Faculty News

Gonzalo Giribet and James Hanken

Global natural history initiative builds groundbreaking database

March 24, 2023

A new study published in Science shares a groundbreaking database aimed at addressing 21st century challenges. The Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) is among the 73 participating natural history museums and herbarias from 28 countries. Professors James Hanken and Gonzalo Giribet gathered the MCZ data that, combined with other participating collections, creates a new, global approach to museum research collections.

This is the...

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Peter Girguis_Kris Snibbe-Harvard Staff Photographer

Peter Girguis awarded disruptive technology solutions funding

February 22, 2023

Peter Girguis is one of five Harvard faculty awarded funding from Harvard Grid Accelerator for work that will de-risk promising ideas and aid in launching startups.

A team advised by Professor Girguis has already demonstrated the ability of large language models (LLMs) to decode the language of genomes. With Grid Accelerators support, they will scale up the training of LLMs to...

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In situ image of Munidopsis girguisi new species from California. Credit: ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute

Discovery of five new deep-sea squat lobster species calls for revision of current classification

January 12, 2023

Munidopsid squat lobsters (from the family Munidopsidae) are among the most abundant decapods found at abyssal depths of the ocean. They are the most diverse squat lobster group in the East Pacific region and make their homes in one of the harshest ocean environments.

Every year dozens of new species are described, especially for deep-sea squat lobsters. Yet, the real diversity of these animals is poorly known as current classification has relied historically on the morphology, or character traits, of these animals. In a new study in ...

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C. elegan hermaphrodite. Credit: Bob Goldstein, UNC Chapel Hill

Pathogen bacteria modulates host pheromone response in order to promote mating

January 5, 2023

Exposure to pathogens and parasites often changes social behavior of the host animals, including humans. These changes immediately affect the resistance of the hosts and contribute to the long-term adaptation to the pathogens. However, the conduit from pathogen exposure to host social behavior is largely unknown. In a new study in Nature researchers in Professor Yun Zhang's lab discover a biological pathway through which Caenorhabditis...

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Formica cf. rufibarbis by Fractality on flickr

Robotic ants collectively pull-off prison escape with no plan

December 19, 2022

Researchers, led by senior author Professor L. Mahadevan, drew inspiration from ants to design simple robots that work collectively to perform complex tasks with simple parameters. The study, published in eLife, sought to understand how individual social insects such as ants, termites and bees, work collectively to perform really complex tasks including construction, foraging, and defence.

The researchers examined how black carpenter ants work together to...

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