News
2023
June. The whiskey drinking boom is causing a “whiskey fungus” boom
May. Bizarre sea creatures illuminate the dawn of the animal kingdom
April. ‘Whiskey fungus’ is covering this Tennessee town. Jack Daniel’s ethanol pollution is to blame
March. Tennessee town blames Jack Daniel’s for growing fungus
March. Uncontrollable black fungus growing outside Jack Daniel’s warehouses
February. Don’t worry about zombie fungus. Do worry about other fungal pathogens
February. Fungal infections are spreading and climate change is to blame
February. Diversity in infectious mold species impacts respiratory disease severity in humans
2022
December. Beyond the Limits: Antonis Rokas, Klaus Tschira Guest Professor
December. VU graduate student examines Aspergillus genus virulence as part of multi-university study
July. Insects harbor over a thousand genes from microbes, which help them survive
July. Catching up with reMARCable Vanderbilt graduates
July. Horizontal gene transfer happens more often than anyone thought
May. Vanderbilt researchers develop new evolutionary approach for identifying proteins that functionally interact
March. Graduate student Steenwyk receives prestigious 2022 Harold M. Weintraub Award
February. Student-led research creates a publicly available mitogenomic data source for a human pathogen, Aspergillus flavus
2021
July. A conversation with researcher and artist Jacob Steenwyk
June. Art with amphibians, algorithms and advocacy
March. Yeast regain long-lost traits
2020
December. Antonis Rokas elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
November. Six Vanderbilt faculty elected as AAAS fellows in 2020
November. We may finally have figured out which group of animals evolved first
September. By Losing Genes, Life Often Evolved More Complexity
August. Early Career Scientist Leadership Spotlight — Jacob L. Steenwyk
July. Vanderbilt develops computational method to explore evolution’s influence on preterm birth
June. Biological Sciences Ph.D. student finds creative outlet in science-themed art
June. New discovery shows infection of the lungs can be caused by hybrid fungi
May. Meet Koji, the Microbe That Makes Miso and Soy Sauce So Delicious
May. Let it Brie
2019
October. This Fungus Mutates. That’s Good News if You Like Cheese.
September. Three VU doctoral students receive 2019 Gilliam Fellowships to support diversity and inclusion in science
August. 15 SACNAS members awarded HHMI Gilliam fellowships to support diversity and inclusion in science
August. Rokas to lead budding cross-disciplinary collaboration on evolutionary studies
August. A battle is raging in the Tree of Life
May. Life in evolution’s fast lane
February. Yeasts reach across tree of life to domesticate suite of bacterial genes
February. Rokas elected to American Academy of Microbiology
February. The Vanderbilt Pre3 Initiative: Preventing Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Prematurity
2018
November. Antonis discusses fungal mating types at Monday 8 O’clock Buzz / WORT FM
November. Broad genome analysis shows yeasts evolving by subtraction
November. Today’s budding yeasts shed traits from their 400-million-year-old ancestor
October. BBC World Service – Discovery: Tracking the first animals on earth
September. The dream team of Greek scientists under the age of 45 (in Greek)
April. Three Vanderbilt A&S professors awarded 2018 Guggenheim Fellowships
2017
July. One amino acid, a whale of a difference
June. Vanderbilt evolutionary biologist makes finals of a national award for young scientists
April. Ancient sea creature unlocks a mystery of how tissue developed
April. Wisecaver named ‘Vanderbilt Postdoc of the Year’
April. New method for tapping vast plant pharmacopeia to make more effective drugs
April. Forget sponges: the earliest animals were marine jellies
2016
June. Insects don’t need noses to sense a stench
March. Bacterial resistance to copper in the making for thousands of years
2015
December. Una piattaforma contro la prematurità
November. New online tool created to tackle complications of pregnancy and childbirth
January. Blair senior finds connections between music and science
2014
November. Vanderbilt biologists contribute to major genetic study of malaria mosquitoes
May. Research is shaping the undergraduate experience
2013
December. Could comb jellies, close cousins of jellyfish, be the earliest ancestors of animals?
June. New algorithms force scientists to revise the tree of life
May. Untangling the tree of life
February. New method for researching understudied malaria-spreading mosquitoes
February. ‘Snooze button’ on biological clocks improves cell adaptability
January. What do beer, dogs, and soy sauce have in common?
January. Domestic just for the sake of it – the evolution of a fungus with good taste
2012
September. Ants have exceptionally ‘hi-def’ sense of smell
July. A dermatophytic divergence
July. The brewer’s yoke, the domestication of microbes
July. Sake, soy sauce, and the taming of the microbes
June. White rot fungi slowed coal formation
2011
June. Yeast genomes: Genetic codes for species of yeasts identified and compared
June. Jumping genes make the funny pages
February. What Darwin got wrong (in Greek)
February. Discovery of jumping gene cluster tangles tree of life
2010
February. New type of genetic variation could strengthen natural selection
May. Interview with Kriti TV on EMBO 2010 Summer School on Computational Molecular Evolution (in Greek)
2009
October. Trimming the tree of life
2008
November. Fine reading: the origins of multicellularity
April. Biologist awarded Searle Scholar grant
February. Genome of marine organism tells of humans’ unicellular ancestors
2007 and years prior
March 2007. We are family
November 2006. Spotlight: drawing the tree of life
December 2005. New study shows animal family tree looking bushy in places
Spring 2005. Fossil genes: another gift from yeast
September 2004. ‘Fossil genes’ reveal how Life sheds form and function
October 2003. Stalking the perfect tree
October 2003. UW team clears up gene ‘trees’