Who's a good dog?
Rudy Professor of Biology Sue Carter and colleagues have found that levels of the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin influence canine social behaviors and aggression.
IU is world leader on fruit fly genetics, a method recognized by 2017 Nobel Prize in Medicine
"IU is truly the center of the Drosophila universe," says Assistant Professor Irene Newton. The Newton Lab and several other Biology labs use fruit flies in their research, and the department houses three critical NIH-funded centers that support Drosophila research globally.
Predatory bacteria that engineer portholes and paint frescoes in harmful bacteria
IU and University of Nottingham scientists are investigating the invasive predatory bacteria Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus as a potential therapeutic to kill antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria.
van Kessel receives MIRA for Early Stage Investigators
Julia van Kessel has been funded $1.89 million for her grant titled “Quorum sensing regulation of bacterial development” through a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award for Early Stage Investigators.
IU scientists measure nearly 30,000 trees to learn more about forests, climate
A small team of IU researchers took on a seemingly insurmountable task this summer: physically measuring the size and location of every tree in 62 acres of land deep within Lilly-Dickey Woods, one of the state's oldest forests.
New IU Grand Challenge initiative to tackle major environmental threats to Hoosier health, economy
The "Prepared for Change" initiative (led by Distinguished Professor of Biology Ellen Ketterson) is making news around the state.
Fudickar studies animal behavior in response to climate change
Limestone Post magazine explores research scientist Adam Fudickar's work on the Dark-eyed Junco: ". . . when you devote your career to the study of migration patterns of birds and other animals, as . . . Fudickar does, you see some trends emerge that are stunning, even troubling, but could turn out to be hopeful."
Murry-Knowles named 2016-17 Advisor of the Year
Undergraduate advisor Danielle Murry-Knowles has been selected as recipient of the IU College of Arts and Sciences 2016-17 Advisor of the Year Award.
Bush receives international award for contributions to antimicrobial chemotherapy
Professor Karen Bush to receive Hamao Umezawa Memorial Award, the highest award of the International Society of Chemotherapy for Infection and Cancer.
Importance of microbiomes associated with phyllosphere
Study by graduate student Briana Whitaker (Clay lab) and colleagues is first to test and manipulate whole microbiomes of aboveground tissues for plant species. Published in Ecology Letters.
Invasive species ecologist wanted
The Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior program in the Department of Biology at Indiana University Bloomington invites applications for an associate professor, tenure-track, in the area of invasive species ecology.
Innes and Bauer projects funded by new NSF-USDA joint program on plant biotic interactions
Award allows investigators to combine basic science questions with applied uses which translates into improving crop outcomes.
Study provides hope for chocolate farmers
A study by graduate student Natalie Christian, Distinguished Professor Keith Clay, and colleagues shows exposing cacao tree seedlings to leaf litter from healthy cacao adults significantly reduced seedling pathogen damage. Article in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Study finds new way to develop novel vaccines
A study from the Hardy lab and collaborators has established a link between alphavirus RNA stability, mediated by binding of a viral protein and viral pathogenesis. In PLoS Pathogens.
Kuru receives 2017 dissertation award
Former graduate student Erkin Kuru (Brun/VanNieuwenhze labs, PhD 2016) received IU's University Graduate School Distinguished PhD Dissertation Award for 2017 in the Biological Sciences category.
IU biologists contribute to global forest biodiversity study
Distinguished Professor Keith Clay, former graduate student Dan Johnson (Clay lab, PhD 2013), and Associate Professor Rich Phillips in Science: Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale.
IU microbiologist awarded $4 million to advance research on cellular biology
Distinguished Professor and Clyde Culbertson Professor Yves Brun has been awarded the NIH's MIRA (Maximizing Investigators' Research Award) to continue research on bacteria.
Ronald receives early-career award
Postdoc Kelly Ronald (Hurley lab) was given the Walter Clyde Allee award, an early-career award for the best paper in animal behavior.
