Life at Pueblo La Plata
Agave plants living in Arizona today are genetic copies of those planted and tended by prehistoric people. Botanist Wendy Hodgson calls them living archaeological features.
Teaching the Power of Biodiversity
David Pearson is on a mission to show the importance of biodiversity to Latin American students and leaders.
Growing Solutions
All green plants are carbon-based, so they are natural carbon sinks. ASU researchers are working to use a plentiful plant--algae--to remove carbon dioxide from power plants before it hits the atmosphere.
Growing in Luxury
In parts of central Arizona, money appears to be as important to plants as water and food. A team of researchers that includes several ASU scientists has found that higher income level is associated with greater plant diversity.
Stinky Water
Phoenix area drinking water has a taste and odor problem. ASU life scientists are working to figure out why, and how to make it better.
Fieldwork Foibles
A biologist who works in the field probably knows a lot more than biology. She probably knows how to fix a car, pitch a tent, and treat a case of poison ivy. Creativity and a sense of humor go far in the field.
Veggie Vaccines
Charles Arntzen is working to prevent millions of childhood deaths through cheap, efficient, edible vaccines.
Swapping Genes
How do you get a vaccine into a tomato? Genetic engineering is a tricky task.
Mapping the Roots of Sneezing and Wheezing
Billions and trillions of bits of pollen fill the air in central Arizona every spring and fall. Different types of pollen affect people in different ways. ASU scientists are working to map where the different types of pollen are.
Likin' Lichen
Most people hardly notice the lichens that carpet rocks and trees. But these plants are important, hardy, and even beautiful when one stops to look at them.
A Shady Situation
In Phoenix, Arizona, a little shade goes a long way. Sarah Celestian wants to know how parking lots affect tree growth, and which trees fare the best on the shores of an asphalt sea.
Planting Water-Wise
For desert plants, less work can be better in terms of efficient water use, according to plant biologist Linda Stabler
Xeriscape Facts
Xeriscaping is a type of water-efficient landscaping founded on seven basic principles.
Beneath the Forest
ASU plant biologist Jeff Klopatek studies a vital layer of the forest that many people overlook -- the forest floor and what lies beneath.
Where Does All the Carbon Go?
Carbon in its many forms flows between the biosphere, the atmosphere and the oceans. This global flow is known as the carbon cycle.
Growing Vitamin Factories
Ilga Winicov and Kenneth Hoober are genetically engineering alfalfa plants in an attempt to produce a disease-fighting protein.
Popeye Power for the Future
ASU scientists use an enzyme in spinach to create the world's first bionic photosynthetic energy system.
Green Sunscreen
Ultraviolet light is harmful to plants as well as humans. However, plants in the wild protect themselves by producing their own kind of sunscreen made of chemicals called flavanoids.
How the Ozone Got Its Holes
Antarctica may not benefit much from the sun's heat, but it gets an extra high dose of ultraviolet radiation. That's because the protective ozone layer above the continent is deteriorating. Why?
Botany Research Comes Full Circle
Researchers in ethnopharmacology bring together Western science and medicinal plants.
Take Me to Your Weaver
Ethnobotanists study interactions between humans and the plants in their environment.
It's Not Easy Being An Ethnobotanist, Uh, Green
Ethnobotany involves the plants we eat, the fibers we wear, the herbal extracts in our medicines, the trees in buildings that shelter us, and even the flowers we cultivate and cut to beautify our homes.
The Power of Green
ASU researchers are teasing out the details of life's most important chemical reaction: photosynthesis.
Like Acrobats on a Trapeze
Russ LoBruotto uses Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and Electron-Nuclear Double Resonance to help ASU researchers understand the internal details of molecules.
Translating DNA
Robert Blankenship uses literary research techniques to search for evolutionary relationships among tiny, twisted bits of proteins.
Hunting for Mutants
Scott Bingham and Andrew Webber hunt mutant DNA.
Bagging an Umbel
Liz Slauson's study of agave plants focused on determining the effectiveness of day versus night pollinators. She had to control access to the specific plants she was observing.
Desert Plant Polygamy
For many days over three summers, Liz Slauson put up with storms, sleepiness, and sweltering temperatures. She did it to document exactly which creatures visit and pollinate two closely related agave plants, and to finally settle a bet on a bat.
