Center News

Three-part series, “Your Inner Fish” films at Washington National Primate Research Center. The show traces more than 350 million years of human evolution to show how human bodies have taken shape. PBS show is based on a book by paleobiologist Neil Shubin, who also hosts the series.

Your Inner Fish

Your Inner Fish is a scientific adventure that takes viewers from Ethiopia to the Arctic Circle on a hunt for the many ways that animal ancestors shaped our anatomical destiny. Shubin has spent much of his life searching for the deep pedigree of Homo sapiens. Using both the fossil record and DNA evidence, he traces various parts of our body’s structure to creatures that lived long, long ago. Along the way, he makes it clear that we can thank our fishy origins for many human characteristics.

The final episode in the series, “Your Inner Monkey,” was filmed in part at the Washington National Primate Research Center’s Infant Primate Research Laboratory. While at our facilities the crew captured the outstanding research of Drs. Tom Burbacher, Kim Grant, Jay Neitz and Maureen Neitz.

PBS Films at WaNPRC

During this episode, Shubin delves into our primate past. He travels from the badlands of Ethiopia, where the famous hominid skeletons “Lucy” and “Ardi” were found, to a forest canopy in Florida, home to modern primates. En route, he explains how many aspects of our form and function evolved. We learn that a genetic mutation in our primate ancestors conferred humans’ ability to see in color — but it was an advantage that led to a decline in our sense of smell. The shape of our hands came from tree-dwelling ancestors for whom long fingers made it easier to reach fruit at the tips of fine branches. Shubin concludes by tracing the evolution of the human brain — from a tiny swelling on the nerve cord of a wormlike creature, to the three-part architecture of a shark’s brain and the complex brain of primates. As Shubin observes, “Inside every organ, gene and cell in our body lie deep connections with the rest of life on our planet.”

Visit www.pbs.org/your-inner-fish to find air dates of this PBS series in your area. The site also includes classroom materials for further discussion.

By Bobbi Nodell and Kristen Woodward
UW Health Sciences | UW Medicine  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Throughout Asia, humans and monkeys live side-by-side in many urban areas. An international research team from the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Jahangirnagar University has been examining transmission of a virus from monkeys to humans in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most densely populated countries.

The scientists have found that some people in these urban areas are concurrently infected with multiple strains of simian foamy virus, including recombinant strains — those from more than one source — originally detected in the monkeys.

“These Asian rhesus macaques are Darwinian superstars,” said Lisa Jones-Engel, a primatologist with the Washington National Primate Research Center and the project leader. “They are very responsive to change and, unlike many other species of primates, they are going to continue to thrive in human-altered habitats.”

Could Simian Foamy Virus be Next HIV-Like Outbreak?

Simian foamy viruses, which are ubiquitous in nonhuman primates, are retroviruses that exhibit high levels of mutation and recombination – a potentially explosive combination.

In a paper published Sept. 4 in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections, the scientists characterize the simian retroviral strains that are being transmitted between species and provide a glimpse into the behaviors of humans and monkeys contributing to the infections.

By analyzing what is happening at the human-primate interface, the researchers hope to protect humans from another deadly outbreak similar to HIV.  They focus on Asia because that continent has witnessed the emergence of several infectious diseases in the past decade. Asia also has a volatile combination of a population that is increasingly mobile and with a compromised immune response living in proximity with animals.
A man with a performing monkey.

In the study, researchers collected biological samples from a group of nomadic people who travel throughout Bangladesh with their performing monkeys. The research team found that transmission of simian foamy virus between species occurred most commonly through bites.

In the study, researchers collected biological samples from hundreds of people and macaques in five urban sites, as well as from a group of nomadic people who travel throughout Bangladesh with their performing monkeys.

Read the full article from UW Today.

PBS/BBC-based TV production company and evolutionary biologist, Dr. Neil Shubin film at Washington National Primate Research Center. The crew captured the outstanding research of Drs. Tom Burbacher, Kim Grant, Jay Neitz and Maureen Neitz.

Primate Center researchers, research technicians and animal care staff worked with Center Programs and UW Medicine Strategic Marketing & Communications personnel to accommodate the filming while maintaining normal operations.

