Biological Sciences

Recent microbiological research has shown that plants and animals, including humans, are not autonomous individuals but are holobionts: biomolecular networks that consist of visible hosts plus millions of invisible microbes. Read More

Vanderbilt and Stanford investigators have discovered how a protein that's part of the DNA replication "machinery" helps cells tolerate DNA damage. Read More

Vanderbilt biologist Julián Hillyer is this year's recipient of the H.B. Ward Medal given by the American Society of Parasitologists. Read More

Vanderbilt biologist Laurence Zwiebel has received a Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Exploration grant to create a wrist-band device that devises a personal "no-fly zone" offering protection from mosquitoes. Read More

Twenty-eight retiring faculty members were recognized during Vanderbilt’s Commencement ceremony May 8, when the university honored their years of service and bestowed on them the title of emeritus or emerita faculty. Read More

Vanderbilt biologists have localized the seasonal light cycle effects that drive seasonal affective disorder to a small region of the brain called the dorsal raphe nucleus. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a novel mechanism for the development of dendritic spines – sites of nerve cell communication. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have identified the role that a key protein associated with autism and the co-occurrence of alcohol dependency and depression plays in forming the spines that create new connections in the brain. Read More

Seth Bordenstein, associate professor of biological sciences and pathology, microbiology and immunology, has been awarded a $950,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for research into the regulation of bacterial infections that are passed from mother to offspring. Read More

Mechanical stress appears to be a critical factor in activating normal tissue-associated fibroblasts to generate cancer-associated fibroblasts. Read More

Vanderbilt biologists have found a direct link between the biological clock and Angelman syndrome, a neurogenetic disorder that occurs in more than one in every 15,000 live births. The link may provide a valuable way to judge the effectiveness of the first experimental drugs under development for treating the syndrome. Read More

The discovery of a new "reset" button for the brain’s master biological clock could eventually lead to new treatments for seasonal affective disorder, reduce the adverse health effects of working the night shift, and possibly even treat jet lag. Read More

Electricity, learning, marijuana, outer space and planet Earth were the hot topics of 2014. Read More

A Vanderbilt biologist has determined that electric eels possess an electroshock system uncannily similar to a Taser. Read More

Vanderbilt biologists played an important supporting role in a major genetic study of malaria-carrying mosquitoes published this week in the journal "Science." Read More

A family of single-celled organisms that thrive in environments too extreme for most other species to survive may be an untapped source of new antibacterial drugs. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers will play a key role in the second phase of the federal "tissue chip for drug screening" program. Read More

Last spring, Vanderbilt entered into a partnership to foster collaborations between its faculty and researchers affiliated with universities in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. In the first year of this partnership, two proposals have been selected for funding. Read More

The doctoral thesis of former Vanderbilt graduate student Jennifer Ellis Mandel played a key role in protecting a rare domestic sunflower. Read More

Fall is the perfect time to learn more about the trees of Vanderbilt through a new website and mobile device-assisted tours. Read More