Cultured Cacti
Guadalupe Malda is learning how to grow cacti so that she can help protect endangered plant species in Arizona and Mexico.
Patten Collection Takes Root at Hayden Libabry
Hayden Library has sprouted a lush collection of about 150 herbals and early gardening books dating as far back as 1485.
Intellectual Resources
Kathleen Pigg is an important intellectual resource for the members of the Southwest Paleontological Society.
Crunchy Rock-and-Fossil Jello Salad
Kathleen Pigg studies fragmentary seeds, leaf pieces, and bits of fern fronds to learn about plant evolution and diversity during the Triassic Period.
Tobacco to the Rescue
Health experts might argue that tobacco is one plant that humans could do without. But researchers in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University are putting tobacco to work to protect human health.
Basic Ability
Developing a new, safer smallpox vaccine is a national priority. But vaccine development takes a long, long time. ASU virologist Bert Jacobs has a head start on the competition.
Fighting AIDS at the Gates
Researchers at ASU are trying to develop a vaccine against HIV that keeps the virus from even getting into the body.
Making Connections
Dave Capco and Page Baluch believe that egg cells use a structure called the meiotic spindle as a "bulletin board" for communication upon fertilization.
An Inside Job
Mary Beth Saffo's discoveries about sea squirts have had an impact on fields from urological medicine to the evolution of symbiosis.
Confocal Microscopy
ASU's laser confocal microscope helped Richard Satterlie discover a new cell in Clione limacina.
Growing in Harm's Way
ASU researchers are characterizing mother-to-child HIV transmission, particularly the effects of anti-HIV drugs on viral spread and fetal development.
Collaborative Science
Bertram Jacobs, Robert McGaughey, and David Capco collaborate to solve the problem of mother-to-child HIV transmission.
When the Ants Get Together
Ants are one of Earth's most successful life forms. They've been around for more than 100 million years. Bert Holldobler thinks that lessons for the long-term survival of humans may lie buried deep within the social structure of ant colonies
Color Me Sexy
New research shows that the female North American barn swallow, even after pairing with a male, still comparison shops for sexual partners.
Cousins--5 million years removed
Humans and chimpanzees probably last shared a common ancestor between 5 million and 7 million years ago, according to researchers from Arizona State and Penn State universities.
More than the Sum
ASU biologists are studying the ant world. Their goal is to do the impossible--discover an underlying order in complex systems.
Queen of Bees
Scientists once thought that ants were born to specialize in one task. Jennifer Fewell has discovered that ants, like people, can take on different tasks depending on the situation.
Early Humans Walked on the Wild Side
Some of our earliest ancestors possessed a rather unsteady stride due to subtle anatomical differences. They walked on the wild side as a result.
Social Bee-havior
Why do most bees forego reproduction to support their hive? That is a perplexing question for biologists. ASU scientists have some new answers.
Why Bees?
Amdam is now an assistant professor with ASU's School of Life Sciences. And an admitted control freak. She says that she needed more concrete answers from science than her initial foray into conservation biology could give. So she turned to bees.
The Green Deep Below
The discovery of green sulfur bacteria living near hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean shocked scientists. The bacterium is the first photosynthetic organism that does not live off sunlight.
A Tale of Two Species
Excavations in a remote Spanish cave suggest that Neanderthals and early modern humans likely engaged in a dramatic cultural overlap 100,000 years in the making.
The Neanderthal Next Door?
Did Neanderthals and early modern humans interact, or even mate? Ana Pinto and her colleagues are shedding light on this mystery.
Being Red
Kevin McGraw is fascinated by the color of parrot feathers. How does a feather get its color? What does that color really mean for the bird? The ASU biologist wants to find out.
Birds of a Feather
Kevin McGraw's research on the color of birds lies at the crossroads of chemistry and evolution.
The AGCs of Phylogenetic Trees
To map the tree of life, researchers like Sudhir Kumar use a portion of DNA science called phylogenetic anlysis. The technique helps them to order the history of life as it has appeared on the Earth over eons.
New Spin on DNA
Scientists have long wondered why DNA always twists in one direction. ASU chemist Sandra Pizzarello may have an answer.
