Posted on October 4, 2008 by BioJobBlogger

Mom's Chicken Soup is Good for Pandas Too!!!!

The New York Times reported today that the Wuhan Zoo in Central China has taken to feeding its two 3-year-old pandas homemade chicken soup to reduce stress and provide them with a “nutritional boost.” Xiwang and Weiwei needed a boost after China’s weeklong National Day celebration. As many as 30,000 visitors swarmed the zoo this past Wednesday and over 1000 people packed into panda enclosure to see them. This caused the pandas to pace restlessly and zoo officials decided that it would be good to give them some chicken soup because they were “fatigued and had a bit of a shock.” Their normal diet consists mainly of bamboo, milk and buns.

The pandas apparently love chicken zoo and according to the zoo “They drink it like they drink their milk.” That said who can resist a steaming hot bowl of mom’s chicken soup when feeling ill or when things just aren’t going well? Personally, I like matzo balls in my chicken soup—but that is a different story!

Until next time….

Good Luck and Have a Cup of Chicken Soup on Me!!!!!

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted on March 10, 2008 by BioJobBlogger

Sequencing the Giant Panda Genome

Who can resist those adorable black and white Giant Pandas? Late last week, the International Giant Panda Genome Project was launched by Beijing Genomic Institute-Shenzhen, China. The goal of this project is to finish the sequencing and assembling of the draft sequence within six months. 

According to the news release:” The giant panda is a much loved animal all over the world and is considered a symbol of China, as illustrated by its being one of the mascots for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. The excitement surrounding the launch of this ambitious project, however, has been built around how this new genomic information will have extensive impact in numerous scientific areas -- from ecology to evolution to sequencing technology. Such data will aid in understanding the genetic and biological underpinnings of this unique species, especially with regard to its very specific niche in the environment and the molecular mechanisms of its evolution.”

“Of special interest is that these data will be extremely useful for protecting and monitoring this endangered species and will provide information on the impact of captive breeding. In addition, it will have considerable use in controlling diseases that could devastate these fragile populations.” For those of you who don’t know, breeding pandas is not an easy thing. In fact, according to a guy I used to work with, who is a panda breeding expert, it is more art than science. However, it may not be as arcane as he makes it out to be considering that he had a sweet consulting gig for panda breeding with the Chinese government.

The giant panda project (GPP) will be conducted by Chinese scientists as well as scientist from other countries including, Canada, Wales, Denmark and the United States! It is truly an international collaboration!

Long live the pandas!

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (try GPP- China)!!!!!!

Tags: , , , ,