Birds of a feather flock together?
Maria Castaño, a third-year PhD student in biology, studies populations of birds to understand the processes that lead to the creation of new species.
Bioplastics made of bacteria can reduce plastic waste in oceans
A team of scientists, including biology professor Anne S. Meyer, is developing plastic materials that degrade in oceans.
Paper wasp parasites turn hosts into long-lived ‘zombies’
University of Rochester undergraduate students and their biology professor study what paper wasps—and the parasites that manipulate them—can tell us about evolution, aging, and group living.
‘Supergene’ wreaks havoc in a genome
Rochester biologists have for the first time used population genomics to study a selfish ‘supergene’ known as Segregation Distorter (SD) that skews genetic inheritance.
Gene regulation may hold clue to longer life
Rochester biologists who study the genetics of lifespan suggest new targets to combat aging and age-related diseases.
Connecting the dots between aging, Alzheimer’s, and ‘junk DNA’
Biologists Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov join colleagues at Brown and NYU in the quest to find potential targets of treatments and therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.
Grant helps biologist study ‘complex interplay’ of nature and nurture on genes
Jennifer Brisson, an associate professor of biology, will further her study of phenotypic plasticity, which describes how an organism’s development is influenced by its environment, with a five-year, $2 million NIH grant.
Rochester students’ award-winning device instantly detects sepsis via sweat
Rochester undergraduates have developed a fast, noninvasive, affordable, and eco-friendly way to diagnose the life-threatening medical complication.
More evidence of an evolutionary ‘arms race’ between genes and selfish genetic elements
Christina Muirhead, a computational biologist and population geneticist in the lab of Daven Presgraves, further proves genes develop weapons to combat ‘parasites’ that litter the human genome.
Researchers develop novel 3D printing technique to engineer biofilms
University of Rochester biologist Anne S. Meyer and her colleagues are studying how engineered biofilms closely mimic natural ones. Their research may aid in developing drugs to fight the negative effects of these microorganisms that adhere to surfaces.