Telling the Human Story
Gwyneira Isaac grew up as the daughter of a famous paleoanthropologist. But her personal passion is not focused on the actual act of discovery at a dig site. Instead, she revels in telling the story behind the dig and explaining what those discoveries mean.
The Urge to Dig
Ask Bill Kimbel about his work in the Afar region of Ethiopia, and you might as well be mentioning the name of a dear old friend. The ASU paleoanthropologist is quick to smile and respond with equal parts passion and commitment.
An Eye for Survival
ASU entomologist Ron Rutowski says that understanding butterly mating behavior begins with looking the insect deep in the eye.
Mapping the Butterfly Eye
Ron Rutowski studies the structure of the butterfly eye to learn how these insects perceive each other in the wild.
More Than Meets the Eye
How does one become a behavioral ecologist? For Ron Rutowski, a career studying butterfly behavior started when he was very young.
Evolution Locution
Bert Bender studies Darwin's influence on novelists
The Liberating Power of Darwin's Words
Bert Bender studies how authors use Darwinian theory to support their positions on women's rights.
Old Bone Tools Reveal Sharper Image of History
Scientists are using acient bone tools to rewrite human history.
The Art of Digging
When it comes to digging up ancient artifacts, a shovel is an archeologist's worst enemy.
Getting Down to the Bone
Bone analyses transform a dusty artifact into a gripping story.
King of the Hill
When the topic is successful mating strategy among tarantula hawk wasps in the Sonoran Desert, you can be sure that size does make a difference.
Low Tech Science Down Under--Or in the Back Yard
Does scientific research have to be high-tech? ASU biologist John Alcock doesn't think so.
A Matter of Rape
Owen Jones studies biobehavioral theories of rape and how they impact the American legal system.
A Walk Through Time
Kaye Reed examines animal fossils to reconstruct the environment that surrounded early humans.
Times of Life
Sudhir Kumar uses "molecular clocks" to estimate how long ago major groups of animals, plants, and fungi split from one another.
Lucy Goes to College
Arizona State University becomes the Institute of Human Origins' first academic home since its founding in 1981 by Donald C. Johanson.
Life's Left-handed Molecular Mystery
An honors class on chemical evolution and the origin of life led to research that might help to better explain how a molecular quirk developed in all life on Earth.
Adapt or Die?
Kimberly Hughes wants to know why natural selection has not eliminated variation within populations.
Can We Talk?
Wendy Wilkins and Jennie Wakefield argue that the capacity for language evolved about 2 million years ago in Homo habilis.
Big Clues from Small Slimy Creatures
Ferran Garcia-Pichel doesn't just study microorganisms, he studies how they interact with and change their surroundings. He is searching for clues about the first type of organism to dominate the continents of the Earth.
Shaking the Tree of Life
Sudhir Kumar and his colleagues are using the bioinformatics to uproot the conventional wisdom of biology. Their discoveries are shaking up fields from genetics to evolution to medicine.
MEGA Scientists
Sudhir Kumar likes to draw the trees of life, but in the early days, he could not find a reliable computer program to help with his drawing. So he created his own software--Molecular Evolutionary and Genetic Analysis, or MEGA for short.
Cousins--5 million years removed
Humans and chimpanzees probably last shared a common ancestor between 5 million and 7 million years ago, according to researchers from Arizona State and Penn State universities.
The AGCs of Phylogenetic Trees
To map the tree of life, researchers like Sudhir Kumar use a portion of DNA science called phylogenetic anlysis. The technique helps them to order the history of life as it has appeared on the Earth over eons.
Seeing Red...It's Genetic!
Stereotypes about the superior color sense of women may be rooted in genetics. New research suggests that natural genetic selection often gives women a better ability to discriminate between shades of red and orange.
Comparing Vertebrate Genomes
Humans are more closely related to rodents than to dogs or cats, according to recent findings by a group of scientists that includes ASU's Jeff Touchman.
Veggie Vaccines
Charles Arntzen is working to prevent millions of childhood deaths through cheap, efficient, edible vaccines.
Swapping Genes
How do you get a vaccine into a tomato? Genetic engineering is a tricky task.
