Category Archives: Biology

Topics: College of Sciences and Humanities, Honors College March 31, 2017 Photo by Don Rogers Senior Ellen Wagner, Ball States third student to receive a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, has spent time studying Candida albicans, a pathogenic yeast. Wagner said research in the lab is calming and relaxing work. I enjoy trying to answer questions about the bacteria. Its like a puzzle Im trying to solve. The same curiosity that fuels her research in the biology labs at Ball State led senior Ellen Wagner to apply for a 2017 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. This month she became one of only 2,000 STEM students nationwideand the third student in Ball State historyto receive the prestigious award, which provides her with a three-year, annual award of $46,000 for tuition, fees, and living expenses, along with professional development and international research opportunities. Getting this fellowship is huge, said Wagner, an Honors College student whose biology major is concentrated in microbiology and genetics. The NSF funds so much national research and I know it has the potential to open a lot of doors for me. Photo by Don Rogers One of Wagners mentors has been her professor Doug Bernstein. … Continue reading →

Carolyn Krause brings us Part Two of the series on renowned scientist Alexander Hollander, an early Oak Ridger of German descent who often hiked with friends and co-workers in the Cumberland Mountains. He enjoyed locating fossils and even brought a huge one off the mountain and installed it in the lobby of the Biology Complex's Building 9207, where it stayed for years. Enjoy the results of Carolyn's research. Carolyn Krause brings us Part Two of the series on renowned scientist Alexander Hollander, an early Oak Ridger of German descent who often hiked with friends and co-workers in the Cumberland Mountains. He enjoyed locating fossils and even brought a huge one off the mountain and installed it in the lobby of the Biology Complexs Building 9207, where it stayed for years. Enjoy the results of Carolyns research. After Alexander Hollaender and his wife Henrietta moved to Oak Ridge in 1947, he devised a plan for a new Biology Division, which was given space in buildings initially constructed for chemical reprocessing at the Y-12 Plant, according to the Vol. 25, 1992-93 issue of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory REVIEW. Hollaender was opportunistic and open to new ideas. He originally thought the effects … Continue reading →

Chemical biology A method for labeling methionines Nature.com A plethora of methods are available for labeling cysteine residues in proteins. Methods for labeling that other sulfur-containing amino acid, methionine, have been challenging to develop owing to its weakly nucleophilic nature. Lin et al. report an ... See the original post: Chemical biology A method for labeling methionines - Nature.com … Continue reading →

Why do some humans engage in expensive ventures to hunt lions, elephants and other big-game species that often are endangered or otherwise threatened? The cost, according to a trio of scientists, is exactly the point: These pricey big-game hunts are meant to show off mens high social status to competitors and potential mates. The findings, published in Biology Letters, offer an evolutionary hypothesis for why humans kill animals they dont need for sustenance and hint at a possible tactic for discouraging that behavior. The death in 2015 of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe by an American recreational hunter triggered waves of international outrage. Trophy hunting is not new; in fact, many countries have tried to tie it economically to their conservation efforts. But the rise of the Internet and social media where hunters often share photos of themselves smiling next to their kills has brought the practice to the forefront, particularly at a time when large predators are suffering precipitous population declines. The killing of Cecil the lion (Panthera leo) ignited enduring and increasingly global discussion about trophy hunting, the study authors wrote. Yet, policy debate about its benefits and costs focuses only on the hunted species and biodiversity, not … Continue reading →

Roman Yukilevich, assistant professor of biology, has been awarded an Evolutionary Ecology grant from the National Science Foundation. The $103,562 grant will be used for his collaborative project with a faculty researcher at Williams College, Phenotypic and genomic patterns of divergence across a young Drosophila species complex. Focusing on fruit flies, the study aims to advance the understanding of the process of speciation, the splitting of one species into two. Researchers will study three species of fruit flies that diverged from a common ancestor species in the last 5,000-16,000 years. By studying closely related species, researchers said its possible to tease apart which genetic changes led to the original separation versus which changes happened afterwards. Specifically, the project will identify what genetic differences are associated with differences in mating behavior and morphology that restrict or even prevent interbreeding between newly diverged species. If we want to understand how and why evolution generates the tremendous biodiversity we have on Earth, we have to understand the mechanisms by which a single species splits into multiple species, Yukilevich said in a recent alumni magazine article. Studying animals that have undergone speciation in the recent past provides an amazing opportunity to understand the processes … Continue reading →

