Geneticists exploring the dark heart of the human genome have discovered big chunks of Neanderthal and other ancient DNA. The results open new ways to study both how chromosomes behave during cell division and how they have changed during human evolution.
For his outstanding research and service, Cole Williams, who graduated this month, was named the 2019 College of Biological Sciences Undergraduate of the Year.
In a new study, UC Davis postdoctoral researcher Didem Sarikaya and her colleagues analyzed egg-laying strategies of 65 different Hawaiian Drosophila species and found that egg-laying capacities diverged in response to their unique environments, which directly affected the number of cells involved in each species’ ovarian development.
In Richard McKenney’s lab, Wenzhe Li studies the motor protein cytoplasmic dynein. Aided by her interest in psychology, Li aims to link cellular and molecular biology processes to mind and behavior. For her work, she was awarded the Ronald and Lydia Baskin Research Award.
Population Biology Ph.D. student Victoria Morgan uses genetics to understand how land crabs adapted to living on land. Her research has taken her all the way to Christmas Island, home to the annual Christmas lsland Red Crab migration.
