Posts Tagged Department of Biology

Students from Rochester’s East High School got a sense of how startling science can be when they spent the day in the lab with professors and researchers from the Department of Biology.

Yellowjacket athlete Laura Lockard ’17 returned this spring for her final season as a key member of the track and field team. A fateful discovery during a voluntary study nearly knocked her off her stride, but Lockard, a microbiology major from Sayre, Pennsylvania, was determined to “make the best of everything” in her life.

Drosophila melanogaster—the common fruit fly—is widely used in laboratory experiments. But what Rochester researchers found when examining the guts of fruit flies in the wild bears little resemblance to what is seen in the lab.

There are many examples of DNA damage being associated with aging, but never has a reduction in DNA damage been shown to extend lifespan. Rochester research has made this connection, and identified an enzyme that can be targeted to reduce that damage.

Researchers who specialize in the study of aging have identified a protein that may serve as a first responder, activating a “longevity gene” known as sirtuin 6 and setting in motion a cascade of molecular first responders to repair damaged DNA.

Four Rochester researchers are among the latest recipients of the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for junior faculty members.

Students submitted 63 nominations, and a Student Association Government academic affairs legislature committee deliberated and selected the winners.

Nate Powers ’16, Ka’dya Donadelle, and Seth Mason ’16 and were among the 35 students honored on Wednesday, April 20, by the Rochester Area Colleges Continuing Education.

LISTEN: David Goldfarb, professor of biology, researches yeast as a model organism for understanding the aging process in humans. Why does this essential ingredient in bread and beer make a good research specimen?

“There’s an explosion of insect genome sequencing right now,” said Jack Werren, a professor of biology and a member of the research team. “But the bed bug is particularly interesting because it’s a human parasite, a major pest, and has a unique biology.”