WUSTL biologists and their collaborators have created budding longleaf pine forest ecosystems with the help of the U.S. Forest Service-Savannah River to understand whether these "corridors" help plants and animals survive habitat fragmentation.

References:

1. Dec. 2, 2008 — Study on wildlife corridors shows how they work over time in the Eureka! Science News (Canada)

and 3 others.

WUSTL researchers led by WUSTL biology professor Craig Pikaard have made major headway in explaining a mechanism by which plant cells silence potentially harmful genes.

References:

1. Nov. 17, 2008 — New gene silencing pathway found in plants in the ScientistLive.com (UK)

A study by WUSTL biologists shows that the more diverse a bird population is in an area, the less chance humans have of exposure to West Nile Virus.

References:

1. Oct. 6, 2008 — Bird Diversity Lessens Human Exposure to West Nile Virus in the ScienceDaily.com

and 7 others.

The Chicago Tribune magazine story on the conflict between Darwin and theology. Ursula Goodenough professor of biology comments on the conflict.

References:

1. Jan. 20, 2008 — The New Theology in the Chicago Tribune magazine

By mimicking plant evolution, a team of Illinois researchers has improved upon nature's design to build a leafy energy-producing powerhouse — or at least a virtual one on a supercomputer. In a study published within the journal Plant Physiology, WUSTL biology and chemistry professor Robert Blankenship comments on the Illinois study.

References:

1. Jan. 10, 2008 — Mimicking plant evolution proves fruitful in the MSNBC.com

In 1984 and again in 1999, the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most eminent scientific organization, produced books on the evidence supporting the theory of evolution and arguing against the introduction of creationism or other religious alternatives in public school science classes. Barbara A. Schaal, a vice president of the academy and an evolutionary biologist at WUSTL, comments on the third volume recently published.

References:

1. Jan. 4, 2008 — Evolution Book Sees No Science-Religion Gap in the The New York Times

and 6 others.

Scientists are more interested than ever in the effects of extreme climate swings, such as prolonged drought, because the computer models predict wilder extremes as one effect of the climate change now underway.
WUSTL biology professor and ecologist Jonathan Chase comments on his study that appeared in the Oct. 15 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

References:

1. Oct. 22, 2007 — Drought Can Destroy Diversity in the LiveScience.com

THAT leggy friend who looks better than you in shorts also burns fuel more efficiently while walking or running, a researcher has found.
WUSTL biological anthropologist Herman Pontzer made this discovery while testing a mathematical model for calculating energy costs for locomotion.
His study is published in the February issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.

References:

1. March 19, 2007 — A leg up on efficiency in the Los Angeles Times

and 3 others.

WUSTL scientists led by biology professor Erik Herzog say olfaction in mice is affected by a biological clock that makes their sense of smell stronger at night.
The research appeared in the Nov. 22 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

References:

1. Dec. 19, 2006 — Scientists study olfaction in mice in the United Press International

and 4 others.

Neanderthals are humanity's closest relatives, with brains at least as big as ours, and yet we don't know whether we should include them as members of our own species. But clues lay within the DNA we're carrying around in our cells today. Biologist Alan Templeton of Washington University in St. Louis has found hints that some people of European ancestry carry genes that emerged in Europe more than 300,000 years ago far before our main ancestors left Africa.

References:

1. Aug. 13, 2006 — Sleep with Neanderthals? Apparently we (homo Sapiens) did in the Seattle Times

Competition between two species of finch in the Galápagos has caused the beak size of one species to shrink, and scientists have watched it happen. Detailed observations of the birds, which Darwin famously studied while formulating his theory of evolution, have provided one of the best descriptions of a characteristic trait evolving in the wild.
WUSTL biologist Jonathan Losos comments.

References:

1. July 13, 2006 — Evolution caught in the act in the Nature.com (UK)

New research shows that birds are becoming extinct faster than scientists have thought.
A group of scientists that included WUSTL biology professor and conservationist Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, revised the existing extinction estimate to take into account ongoing fossil discoveries of extinct species and missing birds not yet classified as extinct. The results of their study appear this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

References:

1. July 4, 2006 — Bird extinction pace worries scientists in the Kansas City Star

and 19 others.

