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How predictable is evolution? The answer long has been debated by biologists grappling with the extent to which history affects the repeatability of evolution. A review published in the Nov. 9 issue of Science explores the complexity of evolution’s predictability in extraordinary detail. In it, researchers from Kenyon College, Michigan State University and Washington University in St. Louis closely examine evidence from a number of empirical studies of evolutionary repeatability and contingency in an effort to fully interrogate ideas about contingency’s role in evolution.

I have been working in Dr. Elgin’s lab for the past two and a half years to analyze the characteristics of an unusual chromosome in Drosophila (fruit flies). The fourth chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster is unusual because this tiny chromosome is almost entirely heterochromatic yet contains about 80 protein-coding genes. In the Elgin lab, we use a combination of DNA manipulation experiments done in the wet lab and bioinformatic analyses done on the computer to identify factors that enable the expression of fourth chromosome genes within a mostly heterochromatic domain.

Most of the country switched their clocks back an hour over the weekend, ending daylight saving time. And even though one hour might not sound like a lot, it has a noticeable impact. "In the long term, this one hour cumulatively can really have effects on our health," says Erik Herzog, professor of biology and neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis.

Joel Perlmutter’s lab has many different projects, most of which are focused on the development of new PET radiotracers for Parkinson disease. My project in the lab is to study a non-human primate model of Parkinson disease, and the effects of a new drug, Carboxyfullerene (C3), on neurotransmitter levels and dopaminergic cells in different regions of the brain.

Richard D. Vierstra, the George and Charmaine Mallinckrodt Professor in the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences, received a $304,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a project titled “Phytochromes: Structural perspectives on photoactivation and signaling.” Vierstra was also granted $49,000 from the NIH to study autophagic clearance of inactive proteasomes and ribosomes as models for protein quality control.

David L. Kirk, professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, at Dougherty Ferry Assisted Living in St. Louis after a long illness. He was 84. Kirk, who was an active and passionate member of the university community for nearly 50 years, spent a lifetime teaching developmental biology and researching the evolutionary origins of multicellular organisms. He was internationally known for his research on the spherical green alga known as Volvox carteri.

Himadri Pakrasi, the Myron and Sonya Glassberg/Albert and Blanche Greensfelder Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology, received a $1.5 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop Anabaena 33047 — a photosynthetic, fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria — as a versatile production platform that can be used by the bioenergy research community.

Next Generation Leaders are selected each year through a competitive process that includes applications from around the world. This year, the six Next Generation Leaders come from universities and research institutes in the U.S., Canada and Germany. They will each have a three-year term on the advisory council.

“The Society is proud to present Dr. Herzog and Dr. Peker with this year’s award,” said SfN President Richard Huganir. “Dr. Herzog is a gifted teacher and science communicator who is committed to increasing diversity through mentoring, while Dr. Peker has been instrumental in demonstrating the benefits of international educational experiences and research collaborations.”

Amgen Foundation Deepens Commitment To Aspiring Scientists Worldwide By Expanding Amgen Scholars Program. Through a new $21 Million, Four-Year Investment, Amgen Scholars Program to Reach Additional 1,500 Undergraduates. Nearly 4,000 Undergraduates From More Than 700 Colleges and Universities Have Participated to Date. Alumni Pursuing Advanced Scientific Degrees and Careers Across the U.S. and Globe

Can electricity serve as an alternative electron supplier for bacterial growth? And can we enhance the electron uptake capacity of bacteria?

From the playground to the pool to the ballpark, science is all around us. Through Everyday MySci activities, the Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis helps parents nurture their child’s natural sense of curiosity, wonder and discovery.