Research
http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/nwgc.html
This website was developed by agrostologists from several institutions to present the Catalogue of New World Grasses (CNWG). CNWG is "an on-going project to database ...and link all nomenclature, types, synonymy, current taxonomy, and distribution for grasses occurring from Alaska and Greenland to Tierra del Fuego." CNWG uses TROPICOS and provides a search mechanism whereby one can enter scientific names and receive current information on his or her entries. CNWG also offers three indices-Accepted taxa, All treated taxa, and Suprageneric, Generic, and Subgeneric-through which names and corresponding information can be located. This site provides an extensive list of links to other agrostological sites categorized by areas such as genetics, mapping tools, and literature. [NL]
http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/
Affiliated with Duke University, the Forest History Society (FHS) "links the past to the future by identifying, collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating information on the history of interactions between people, forests, and their related resources..." Founded in 1946, FHS offers extensive resources for anyone interested in the history of forests. This website contains links to FHS archives, research and publications, U.S. Forest Service history, searchable databases, and more. The searchable databases include a sizeable bibliography "containing annotated descriptions of over 34,000 books, articles, and dissertations on topics in the fields of forest, conservation, and environmental history." [NL]
An international coalition -- with scientists from Canada, China, Japan, Nigeria, the U.K., and the U.S. -- the HapMap project seeks to "develop a haplotype map of the human genome, the HapMap, which will describe the common patterns of human DNA sequence variation." At the site, visitors can take advantage of the bulk downloads of data available here, including several datasets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), genotype and frequency data, SNP assays, and more. Some of the data requires a brief registration while most of it is freely available. Although recently established in 2002, the HapMap website is full of useful information and includes helpful links to all of the participating groups as well as to press releases at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). This site will be of great interest to researchers and students working on related genome projects, or teachers with a desire to reference sequencing data in their instruction. [JPM]
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/data/cbdbotanists.html
One of the two conventions signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) seeks to "conserve biological diversity, use biological resources sustainably -- to ensure that we do not use up our resources faster than they can recover, and share the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources fairly and equitably." This site, a link off of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew main site, provides the complete CBD for Botanists. Offered in several pdf documents that are downloadable in English, French, and Spanish, the CBD for Botanists is actually a series of slides and notes -- essentially a presentation. The site notes that the presentation "is designed to be a flexible training tool, adaptable to different audiences, but can also be read for practical guidance on implementation." Included are suggestions for where to find more information, links, and further reading on the subject. [JPM]
While it is not unusual to find websites offered from public research institutions and universities, consortia of private research entities and businesses are rare. Thus, this interesting site, created by ABE -- whose members include BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto and Syngenta -- offers a look into the research and development related to agricultural biotechnology. From the main page, visitors can access other websites of member countries, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Also, available off the main page are links to Issue Papers (in the pdf format) that include titles such as Crop Biotechnology: An Overview, The Environmental Impact of Agricultural Biotechnology, European Views on Agricultural Biotechnology: An Overview of Public Opinion, and several more. There is also a section on related links. [JPM]
While the average human lifespan has increased markedly over the past one hundred years, the ceiling has hardly been reached. An interesting contest, The Methuselah Mouse Prize -- presumably named after the biblical character who was said to have lived 969 years -- seeks to "promote public interest and involvement in research on mammalian life extension and encourage more such research on mice and other higher animals." Basically, research teams compete to prolong the life of a mouse, Mus musculus. The prize money, which comes from donations, currently sits at over $30,000. The contest is actually broken into two sub-prizes. The Postponement Prize honors the oldest-ever mouse, and the Reversal Prize honors the best "late-onset" intervention. The site has links which list the donors for the prize as well as the press that has been given to it. [JPM]
