Arts and Science Research
How do interactions between individuals from different populations contribute to cultural richness?
May. 3, 2023—By: Yotam Ben-Oren (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Erella Hovers (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), and Oren Kolodny (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Nicole Creanza Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences (VU) Why are human cultures so diverse? What makes some cultures richer than others? How can very small populations possess very complex cultures? According to...
Vanderbilt researcher finds evidence for ant caste systems driven by chemo-sensing responses
Mar. 13, 2023—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Stephen Ferguson, first-author of a new paper with his postdoctoral advisor, Laurence Zwiebel, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Biological Sciences, and two undergraduates associated with the lab, Isaac Bakis (alumnus) and Nicholas Edwards, confirmed the existence of a specialized soldier caste within an ant species in a paper titled,...
Researchers hope insights into low-light vision of Antarctic icefish can promote better understanding of human health
Feb. 27, 2023—By Tatum Lyles Flick, Evolutionary Studies communications volunteer consultant Though many researchers have considered how fish survive in extreme cold, using everything from antifreeze glycoproteins that protect cells to not producing hemoglobin, few have taken a molecular approach to evaluate how they are able to see in such conditions. In “Adaptation of Antarctic Icefish Vision...
Vanderbilt-led Group Discovers Divergent Function in Convergent Evolution of Form
Feb. 22, 2023—By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator The classic idiom form fits function does not always mean that everything of the same form has the same function. That’s what a group of paleontologists have discovered with the help of fluid physics and preserved fossils. Simon Darroch, assistant professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, led a...
Vanderbilt Researcher Identifies Modes of Natural Selection in Understudied Human Populations
Feb. 16, 2023—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator (Spanish/español) Amanda Lea, assistant professor of biology, along with a global team of experts, have discovered new pathways of natural selection in humans. The group, led by Tsimane Health and Life History Project co-Director Michael Gurven of the University of California, Santa Barbara, studied two populations of Bolivians...
Vanderbilt Anthropologist Discovers Lasting Effects from Disasters in Bangladesh
Jan. 26, 2023—By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Monica Keith, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, recently co-authored a paper addressing severe climate events in Bangladesh and their lasting effects on human health outcomes. Working with Shodagor fishing families in Matlab, the team found that body mass decreased following the flood of 2017 and did not recover by...
Vanderbilt undergraduate compares nuclear and mitochondrial genomic evolution of the fungi Aspergillus section Flavi
Jan. 23, 2023—By Kelly Tingle, Evolutionary Studies communications assistant Former Vanderbilt University undergraduate student Miya Hugaboom provides insight into fungal mitochondrial genomic evolution in a paper she published recently as lead author, along with Biological Sciences graduate student Annie Hatmaker and Professor Antonis Rokas. The study focused on the mitochondrial genomes of 20 different Aspergillus species, a...
“The Hunger Games: E. coli edition” demonstrates how mutualism and cooperative behavior shape species
May. 20, 2022—Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies Initiative scientific coordinator Bacteria, not unlike humans, can take up more resources than necessary. When this happens, synthesized byproducts can leak into the environment. This allows the nearby bacteria to evolve cooperative behaviors, such as using the byproducts as nutrients. Cooperation in bacterial communities has also been previously observed with behaviors...
Vanderbilt researchers use new method to target potentially undiscovered beneficial therapeutic chemicals
Apr. 5, 2022—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies Initiative scientific coordinator A team of researchers from the Eichman lab and associated with the Evolutionary Studies Initiative led a project that was recently published in mBio. Graduate student Noah Bradley and undergraduate student Katie Wahl (BA21, BCB) were co-first authors on the work studying chemical compounds produced by bacteria....
Researchers aim to define host-parasite interactions by modeling the effects of coinfection on community dynamics
Feb. 14, 2022—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies Initiative scientific coordinator Research conducted at Vanderbilt has been published in a new study in The American Naturalist that models how parasites interact to affect their host’s behavior. The results of the research, conducted by Faith Rovenolt, BA’20, and Ann Tate, assistant professor of biological sciences, reinforce an understanding of the influence...