Biology Discoveries

NSF's public investment in science, engineering, education and technology helps to create knowledge and sustain prosperity. Read here about the Internet, microbursts, Web browsers, extrasolar planets, and more... a panoply of discoveries and innovations that began with NSF support.

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		Heat-tolerant Crops Could Prevent Future Starvation and Help Preserve Biofuels With NSF support, plant molecular biologist L. Curtis Hannah is developing variants of key crops that will produce increased yields under heat stress Released  April 27, 2009
		Louisiana Crayfish: Good, Bad and Delicious University of Notre Dame graduate students Matthew Barnes and Ashley Baldridge travel to China to better understand why some welcome the introduction of Louisiana crayfish despite the damage the invaders do to native fishes and crops Released  April 15, 2009
		Changes in Altitude/Changes in Attitude: Scientists and Policymakers Share Views in the Treetops Excursion to a rainforest canopy creates a communication bridge between scientists and policymakers Released  April 13, 2009
		Caves Reveal Evolution of Ancient Microbes Jenn Macalady's geomicrobiology group is discovering the rules that enable microbes living in dark, oxygen-free environments to adapt and evolve Released  March 27, 2009
		More and More Scientists Serve Up Science for Mass Consumption Scientists use innovative, barrier-busting methods to educate the public and decision-makers about cutting-edge science Released  March 16, 2009
		2008: Year in Review A look back at some of the NSF-supported advances and activities that made news last year Released  March 13, 2009
		Rap Music Brings Science to Urban Youth Evergreen State University researcher Nalini Nadkarni tells how she incorporates rap music in a science outreach program to interest urban youth in forest ecology Released  March 9, 2009
		Electrical Nanowires Probe Individual Cells Radically new technology for studying and controlling cells at the nanoscale Released  February 20, 2009
		Guam's Birds Gone: Can Forest Survive? With NSF support, a University of Washington graduate student and her colleagues use 'screen door netting and lots of PVC pipe' to study how the loss of birds affects the dispersal of seeds in Guam's forests Released  January 30, 2009
		Crimes to Climate History: Tiny Diatoms Offer Big Clues NSF-supported botanist Peter Siver of Connecticut College studies microorganisms that shed light on climate change dating back millions of years Released  January 7, 2009
		Jellyfish Researcher Explains How and Why Jellyfish Swarms Form Why are large swarms of jellyfish and other gelatinous animals being reported in many of the world's popular fishing and vacation spots? Released  December 16, 2008
		Unraveling the Wonders of Spider Silk University of California, Riverside researcher Cheryl Hayashi closely studies spiders and spider silk to discover the elusive genetic blueprints for silk making Released  December 9, 2008
		Volcanoes, Not Asteroid, May Have Taken Out the Dinosaurs New theory of dinosaurs’ demise looks to India Released  December 8, 2008
		Estimating the True Costs Of Invasive Species in the Great Lakes Graduate student John Rothlisberger describes his research to measure losses caused by non-native species that were introduced by ocean-going ships Released  December 1, 2008
		Batteries Made of Bacteria? Researchers believe the energy produced by Geobacter microbes can be harnessed for electrical power, environmental remediation and biosensors Released  November 19, 2008
		Islands: Exquisite Labs of Evolution Anne Yoder, director of the Duke University Lemur Center, and colleagues are using genetic and genomic approaches to unravel the history of lemurs and the primate family tree Released  November 14, 2008
		Placing a Dollar Value on Services Provided by Bats Advanced imaging and information technology reveals economic and ecological impact of agricultural pest control Released  November 12, 2008
		The Biological Clock's Incredible Influence Revealed University of Georgia researchers find that the number of genes under the control of the biological clock in bread mold is dramatically higher than previously reported Released  November 5, 2008
		'Gone Bats' Over Aeroecology New scientific discipline studies bats, birds and other animals in atmosphere closest to Earth's surface Released  October 28, 2008
		Gut Reaction: Digestion Revealed in 3-D James Brasseur and his multidisciplinary team image the dynamic mixing of fluids and nutrient exchange in the human digestive system Released  October 17, 2008
		Using Your Computer to Grow More Nutritious Rice for a Hungry World Computational biologists use a powerful distributed computing network to research rice genome for increased yields of more nourishing rice varieties Released  October 14, 2008
		Teaching Is in This Scientist's Genes Doctoral student Susannah Gordon-Messer talks about her research and her science outreach using “bouncy, sticky, slimy chemistry” to educate and inspire young minds Released  October 10, 2008
		Size Trade-off: Horns vs. Copulatory Organs Indiana University biologist Armin Moczek explains his findings about the inverse relationship between horn and copulatory organ size in male beetles and how it affects species divergence Released  September 30, 2008
		The Bizarre Creatures of Madagascar Paleontologist David Krause describes his search for the ancestors of mammals that live in Madagascar today Released  September 24, 2008
		Finding the Switches to Our Cells' 'Computer' Thousands of memory switches inside our cells help them remember and function Released  September 24, 2008
		Researcher Walks Among Dying Baby Chimps Virginia Tech scientist Taranjit Kaur describes her team's research studying chimpanzees in western Tanzania and the virus that is threatening the chimps’ health Released  September 9, 2008
		Bones in Lava Tubes Reveal Hawaii's Natural History Michigan State University's Matthew Cimitile describes a Hawaiian adventure exploring lava tubes in search of bird bones from endangered and extinct species Released  August 22, 2008
		A Thousand Points of Light: Bioluminescent Fungi San Francisco State University Mycologist Dennis Desjardin Takes Readers Along on a Nocturnal Hike in a Brazilian Forest to Find Glowing Mushrooms Released  August 15, 2008
		Crumbling Walls of Ancient Chesapeake Bay Crater Threaten Regional Groundwater Supplies Saltwater intrusion into collapsing crater also allows microbes to flourish Released  August 12, 2008
		Natural Bio-Army Trained to Fight Cancer Bioengineer Tarek Fahmy and colleagues are engineering new nanoscopic and microscopic biomaterials to stimulate the body’s production of killer T-cells to fight infectious diseases Released  August 8, 2008