DNA Proves Virgin Birth In Virginia : The Intersection

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Chris Mooney is a visiting associate in the Center for Collaborative History at Princeton University and the author of three books, The Republican War on Science, Storm World, and Unscientific America.

Sheril Kirshenbaum is a marine biologist and author at Duke University. Sometimes she's a classicist, radio jock, or congressional staffer. Never sure what's next, she continues to enjoy the journey. For more information, visit her website.

DNA Proves Virgin Birth In Virginia

Category: Marine Science
Posted on: October 10, 2008 9:02 AM, by Sheril R. Kirshenbaum

DNA testing has now proven that a pup carried by a female blacktip shark in a Virginia aquarium contained no genetic material from a male.

The research was reported in Friday's Journal of Fish Biology and marks the first verified case of asexual development in this lineage.

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Comments

Apparently no one else seems to find this exciting (ie - no comments), but I think this is really interesting. It leads to all sorts of questions on how the mechanics of asexual reproduction work in sharks and what the drivers are, and I wonder what the reprocussions could be for stem cell research.

Posted by: Kristine | October 15, 2008 5:02 AM

I think this is very interesting, I wonder what will happen to the shark later in life (i.e. decrease/increase life span?) or how comparable this type of animal will be to the wild ones.

Posted by: Dante | October 17, 2008 10:51 PM