Prof. L. Mahadevan collaborated with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) to discover what controls the size of an embryo. The study published in Nature found that embryos maintain an average size in early development through simple hydraulic pressure. During early stages of embryonic development, a fluid-filled cavity grows and expands. Using mouse embryos, researchers observed that the cavity repeated the process...
Congratulations to Javier Ortega-Hernández and Rudy Lerosey-Aubril (Research Associate, Ortega-Hernández lab) awarded the William F. Milton Fund for their project, "Revealing the nearshore cradle of animal evolution: a new exceptionally preserved soft-bodied fossil biota from the early Cambrian of British Columbia."
L. Mahadevan's latest study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers insight into treatments for diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases in which protein aggregation (misfolded proteins clump together) is implicated. While the role of protein aggregation is not fully understood, many current treatments target the aggregation process. However, finding the right treatment protocols for these drugs is challenging....
It is with great sadness that we report the death of OEB undergraduate alum Samantha (Sam) Lin '16. Sam was a wonderful student and a hugely valued member of the OEB community. From Harvard, she went on to Veterinary School at North Carolina State University, where she was due to graduate next year. Our thoughts are with Sam's family and friends, and with the many OEB-ers affected by this awful tragedy.... Read more about In Memory of Samantha Lin '16
Crows are one of the few animals known to make tools. New Caledonian crows in particular stand out for manufacturing multiple complex tools and refining their designs. A study in Current Biologyled by PhD candidate Dakota McCoy (Haig Lab) suggests the crows do it because it makes them happy. McCoy devised an experiment to test how optimistic the birds were feeling making and using...
Dolphin skin has long inspired research on drag reduction mechanisms due to the presence of skin ridges that could reduce fluid resistance. PhD candidate Dylan Wainwright and Prof. George Lauder collected in vivo three-dimensional surface data on the skin from five species of odontocetes (cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales possessing teeth) to quantitatively examine skin texture, including the presence and size of ridges.
Wainwright, Lauder and team molded the skin of live dolphins to study the texture of their skin and how it might relate...
Congratulations to Hopi Hoekstra recipient of the 2019 C. Hart Merriam Award from the American Society of Mammalogists! The award, established in 1974 to honor outstanding research contributions to mammalogy, is the highest research award presented by the American Society of Mammalogists.
