Author: vpochic
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Toxic mussels in the time of paulownia flowers
A curious case of shellfish poisoning in Japan In the summer of 1976, coastal towns in Miyagi prefecture in northeastern Japan were faced with an unusual epidemic: 42 people presented symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea after they had eaten mussels. One year later, a similar outbreak occured, this time all along the eastern coast of…
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Phytoplankton do NOT produce 50% of the oxygen we breathe
“Phytoplankton produce 50% of the oxygen we breathe” is a sentence we often read, particularly in media pieces destined to the general public. It makes for a poignant introduction and it highlights the crucial role of phytoplankton on planet Earth. It has been employed by several respectable (and respected) oceanographers: you can find it in…
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How big are dinoflagellate genomes?
When you begin working on dinoflagellates, you quickly learn that they have (very) big genomes. But how big really? Recently, I was preparing a presentation on dinoflagellates and I was faced with this question, so I investigated a bit. I found this great data visualisation by Tom White that plotted genome size in different groups…
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Phycoplankton 