moth | Ecology for the Masses

Donald Hobern: Cataloguing the Planet’s DNA

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Sam Perrin 2 comments

I spoke with GBIF’s executive secretary and amateur lepidopterist Donald Hobern about how DNA barcoding fits into modern conservation and ecology (Image Credit: Donald Hobern, CC BY-2.0, Image Cropped)

DNA barcoding has revolutionised science. Ask anyone working in evolution or taxonomy these days what the biggest changes are the they’ve seen in their discipline, chances are it’ll be to do with gene sequencing and DNA processing. So when the International Barcode of Life (iBOL) Conference came to Trondheim last week, I jumped at the opportunity to learn more about the behind the scenes work that goes into cataloguing the DNA barcodes of life on earth.

I sat down with Donald Hobern, Executive Secretary of iBOL and former Executive Secretary of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Director of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA). Donald joined iBOL just as they launched BIOSCAN, a $180 million dollar program which aims to accelerate the cataloguing of the world’s biodiversity in DNA form. We spoke about BIOSCAN, the technology behind bringing occurrence and genetic data together, and how the work iBOL and GBIF do ties into the bigger picture of global conservation and sustainability.

The Forefront

Taken For a Ride

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Adam Hasik 2 comments

This parasitic fungus takes over the brain and then ejects its spores out of the ant’s head (Image Credit: Erich G. Vallery, USDA Forest Service – SRS-4552, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 US)

Mind Control: How Parasites Manipulate Cognitive Functions in Their Insect Hosts (2018) Libersat et al., Frontiers in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00572

The Crux

The field of neuro-parasitology is a relatively new field in biology and deals with the study of parasites that manipulate the nervous system of their hosts for their own gain (usually at the expense of the host). The authors of this review focused on host-parasite interactions between insect hosts and their myriad of parasites, due not only to most studies in this field being done with insects, but also the fact that most animals on the planet are in fact insects.