On a Harsh Scottish Isle, Sheep Trade Strong Immunity for Lots of Lambs
The snowy, wind-blown Scottish archipelago of St. Kilda may be inhospitable, but because it is inhospitable, it is an ideal natural laboratory. The last people left this place behind nearly a century ago, but the sheep stayed. And the in absence of human interference in their breeding, the sheep of St. Kilda have shown scientists something peculiar.
It has to do with the relationship between the immune system and reproduction. Andrea Graham and colleagues have studied the islands' Soay sheep f