Rice, a staple that has fed more people than any other crop since humans began cultivating it about 9,000 years ago, was independently domesticated at least twice in different parts of Asia, a new study says. "Humans had a very good idea -- let's cultivate rice -- and it happened on more than one occasion,'' said Barbara A. Schaal, a biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, who published the study with scientists from Taiwan.

References:

1. June 5, 2006 — Rice Cultivation Began in Multiple Asian Locations, Study Says in the Bloomberg News

Animals can spread from island to island, giving rise to an explosion of new species, and even colonizing the mainland again. The results suggest that conserving biodiversity on islands is vital for the evolution of new species in the future. Other recent studies suggest that islands may also be engines of evolution for many other animals and perhaps even plants. In the June issue of The Journal of Biogeography, for example, Kirsten Nicholson of WUSTL and her colleagues published a study of lizards that live in Central and South America.

References:

1. Nov. 22, 2005 — In Give and Take of Evolution, a Surprising Contribution From Islands in the The New York Times

WUSTL Genome Sequencing Center researchers will lead a project to decipher the genetic code of corn, which they say should provide the knowledge leading to better corn yields.
Lead investigator Richard Wilson comments.

References:

1. Nov. 16, 2005 — Washington U. to Study Corn's Genetic Code in the CBS News
2. Nov. 16, 2005 — WU wins a grant to map genetics of corn in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

and 42 others.

A study by U. Florida and WUSTL scientists suggests flowering plants near ponds may owe their pollination not only to winged creatures, but also to fish.
A paper about the discovery appears in the Oct. 6 issue of the journal Nature.

References:

1. Oct. 5, 2005 — Fish help pollination, too in the United Press International

and 3 others.

A species of mosquito common in the eastern U.S. and capable of carrying the West Nile virus has made its way to the Midwest for the first time, a finding made by WUSTL junior chemistry major Stephanie Gallitano.
Gallitano, WUSTL biology professor Jonathan Chase and Gallitano's mentor and postdoctoral fellow James Vonesh comment.

References:

1. Sept. 26, 2005 — Invasive Mosquito Species Found in Midwest in the Washington Post
2. Sept. 27, 2005 — Asian mosquito has made its way here, scientists say in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

and 32 others.

The skeleton of Clint the chimp, whose blood sample was used to map the chimpanzee genome, will reside at the Chicago Field Museum. The chimp died recently of heart failure at the age of 24. His remains will be safeguarded for future research.
WUSTL geneticist Richard Wilson, who participated in the chimp project, comments.

References:

1. Sept. 6, 2005 — Field Museum gets a new superstar in the Chicago Tribune

and 15 others.

Article on the reports published in Nature and Science magazines that an international team of scientists, including WUSTL's Genome Sequencing Center director Richard Wilson and colleague LaDeana Hillier, have finished sequencing the genome of the chimp. The comparison of genetic blueprints shows that just a handful of mutations account for the vast differences between the species. Scientists say the results provide a roadmap for studying diseases and the mechanisms by which humans evolved into the dominant species of Earth.

References:

1. Sept. 1, 2005 — In Chimpanzee DNA, Signs of Y Chromosome's Evolution in the New York Times
2. Sept. 1, 2005 — Man, Chimp Separated by Dab of DNA in the Los Angeles Times
3. Sept. 1, 2005 — Washington U. had major role in chimp genome sequencing in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

and 55 others.

Over the past 100 years, a species of Himalayan snow lotus has lost almost four inches in height. Missouri Botanical Garden scientist Jan Salick and WUSTL biology graduate student Wayne Law say direct and rapid evolutionary change is a result of human actions. Medicinal collectors pick the tallest plants because they are considered more potent, and for tourists, no doubt the larger the flower the better. The entire plant is picked just as it is flowering and before it releases seeds.

References:

1. July 5, 2005 — Popularity of plant is affecting its evolution, study finds in the Associated Press
2. July 5, 2005 — The Case of the Shrinking Lotus in the The New York Times