IU scientists discover mechanism behind mosquito-borne-disease 'blocker' used to fight viruses
Study may explain why mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria don't transmit diseases such as dengue fever, West Nile virus, and Zika
Kumar lab on the cover of PNAS
The paper “Drosophila Pax6 promotes development of the entire eye-antennal disc thereby ensuring proper adult head formation” (authored by members of Professor Justin Kumar's lab) was selected for the cover of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Why do we rely on sex for reproduction?
Amanda Gibson (PhD in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior from IU in 2016) and IU Distinguished Professors of Biology Lynda Delph and Curt Lively used the freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum to test John Maynard Smith's theory suggesting that sex is a more costly reproductive strategy than asexual reproduction.
Hu lab on the cover of MBoC
A paper authored by Associate Professor Ke Hu's lab and colleagues was selected for the cover of the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell.
Insects resist genetic methods to control disease spread, Indiana University study finds
Faculty members Mike Wade and Gabe Zentner, postdoc Douglas Drury, and colleagues have found several challenges in using the revolutionary gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to fight human disease and agricultural blight.
Collaborative Environmental Resilience Institute to launch
The IU Grand Challenges initiative led by Distinguished Professor Ellen Ketterson will tackle major environmental threats to Hoosier health and economy.
Pikaard elected to National Academy of Sciences
Professor Craig Pikaard has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Members of the academy are selected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Brun receives MIRA for bacterial cell biology research
Distinguished Professor Yves Brun received a 5-year, $4 million Maximizing Investigator Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health for his research on bacterial cell biology.
Structure of the hexagonal surface layer on cells
Assistant Scientist Gail Hardy (Brun lab) and collaborators published a paper in Nature Microbiology on the first high-resolution structure of an intact bacterial surface layer resolved directly on the cell surface.
IU Biology marches for science
Inside Higher Ed featured Lacefield lab members Olivia Ballew, Annie MacKenzie, Ali Ordway, Tiffany Musser, and Soni Lacefield in its "Why They Marched" article. The Lacefield lab members and others from IU Biology participated in the March for Science on April 22, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Many more from the department marched in Indianapolis.
IU Biology professor awarded 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship
Professor Armin Moczek has been awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for 2017. Fellowship recipients are selected on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise in their respective fields. Read the IU news release
IU fly larvae help scientists worldwide understand and treat diseases
Distinguished Professor Thom Kaufman and Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center at IU were given a nod in an article about medical uses of fly larvae. The BDSC, which began in 1987, is a living stock collection with over 60,000 genetically defined strains of D. melanogaster. Thousands of laboratories worldwide order strains from the center. Read the article
Delaney Halloran receives 1st place poster award
Delaney Halloran (Brun Lab) received the 1st place undergraduate poster award at the 2017 Indiana Branch American Society of Microbiology meeting for her work on the Caulobacter crescentus holdfast anchor. Her work will be highlighted in an upcoming IBASM newsletter.
Hannah Busey awarded 2017 Provost's Award
Hannah Busey has been awarded the 2017 Provost's Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity in the Natural and Mathematical Sciences under the mentorship of Professor Armin Moczek. Hannah's publications resulting from her work on the evolutionary developmental biology of horned beetles can be found here and here.
Indiana University-led team maps Zika virus protein to speed search for cure
Robert Vaughan (Associate Director of Biotechnology) and Cheng Kao (Director of Biotechnology, Professor of Biochemistry) are part of the research team speeding the path to new treatments for the Zika virus. Kao has mapped a key protein that causes the virus to reproduce and spread. Read the IU news release
Indiana University Bloomington names Outstanding Junior Faculty
Assistant Professor Jake McKinlay has been presented with IU Bloomington’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Award for 2016-17. The award celebrates tenure-track faculty working on nationally recognized research or creative programs. Read the IU news release
IU biologists reveal how powerful 'master gene' regulates physical differences between sexes
Cris Ledón-Rettig and Eduardo Zattara (postdocs, Moczek lab) and Professor Armin Moczek reveal how a powerful 'master gene' regulates physical differences between sexes in their paper in Nature Communications. Their first-of-its-kind study helps answer a major question about development and evolution in males versus females. Read the IU news release and read the article
IU Herbarium’s preserved plant collection enters new era with massive digitization project
IU Herbarium’s preserved plant collection enters new era with massive digitization project. Read the Inside IU Bloomington article
Jim Holland Programs Director and IU Biology Professor discusses Holland programs
Mary Ann Tellas (director of the Jim Holland summer science programs organized through IU Biology for underrepresented high school students) and Professor Armin Moczek discuss the Holland programs, participants, and results in "Dr. James Holland's legacy in STEM, IU continues through namesake programs."
