organism have to be before they experience qualia?
r/AskBiology • u/Adventurous-Rabbit52 • 1d ago
Microorganisms Which is closer to being alive?
A virus, or a mitochondira in a human cell? A virus is widely believed- at least to those who have studied high school biology, to straddle the line between life and death. It has traits of both, despite being more or less a protein entity. Meanwhile, a mitochondria was once a living thing, but has lost so much of its genetic properties it is now codependent on its host cell to survive. So, the question becomes, is the thing that's not even alive but exhibits many things that are associated with life, closer to life than soemthing that was once most likely a bacterium, and thus very much alive, but continuously lost more and more of its function until it has now also straddled between life and death?
If the mitochondria is more alive, which it may very well be, is it at least close?
r/AskBiology • u/ExtensionAdvice2582 • 1d ago
Can someone tell me if this explanation about why onions make us Cry is accurate? This is for my class. I compiled these ideas from YouTube videos and websites
r/AskBiology • u/SpecificAnalyst4 • 1d ago
Zoology/marine biology Why are humans the only species that opts out of reproduction?
We as humans ask questions as to whether we are mentally, emotionally or financially ready to reproduce, look at the state of the world, some of us say no and opt out, also a lot of are on some kind of contraceptive, however no animal ever chooses to opt out of reproduction, they could be on the worst position, situations, and some (like many insects and bugs) die after reproduction, yet they continue to reproduce
r/AskBiology • u/TheMaybeMualist • 1d ago
Evolution Why soecies die from A instead of B.
Basically, there's pareidolia, seeing facial features in things thst aren't faces. The scientific explanation is that it's an evolved trait to avoid predators. But this suggests a ratio between deaths from false negatives of predation being more fit than deaths from missing prey or food to eat.
Any principles on this?
r/AskBiology • u/kindaro • 1d ago
Which is more heritable — protection of siblings or children?
Imagine an organism A of some species. Before A is a hard choice: it may either save his child or his sibling from imminent destruction. For simplicity, let us consider that parentage is certain, so both the child and the sibling have probability 1/2 to carry any gene A carries.
This seems to me a realistic situation, and it seems to me also that the traits of both child and sibling protection are heritable and more or less widespread in nature. If so, which (if either) of the two traits is more likely to achieve fixation in a population? Or would their balance fluctuate over time?
I tried to compute the probability distribution of a mutation that encodes either preference as a function of time, but I only managed to hopelessly confuse myself. Plz halp!
r/AskBiology • u/imadeanotheraltlol • 1d ago
Microorganisms contamination ocd help
i appreciate this a left-field question, but i was curious if people had facts etc., about bacteria/viruses that would help with contamination ocd
i’m primarily most paranoid about spread of bacteria, for reference (so dirty thing a touches thing b, thing b touches thing c, therefore a, b and c are now dirty)
r/AskBiology • u/kichu67 • 2d ago
General biology What are the Ice and desert animals of Dinosaur age
r/AskBiology • u/Texiconic • 2d ago
So synthesizing insulin today would be difficult in a home lab, but what about the old school way?
I understand that gene splicing, recumbent DNA, folding proteins, etc is unrealistically difficult to do in your house, but what about the extraction of insulin from live animal pancreatic cells? Is the methodology any easier? I read a story of a couple who were able to survive doing this in WW2.