The relevance of the analyzed issue is caused by the growing slippage of research funds of sustainable development in its practice. The purpose of the article is the theoretical basis of the biosphere reserve as a scientific research subject that is relevant to rules of the scientific activity. The leading approach to the study of this issue is…

Although instruction on meiosis is repeated many times during the undergraduate curriculum, many students show poor comprehension even as upper-level biology majors. We propose that the difficulty lies in the complexity of understanding DNA, which we explain through a new model, the DNA triangle. The "DNA triangle" integrates three…

Acquiring research skills is considered to be a highly challenging aspect of developing expertise in the social sciences. Because instruction and mentoring in these skills are typically grounded in the self-report of researchers, difficulties in learning the material may be due to the content and accuracy of these explanations. Using a…

This study investigated the role of the myelin oligodendrocye glycoportein (MOG) gene to reading disability in 22 children with dyslexia and 96 random controls. Results suggest that, although alleles in the MOG gene may be in linkage disequilibrium with a locus that contributes to reading disability, the MOG gene itself is probably not involved.…

This article analyses some typical consequences of a specific research policy on experimental research in biology. The policy is conducted by a national funding agency--the Swiss National Science Foundation--through a particular programme, the "National Centres of Competence in Research" which is designed to promote both "scientific…

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic syndrome associated with several physical, cognitive and behavioural characteristics. For many individuals with this syndrome, compulsive behaviour is often noted in both food and non-food situations. The focus of this paper is on the non-food-related compulsions in individuals with PWS and…

Argues that ontogenetic and phylogenetic theories are related and that such a coupling can be established only in reference to a metatheory. The metatheory is construed in terms of a combination of logical coherence and requirements necessary for generalization as well as comprehensive, philosophical representations of living beings (e.g.,…

Argues for unifying the conceptual frameworks of theories of evolution so that problems and their solutions in one theory may be transposed and explored in the others. The argument is used to reconsider the mutationist and Darwinian theories of evolution in the light of Piaget's nonstandard theory of evolution. (Author/RH)

Expectations for tenure-track faculty are often high. Professors must often balance schedules filled with teaching, service projects, and other duties, leaving little time for meaningful research. The author suggests ways to connect research to other professional responsibilities to increase engagement, enthusiasm, connectedness, and overall…

Particular reference is made to change seen as either a discrete or a continuous process. This topic is discussed in relation to progress and modern trends in biology and physics. Additionally discussed is the development of children's understanding of the process of change in physical and biological phenomena. (Author/RH)

Data analysis of 134 twin pairs from the Colorado Reading Project found that approximately 40 percent of the deficit observed in disabled readers is because of genetic factors, 35 percent because of environmental influences shared by twin pairs, and 25 percent because of environmental factors unique to the individual and/or error variance.…

Genetic research has shown that dyslexia is familial, substantially heritable, and heterogeneous in its genetic mechanisms. Evidence also supports the view that the primary symptom in dyslexia is a deficit in the phonological coding of written language, a symptom that appears to be heritable. (Author/JDD)

The goals of this review are to: (1) provide a set of concepts to aid in the understanding of complex processes which occur during central nervous system (CNS) development; (2) illustrate how they contribute to our knowlege of adult brain anatomy; and (3) delineate how modifications of normal developmental processes may affect the structure and…

Discusses how genetic data on present human population relationships and data from the Pleistocene fossil hominid record are being used to compare two contrasting models for the origin of modern humans. (TW)

"Stoppage rules" (responses of parents to the question of having more children when a child has been born seriously handicapped) are discussed. The paper shows that application of stoppage rules to a recent study of 46 families shows that the segregation ratio was underestimated in the original report. (Author/DB)