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News for Biology
- Biology Profs among Most Influential Scientists
- In Plain English VIa: John Willis
- Philip Benfey Featured in Current Biology!
Biology Profs among Most Influential Scientists
Rob Jackson, Philip Benfey, Tai-ping Sun and Xinnian Dong are among the top 1 per cent of faculty whose publications are cited by other authors,according to Thomson Reuters. The study identified 3,215 researchers around the world, of whom 32 work for Duke. [more]
In Plain English VIa: John Willis
John Willis loves figuring things out--specifically, how the wildflower Mimulus adapts to different environments. Colonies adapt to different elevations, or degrees of drought, or soil types. Some have even evolved to live on highly contaminated soil near a copper mine. Which of their genes change, and do they change in many little ways or one big way? Why do some separated groups lose the ability to reproduce with their neighbors? Are the genes that help them adapt the same ones that prevent living hybrid offspring???
The Willis group tests this with "tricky crosses" between different varieties. If the copper mine variety mates with nearby types, the offspring all die. But when one parent is crossed to a third and their viable offspring to the other parent, it produces some living offspring and some that die. By analyzing which parts of the parents' chromosomes each type inherited, the lab can zero in on the killer gene. Scientists assumed that the copper-tolerant gene was the killer, but Willis recently showed that a near neighbor, which "hitchhiked" with copper tolerance into the population, was guilty.
Philip Benfey Featured in Current Biology!
The October 7 issue of Current Biology features an interview with Philip Benfey, describing his unconventional path to the research lab and the study of root development. Most interesting! [more]