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CRYOGENIC PRESERVATION. "The cells have an extraordinary memory and "remember" at what doubling level the were preserved even after 35 years of continuous storage in liquid nitrogen. WI-38 has been cryogenically preserved longer than any other normal human or animal cell population." (There is a very interesting story behind WI-38 cells if you care to look it up). http://protein.bio.msu.ru/biokhimiya/contents/v62/full/62111380.html View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE deals with the quirky orchid family. Few plant families are as diverse as orchids, and with diversity comes a dazzling array of strategies for getting ahead. They illustrate how one plant family can be so creative in employing different complicated structures and behaviors especially in reproduction. Enjoy this glorious group. View in LinkedIn

PROPERTIES OF MORTAL CELLS #5. "Human diploid cell strains can be cryogenically preserved. When, for example, our first widely distributed normal human diploid cell strain WI-38, developed in 1962, is preserved at a particular doubling level and then reconstituted, the number of doublings remaining is equivalent to 50 minus the number of doublings spent prior to preservation." http://protein.bio.msu.ru/biokhimiya/contents/v62/full/62111380.html View in LinkedIn

BROOD SITE SELECTION. "Several unrelated orchid genera have flowers that mimic larval food substrates that attract gravid insects. For example, the protuberances on the labellum of Epipactis consimilis are thought to mimic aphids which stimulate egg-laying behavior of aphidophagous syrphid flies." https://lnkd.in/db9X2SK View in LinkedIn

TERRITORIAL DEFENSE. "Some Oncidium species exploit territorial Centris bees. The flowers, usually produced on long panicles, are thought to mimic territorial intruders as they dance in the wind. Presumably, the movement captures the attention of the bees, which repeatedly attack the flowers and pollinate them in the process." https://lnkd.in/db9X2SK View in LinkedIn

EVOLUTIONARY IMPACT. "Deceit pollination—via mimicry of food sources, nesting sites or potential mates—significantly increased speciation and extinction rates but resulted in a small decrease in net diversification within lineages." http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1814/20151553 View in LinkedIn

OFF THE CURVE. "The ability to attract pollinators without offering them a reward has evolved independently in many angiosperm lineages, but usually in only a few species per family. In contrast, it has been estimated that around one-third of orchid species are pollinated by ‘food-deception’." http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/59/5/1085.full.pdf View in LinkedIn

"DECEIT POLLINATION evolved at least once, in the stem group of all orchids except Apostasioideae, and then was lost" in 21 other groups. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1814/20151553 View in LinkedIn

"FRAUDS are imposters, individuals who cheat and deceive. They abound in many facets of nature. Among flowering plants, perhaps the most infamous frauds are the orchids. Flowers of a third or more of the Orchidsceae deceive their pollinators by some means or another. Obviously, this is a rather disreputable family." A lovely Victorian voice. https://lnkd.in/db9X2SK View in LinkedIn

UNRIVALLED AMONGST PLANTS. "The diversity of plant–pollinator interactions in orchids is unrivalled by any other group of plants. The spectacular floral diversity of orchids, and the fact that many are pollinated by a single species, has led to an historic belief that pollinator isolation is the predominant reproductive barrier in the family." https://lnkd.in/dU8FUkt View in LinkedIn