Although we won’t see the resulting documentary for some time, the Primate Center received laudatory feedback from the author, producer and film crew.

American Journal of Primatology (AJP) published article by Dr. Randy Kyes, Core Staff Scientist with the Washington National Primate Research Center, on the stabilization of critically endangered Sulawesi black macaques. The findings support a shift in population sustainability of the Macaca nigra living in an Indonesian nature reserve after decades of decline.

Read the full article published in the January 2013 issue of AJP. Overview information about the article is available from University of Washington News and Information and The Daily.

Dr. Randy Kyes, head of the WaNPRC’s Division of Global Programs, and colleague Dr. Pensri Kyes offered a three-day, mini-field course titled “College Prep-Field Course in Conservation Biology & Global Health: At the Human-Environment Interface” for 18 middle and high school students from June 4 to June 6 at the Quileute Tribal School in La Push, Washington.

The course, modeled after current UW-level field courses, consisted of daily lectures and related field and lab exercises. Lecture material was presented at an advanced (college-prep) level to give the students a feel for what college-level lectures are like.

“By exposing the students to college-level material, we hope dispel any myths about what a college course is like and in turn give them the confidence to pursue post-secondary education in the sciences,” Kyes said.

Topics included an introduction to conservation biology and global health, field study methods, management and conservation strategies, primate behavior and ecology, the human-wildlife interface, issues in global health, and animal research and translational science.

Based on the success of this first college-prep field course, Kyes plans to expand this outreach education program to other tribal schools in the area.

“We received wonderful feedback from the students and teachers at the Quiluete Tribal School who asked us to make this an annual program at their school and to provide this field course for other tribal schools such as the Makah Tribal School in Neah Bay,” Kyes said.

In addition to heading the WaNPRC’s Division of Global Programs, Kyes is also Director of the Center for Global Field Study. For 22 years, in partnership with his international colleagues, Kyes has conducted annual field courses in the areas of primatology and conservation biology for university students and professionals in a number of countries including Indonesia, Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Condo, Thailand, and Mexico.

Representatives from the National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) spoke to an estimated 4,000 people who visited the NPRC booth at the 2nd annual USA Science and Engineering Festival from April 27 to April 29 in Washington D.C.

Billed as “the largest celebration of science in the U.S.,” the festival featured more than 3,000 interactive exhibits, more than 100 stage shows and 33 author presentations. More than 150,000 people attended. President Barack Obama attended a special event at the festival on April 27 to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

The NPRC booth included a flip board with answers to common questions about animal research and a set of pig lungs (healthy and “smoker’s”) to demonstrate the effects of second-hand smoke on lung development. The booth also supplied NPRC bookmarks and information on all eight NPRCs.

The booth was staffed by: Kathy West and Keidri Herring, California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC); Diana Gordon and Steve Gordon (spouse), Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) ; and Jordana Lenon, Wisconson National Primate Research Center (WNPRC).  Other NPRCs including the Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) helped organize the booth as part of the NPRC Consortium Outreach Working Group.

“We had many positive comments and interested visitors, and a number of people specifically thanked us for the NPRCs’ research efforts,” West said.

Special visitors to the festival included: The Myth Busters; Arne Duncan Secretary of Education; Bill Nye, the science guy; best-selling authors; astronauts; Nobel Prize-winner Carol Greider; and a rock guitar performance by Dr. Francis Collins, NIH director.

The Center’s Division of Global Programs hosted an exhibit titled “Animals and the Future” at the UW’s “PAWS-on-Science” outreach activities from March 30 to April 1 at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle.

The exhibit included information for children on methods used to study animals in the wild and included hands-on activities with some of the equipment and techniques used by researchers in the field. Children had opportunities to learn about radio telemetry, GPS, trap cameras, and biological sample collection.

“The exhibit demonstrated the close relationship between humans and the environment and how animals can provide the first indication of future environmental impact and global health issues,” said Randy Kyes, head of the division and WaNPRC core staff scientist.

“One of the exhibit activities that was a real hit involved a hands-on demonstration of primate fecal sample collection to look for intestinal parasites,” Kyes said. “Of course no real fecal samples were used, but the fake ‘pooh’ attracted a lot of interest.”

Close to 10,000 people attended the three-day outreach event which showcased almost 50 UW research groups.