Society for the Study of Evolution grant awarded to three graduate students
Graduate students Logan Cole (Palmer lab), Will Shoemaker (Lennon lab), and Daniel Schwab (Moczek lab) have been awarded a grant from the Society for the Study of Evolution to promote the public understanding of evolutionary biology. They will use the funds to develop and implement a summer evolution course for high school students in collaboration with the IU Foundations in Science and Mathematics program.
IU researchers help add greater precision to fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Ph.D. student Yen-Pang Hsu and Ph.D. graduate Erkin Kuru (both members of the Brun lab and VanNieuwenhze lab) are authors on a study reported in Science that is the first to reveal in extreme detail the operation of the biochemical clockwork that drives cellular division in bacteria. Read the IU news release
IU Biology graduate awarded John Maynard Smith Prize
Mandy Gibson, a 2016 Ph.D. graduate (Lively lab), has been awarded the European Society of Evolutionary Biology's John Maynard Smith Prize, a major award for recent Ph.D.s in evolutionary biology. Read the prize announcement
Indiana University announces nine new distinguished professors
Professors Yves Brun and Lynda Delph have been promoted to distinguished professor, the highest academic rank the university bestows upon faculty. They will be formally recognized on March 20 at a Distinguished Professor Symposium in Franklin Hall. Read the IU news release
Article published about tendering DNA
Assistant Professor Xindan Wang is first author of an article about tendering DNA for packing purposes in Science. Read the article
A Rhizobiales-Specific Unipolar Polysaccharide Adhesin Contributes to Rhodopseudomonas palustris Biofilm Formation across Diverse Photoheterotrophic Conditions
Ryan Fritts (graduate student) and other current and former McKinlay lab members describe the contribution of a unipolar adhesin to bacterial biofilm formation across diverse lifestyles. The work was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology with an accompanying spotlight and cover image. Read the article or view the spotlight or view the cover image
IU study finds fly growth mimics cancer cells, creating new tool in fight against disease
Tennessen lab members Hongde Li (postdoc), Geetanjali Chawla (associate scientist), Alexander Hurlburt and Maria Sterrett (research associates), Jason Tennessen (assistant professor), and colleagues have discovered that fly growth mimics cancer cells, creating a new tool in the fight against disease. Their findings are reported in PNAS. Read the IU news release and Read the article
IU honors those who capture the vision, spirit and leadership of MLK
Mary Ann Tellas, Director of the Jim Holland summer STEM programs organized through IU Biology for underrepresented high school students, was honored with the 2017 Indiana University Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Building Bridges Community Award during a ceremony on January 16 on the Bloomington campus. Read the blog entry
New article in Journal of Virology published by Pranav Danthi's laboratory
Current and former members of Pranav Danthi's laboratory published an article in the Journal of Virology describing a signaling cascade by which virus infection of host cells results in cell death. Read the abstract
Group of Biologists publish a new article in New Phytologist
Tanya Cheeke (Phillips/Bever lab postdoc) along with Eddie Brzostek (former Phillips lab postdoc), Anna Rosling (Phillips/Bever lab visiting scholar ), Associate Professor Rich Phillips, and Professor Jim Bever published an article in New Phytologist on how the mycorrhizal association of different tree species in temperate forests alters carbon and nutrient cycling by selecting for microbial groups with distinct enzyme function. Read the abstract
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