Seth Bordenstein

Vanderbilt researchers are reimagining Charles Darwin’s work by communicating how the origin of species might depend largely on the microbiome—the totality of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other organisms—living in or on a host body. Read More

The Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative has been renamed the Vanderbilt Microbiome Innovation Center. It will offer a hub of resources for education, outreach and research around the microbiome—the community of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses that are crucial to sustaining life ecosystems. Read More

Seth Bordenstein, Centennial Professor of Biological Sciences and director of the Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative, has been elected to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology. Read More

The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Microbiome Society recently made a donation of $1,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee as part of VUMS’ efforts to raise awareness about the microbiome and to better the local community. Read More

Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan R. Wente has established a new Public Health Advisory Task Force to serve as a resource for the university during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More

Nine Vanderbilt faculty members who have been awarded endowed chairs were recently honored by Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan R. Wente, deans, colleagues and family members. Read More

The Genetics Society of America has recognized Seth Bordenstein, an evolutionary geneticist and microbiologist at Vanderbilt, for an initiative that brings real-world scientific research into middle school, high school and college biology classes. Read More

The Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative is receiving attention for its role as a standard bearer for other microbiome programs, thanks to a new article on the importance and emergence of microbiome centers – academic hubs of microbiome-related research. Read More

A curriculum directed by biologists Seth and Sarah Bordenstein is responsible for helping countless thousands of college students, schoolkids and citizen scientists worldwide contribute to research on microbes using cutting-edge technology. Read More

Changing the gut microbiome to beat illness really does hold great potential, but first scientists must answer what constitutes a healthy gut microbiome and in whom. Read More

Bordenstein’s team studied Nasonia parasitic wasps, which are about the size of a sesame seed, and they serve as one of the best models to dissect and characterize the evolution of insect genomes. Read More

Right under your nose but unseen by the human eye is the microbiome—the totality of microbes in an environment. The Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative, funded by a TIPs grant, is coordinating basic, translational and clinical scholarship to help unlock the mysteries of these bacteria, viruses and more. Learn about the initiative and its new website in this VU BreakThru blog post. Read more about TIPs grants and other internal faculty funding programs—including University Courses, Research Scholar Grants and Discovery Grants—at the VU BreakThru blog. Read More

How a bacteria hijacked insect fertility remained a mystery for five decades, until Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Seth Bordenstein and his team helped solve it. Read More

Twelve outstanding faculty members from across the university have been named to the 2018 class of Chancellor Faculty Fellows. The class comprises highly accomplished, recently tenured faculty from all corners of campus. Read More

Genes used by the insect parasite Wolbachia to control its hosts' reproduction can be used to help control the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, Zika and malaria. Read More

Artificial kidneys, gay-straight alliances and junkyard batteries captured readers' attention in 2016. Read More

A laboratory study of four animal species and their microbiota finds that each species hosts a unique community of microbes that can significantly improve its health and fitness. Read More

DNA related to black widow spider toxin been discovered in a phage that infects the bacterial parasite Wolbachia. It is the first time animal-like DNA has been found in a bacterial virus. Read More

Fecal transplants are increasingly being used to treat certain human illnesses and more scientists have begun to research the transplants' effects in animals. Read More

With discoveries ranging from the origins of consciousness to the end of the universe, 2015 was a year of incredibly diverse research at Vanderbilt University. Read More