March 30, 2017 Ryan Batt takes a reading of oxygen levels in a Center for Limnology study lake in Northern Wisconsin. Credit: Steve Carpenter Human beings are familiar with the idea of extreme events. Meteorologists keep us up to date on hurricanes, floods and high temperatures. Economists watch the stock market for signs of crashes or rallies. We spend a lot of time trying to better predict these events, yet are often surprised when they occur. But, says a new study in the journal Limnology & Oceanography Letters, when it comes to biology's extremes, it's not enough to just expect the unexpected. We need to be ready for the unprecedented as well. More than three decades of data on the physical, chemical and biological variables in 11 Midwestern lakes show that while lake temperatures and nutrient concentrations rise within relatively expected ranges, biological organisms achieve high population extremes. The findings challenge preconceptions about what a "normal" distribution of averages and extremes looks like. "There hasn't been much attention given to extreme fluctuations in biological time series," says lead author of the paper, Ryan Batt, who conducted the study as a graduate student at the UW-Madison's Center for Limnology. "We tend … Continue reading →

March 28, 2017 In the lead-up to the NCAA Mens Final Four in Phoenix, top journalists and executives from CBS Sports, ESPN and Turner Sports are taking part in a special series of talks at Arizona State Universitys Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The public lecture series in the Cronkite Schools First Amendment Forum features Rece Davis, ESPNs prime-time host for on-site coverage of the NCAA Mens Final Four, as well as members of the NCAA Final Four Media Coordination Committee and television public-relations executives. Davis, who joined ESPN in 1995, hosts the College GameDay college football and basketball shows. Rece Davis, ESPNs prime-time host for on-site coverage of the NCAA Mens Final Four, is speaking at ASU's Cronkite School at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 30. Download Full Image The discussions kick off at 4 p.m.Wednesday, March 29, with a panel on public relations in sports. The talk features Jerry Caraccioli, CBS Sports communications executive director; Scott Kuykendall, Marquette University associate athletic director; Chevonne M. Mansfield, American Athletic Conference communications director; and Nate Smeltz, Turner Sports communications vice president. The moderator will be Cronkite faculty associate Josh Rawitch, senior vice president of content and communications for the … Continue reading →

Cell biology: The quickest route to the tip for protein transport Science Daily Cell biology: The quickest route to the tip for protein transport. Date: March 27, 2017; Source: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt Mnchen; Summary: According to a new theoretical model, in cell protrusions and cargo-transporting motor proteins often get ... and more » View original post here: Cell biology: The quickest route to the tip for protein transport - Science Daily … Continue reading →

Ronald R. Breaker, newly named as a Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, is one of the worlds experts on the diversity and function of RNAs, which are crucial to carrying out a host of life processes.Breaker is best known for his discovery of riboswitches, elements of RNA that can control the expression of genes. A Sterling Professorship is one of the universitys highest faculty honors. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Breaker earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University. He conducted postdoctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute, pioneering a variety of test-tube evolution strategies to isolate novel RNA enzymes. He was the first to create catalytic DNAs or deoxyribozymes using this technology. Since establishing his laboratory at Yale in 1995, Breaker has continued to conduct research on the advanced functions of nucleic acids, including ribozyme reaction mechanisms, molecular switch technology, next-generation biosensors, and catalytic DNA engineering. His laboratory has established the first proofs that metabolites are directly bound by messenger RNA elements called riboswitches; discovered more than 40 distinct classes of these RNA gene control elements; and published the first studies validating riboswitches as targets for antibiotics. Prior to his new appointment, Breaker was the … Continue reading →

Synthetic biology is moving at a rapid pace, and regulations will need to keep up to allow useful technologies to hit the market while maintaining a high standard of safety. Since mostpolicymakers are not experts in all of the newest synthetic biology technologies, better analysis tools are needed to understand how to react. Sotworesearchers, ChristopherCummings and Jennifer Kuzma, from North Carolina State University and Nanyang Technological University builta model to determine how to prepare for handling the regulation new synthetic biology products. This model for assessing risks of new synthetic biology technologies is called Societal Risk Evaluation Scheme (SRES) and it tries to make governance more anticipatory than just reactive. This is a tough problem. How do we predict the risks of technologies that dont exist yet? How do we assess products that seem totally new? The field of synthetic biology is pushing the boundaries of what we can do with and to biology. To createthe model the researchers used a Delphi study,which is a structured way of developing forecasts and assessments using a panel of experts. Their Delphi study used four rounds: 1) Standardized open-ended interview to get qualitative data. 2) Online quantitative survey using questions formed using rounds … Continue reading →