91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳

Vera Gorbunova appointed Doris Johns Cherry Professor

Congratulations to Professor Vera Gorbunova, who has been appointed the Doris Johns Cherry Professor.

Choosing between two good things can be tough. When animals must decide between feeding and mating, it can get even trickier. In a discovery that might ring true even for some humans, researchers have shown that male brains – at least in nematodes – will suppress the ability to locate food in order to instead focus on finding a mate.

As we and other vertebrates age, our DNA accumulates mutations and becomes rearranged, which may result in a variety of age-related illnesses, including cancers. Biologists Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov have now discovered one reason for the increasing DNA damage: the primary repair process begins to fail with increasing age and is replaced by one that is less accurate.

One challenge in killing off harmful bacteria is that many of them develop a resistance to antibiotics. Researchers at the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ are targeting the formation of the protein-making machinery in those cells as a possible alternate way to stop the bacteria. And Professor of Biology Gloria Culver has, for the first time, isolated the middle-steps in the process that creates that machinery—called the ribosomes.

Christian Rabeling and his team discovered the parasitic Mycocepurus castrator, an example of a still-controversial theory known as sympatric speciation.

91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ biologist Michael Welte and his team made their discovery while studying the internal mechanisms of the egg cell of the fruit fly, known as Drosophila. What keeps the assembly line functioning—based on the new research—is a protein called Klar.

Research from 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ biologists shows that different types of histone proteins need to exist in specific proportions in order not to damage a fruit fly's DNA—and that any over-produced histones are kept in cellular storage facilities until they are needed.

Cheeptip Benyajati receives this year's Professor of the Year Award in the Natural Sciences!

91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Professor of Biology Vera Gorbunova, whose innovative research on DNA repair and the aging process has been internationally recognized, has been awarded a $9.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to study longevity.

Biology Professors Awarded the 2014 Prince Hitachi Prize in Comparative Oncology

Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov recognized for their work and research clarifying the molecular mechanisms of the naked mole rat's cancer resistance.