London Rendevouz

Since I am spending two months in London (or Kew - which is only barely London), I am trying to take the opportunity of making use of the incredible variety of offers in the city. Last week I attended a talk by the Linnean Society of London, the world's oldest biological society. After rushing there after work, I arrived somewhat late (I walked in the wrong direction when I got out the underground station - this seems to happen to me regularly when I arrive at stations I haven't been to before!)... I was immediately impressed by the imposing building and the portraits of great scientists that walked the halls of the society decades and centuries ago. It therefore came as a bit of a disappointment when the presentation about Blakiston and his travels and 'discovery' of Blakiston's line - a biogeographical barrier between two the Japanese islands of Hokkaido and Honshu (same concept as Wallace's Line) ended up being more of a presentation about whom Blakiston met on his travels and with whom these acquaintances and friends of his were related/connected/befriended.
Tonight, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the Nature Live feature at London's Natural History Museum. It's a great initiative for the public to find out about the science at the museum, meet its staff, ask questions, and learn something new. Tonight's session was about how DNA extraction from museum specimens can aid us in our understanding of their present vs. past diversity. A panel of four scientists gave examples of how they use museum information in understanding the changes in populations of specific species, and also aiding the conservation of these species. Amongst the topics brought up was the Save the Tasmanian Devil project, which is sequencing the entire genome of the Tasmanian devils and employing genetics to ensure that captive breeding programmes ensure that the highest possible genetic diversity of the Tasmanian devils remains. These animals are being severely threatened by a cancer that is being transmitted through biting, and has so far proven lethal in every case. The global amphibian decline was also discussed in interesting detail. It was mentioned that in the last 30 or so years, approximately half of the worlds amphibians have been described. Unfortunately, several of these have already gone extinct, or are on the brink of extinction. It makes one wonder how many species of amphibians will quietly disappear without anybody noticing...