News
In Plain English: Alec Motten
August 11, 2015
Alec Motten is excited about bioluminescence—live creatures that glow in the dark. The lab for Organismal Diversity gives him an excuse to...
In Plain English: Sam Johnson
August 11, 2015
The great scientist Sir Isaac Newton formulated his theory of light, indispensable to using microscopes and telescopes, at Cambridge...
In Plain English: Vikas Bhandawat
August 07, 2015
Vikas Bhandawat chose to study the sense of smell in fruit flies because it is so much simpler than sight. Less than 10,000 neurons! But...
In Plain English: Nina Tang Sherwood
August 11, 2015
Fruit flies live long enough to have degenerative diseases? Yes, and Nina Sherwood studies one that impairs the ability to walk. A...
In Plain English: Terry Corliss
August 11, 2015
Terry Corliss started collecting insects at age 5 and progressed to fish, reptiles and eventually microbes. Now she leads a hard-working...
In Plain English: Meng Chen
August 11, 2015
Meng Chen got his job by accident; that is, he accidentally discovered a mutant while he was a post-doc, and now his lab is defining a new...
In Plain English: Michael Barnes
August 11, 2015
Down behind the French building, far from the mailroom and offices, the labs on upper floors and the subterranean teaching space, there is...
In Plain English: Rytas Vilgalys
June 23, 2015
“It’s a good time to be a mycologist,” says Rytas Vilgalys. Rytas began by learning the edible and inedible mushrooms at his Muka’s (...
In Plain English: Fred Nijhout
August 11, 2015
Animals come in all sizes, but how does an animal know when it’s grown to the right size? That’s been puzzling Fred Nijhout for a long...
In Plain English: Katia Koelle
August 07, 2015
Like many people today, Katia Koelle is fascinated by ancestry. But she's not tracing her family tree; instead, she uses sophisticated...
In Plain English: Eric Spana
June 29, 2015
Eric Spana just finished running “Nerd Camp”—that is, pSearch, a pre-orientation program introducing freshmen to research. All day for 2...
Crowdfunding for Azolla Fern Research Hits Target
July 02, 2014
A Chinese biotech firm has pushed biology professor Kathleen Pryer and her team over the top in their quest to fund the sequencing of the...
Julian Kimura: Evolutionary Paths of the Sea Urchin and the Sand Dollar
June 30, 2014
Junior Julian Kimura came to Duke with an interest in developmental biology and he found a home on his first day at the university in the...
Mitchell Lee: Student Studies New Processes for Gene Expression
June 27, 2014
Before biologists can understand the role of specific genes, they have to be able to determine whether those genes are "on or off." Howard...
Going Public With Research Funding
June 19, 2014
Oh, the people you will meet when raising money for science. Biology professor Kathleen Pryer knows this now, after first writing an op-ed...
Scientists Uncover Navigation System Used by Cancer, Nerve Cells
August 25, 2014
Duke University researchers have found a ”roving detection system” on the surface of cells that may point to new ways of treating diseases...
Johnsen's Book wins PROSE Award
April 01, 2015
Biology professor Sönke Johnsen's second book, "Visual Ecology," has been awarded a PROSE Award by the Association of American Publishers...
Lead Author Learned to Love Research at Duke
August 14, 2014
When Bob Cieri first arrived at Duke, he envisioned becoming an ecologist who worked in the field, not someone who’d flourish in a lab. All...
Traveling Across America on a Tandem Bike
August 12, 2014
Nearly three months of pedaling took Duke biology professor Kathleen Smith and her husband over the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia,...
Cassidy Pomeroy-Carter: Studying Creatures Great and Small
September 05, 2014
From whales to lemurs, senior Cassidy Pomeroy-Carter is using animal research experiences at Duke to prepare her for a future in...
Willard to Lead New Research Program for Undergrads
September 10, 2014
The Trinity Science & Research Scholars Program is launching this fall to provide opportunities for Trinity College freshmen and...
Longing for Nepal
September 15, 2014
Name: Jill Chaskes FosterPosition: Staff assistant, Department of BiologyYears at Duke:...
Being Born in Lean Times Is Bad News for Baboons
April 02, 2015
The saying ”what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” may not hold up to scientific scrutiny. Baboons born in times of famine are more...
Fulbright Scholarship Winners From Duke University Announced
August 19, 2014
Eighteen recent graduates and graduate students from Duke University received Fulbright Scholarships and will spend the 2014-15 academic...