Cell division is necessary to the building of a soma from the single-celled zygote during development, as well as the sine qua non, in the form of meiosis, for the evolutionary success of species. Here we review recent progress in our understanding of a key player, the kinetochore, in these processes. The kinetochore is both the anchor to the mitotic spindle for chromosomes at division and the motor for distribution of chromosomal units to daughter cells. In addition, the kinetochore plays a key role in the molecular checkpoints of cell-cycle progression. Although the nucleation of the kinetochore at a chromosomal site is under epigenetic control, the underlying base sequence of the DNA at the centromere is not critical: The assembly of the kinetochore occurs at exactly the same place on the same chromosomes at every division cycle. We discuss recent advances in our understanding of how the kinetochore is organized and assembled, as well as how it contributes to critical cell-cycle checkpoints and to chromosome movement.

Changes in the type and prevalence of human diseases have occurred during shifts in human social organization, for example, from hunting and gathering to agriculture and with urbanization during the Industrial Revolution. The recent emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases appears to be driven by globalization and ecological disruption. We propose that habitat destruction and biodiversity loss associated with biotic homogenization can increase the incidence and distribution of infectious diseases affecting humans. The clearest connection between biotic homogenization and infectious disease is the spread of nonindigenous vectors and pathogens. The loss of predators and hosts that dilute pathogen transmission can also increase the incidence of vectorborne illnesses. Other mechanisms include enhanced abiotic conditions for pathogens and vectors and higher host-pathogen encounter rates. Improved understanding of these causal mechanisms can inform decisionmaking on biodiversity conservation as an effective way to protect human health.

We examined the status of diadromous (migratory between saltwater and freshwater) fishes within the North Atlantic basin, a region of pronounced declines in fisheries for many obligate marine species. Data on these 24 diadromous (22 anadromous, 2 catadromous) species are sparse, except for a few high-value forms. For 35 time series, relative abundances had dropped to less than 98% of historic levels in 13, and to less than 90% in an additional 11. Most reached their lowest levels near the end of the observation period. Many populations persist at sharply reduced levels, but all species had suffered population extirpations, and many species are now classified as threatened or endangered. Habitat loss (especially damming), overfishing, pollution, and, increasingly, climate change, nonnative species, and aquaculture contributed to declines in this group. For those diadromous fishes for which data exist, we show that populations have declined dramatically from original baselines. We also discuss the consequences of these changes in terms of lost ecosystem services.

Constraints on the availability of freshwater and land plants and animals to feed the 9.2 billion humans projected to inhabit Earth by 2050 can be overcome by enhancing the contribution the ocean makes to food production. Catches from ocean fisheries are unlikely to recover without adequate conservation measures, so the greater contribution of the oceans to feeding humanity must be derived largely from mariculture. For the effort to be successful, mariculture must close the production cycle to abandon its current dependence on fisheries catches; enhance the production of edible macroalgae and filter-feeder organisms; minimize environmental impacts; and increase integration with food production on land, transferring water-intensive components of the human diet (i.e., production of animal protein) to the ocean. Accommodating these changes will enable the oceans to become a major source of food, which we believe will constitute the next food revolution in human history.

Citizen science enlists the public in collecting large quantities of data across an array of habitats and locations over long spans of time. Citizen science projects have been remarkably successful in advancing scientific knowledge, and contributions from citizen scientists now provide a vast quantity of data about species occurrence and distribution around the world. Most citizen science projects also strive to help participants learn about the organisms they are observing and to experience the process by which scientific investigations are conducted. Developing and implementing public data-collection projects that yield both scientific and educational outcomes requires significant effort. This article describes the model for building and operating citizen science projects that has evolved at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology over the past two decades. We hope that our model will inform the fields of biodiversity monitoring, biological research, and science education while providing a window into the culture of citizen science.

The peer review model is one of the most important tools used in science to assess the relative merit of research. We manipulated a published article to reflect one of the following four author designations: female, male, initial, and no name provided. This article was then reviewed by referees of both genders at various stages of scientific training. Name changing did not influence acceptance rates or quality ratings. Undergraduate referees were less critical than graduate students or postdoctoral researchers, independent of gender. However, female postdoctoral researchers were the most critical referees: Their rejection rates were the highest and quality ratings the lowest, regardless of the author name provided. Contrary to previous reports in the literature, there was no evidence of same-gender preferences. This study strongly suggests that female postgraduate biologists may apply different expectations to peer review.

Without seeking independent scientific review, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently approved a 14 January 2009 Bush administration rule to remove endangered species protection from the northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of gray wolves less than 14 years after their reintroduction to Idaho and Wyoming. The “delisting” rule does not adequately address lack of genetic connectivity between Yellowstone wolf packs and other NRM populations, for which reason a federal court overturned the 2008 predecessor of the rule. The US Fish and Wildlife Service defies its own policies by delisting the Idaho and Montana portions of the DPS while Wyoming wolves remain endangered. Criteria for this delisting are inconsistent with prior delistings of recovered birds and mammals. New scientific understanding of species recovery argues for a higher delisting threshold for the NRM gray wolf metapopulation. Finally, we argue that ecosystem recovery should be a recovery criterion for this unique keystone predator.