Growing Vitamin Factories
Ilga Winicov and Kenneth Hoober are genetically engineering alfalfa plants in an attempt to produce a disease-fighting protein.
A Shadow of Doubt
David Kaye and James Strick discuss the value and use of DNA databanks.
Gene Mythology
David Kaye and James Strick explore genetic essentialism, or the idea that who you are is determined by what is in your genes.
Learning From History
James Strick tells a cautionary tale from history to modern geneticists.
Adapt or Die?
Kimberly Hughes wants to know why natural selection has not eliminated variation within populations.
Time's Flies
Joseph Graves has studied fruit flies for more than a decade in pursuit of greater understanding of senescence, the process of aging.
Speedier Gene Mapping
Stuart Lindsay is adapting scanning tunneling microscopy technology to the rapid sequencing of DNA.
Shaking the Tree of Life
Sudhir Kumar and his colleagues are using the bioinformatics to uproot the conventional wisdom of biology. Their discoveries are shaking up fields from genetics to evolution to medicine.
MEGA Scientists
Sudhir Kumar likes to draw the trees of life, but in the early days, he could not find a reliable computer program to help with his drawing. So he created his own software--Molecular Evolutionary and Genetic Analysis, or MEGA for short.
Zigzag DNA
Z-DNA is an alternate structure for DNA that zigzags instead of twisting smoothly. Bert Jacobs' work offers some clues to its importance in the natural world.
Tobacco to the Rescue
Health experts might argue that tobacco is one plant that humans could do without. But researchers in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University are putting tobacco to work to protect human health.
A Festival of Bones, Teeth, and Claws
Many dinosaurs were no larger than chickens, but when people think dinosaur, they think big.
Intellectual Resources
Kathleen Pigg is an important intellectual resource for the members of the Southwest Paleontological Society.
Crunchy Rock-and-Fossil Jello Salad
Kathleen Pigg studies fragmentary seeds, leaf pieces, and bits of fern fronds to learn about plant evolution and diversity during the Triassic Period.
Walking on Eggshells in Dinosaur Country
Steve Cook spent seven weeks of his summer vacation toiling under a hot sun in the badlands of north-central Montana.
Fossil Fish & Dinosaur Eggs
John Babiarz, an amateur paleontologist, promotes paleontological education and research through ASU's Geology Museum.
Answers May Be Skin Deep
Scientists looking to prevent infectious diseases in humans are looking for help from an unusual source--peptides found in the skins of salamanders and frogs.
Seeing Red...It's Genetic!
Stereotypes about the superior color sense of women may be rooted in genetics. New research suggests that natural genetic selection often gives women a better ability to discriminate between shades of red and orange.
Knowing the Beast
Leon Iasemidis applies chaos theory to epilepsy in the hopes of predicting seizures.
Forecasting Mind Storms
Many of the world's 50 million epilepsy sufferers live in fear of the next seizure. Leon Iasemidis is trying to do what many scientists believe impossible--predict these brain attacks.
Unraveling the Stress Within
Kathleen Matt and other scientists at ASU's Center for the Study of Stress are learning how gender, age, disease, and fitness level affect our ability to cope with stress and the dangers it presents.
A Place for Stress
If we hope to reduce chronic stress, we must address it on biological, psychological, economic and policy levels. The ASU Center for Study of Stress and Science aims to do just that.
Strength that Lasts
You're never too old to lift weights. Wayne Phillips studies the effects of weight training on older adults. His findings show that the exercise improves health, physical functioning, and quality of life.
The Mysteries of Movement
George Stelmach wants to understand how the brain, nervous system, and muscles work together to move our bodies, and how we can help people with movement disorders like Parkinson's Disease.
A Case for C
Nutrition researcher Carol Johnston finds that many Americans aren't even getting the RDA of vitamin C, while we should be eating a whole lot more.
More Nasty News About Nicotine
New research shows that nicotine in tobacco products reduces an individual's ability to perform and learn tasks requiring complex visual and motor skills.
Snow Shoes to Toe Shoes
What does it take to make a prima ballerina? Years of practice? Driving ambition? A long, lean body? Joan Van Dyke says where you live might have an impact, too.
Toxins as Tools
Allan Bieber uses the toxins from rattlesnake venom to study the human body.
Getting a Grip on CTS
Almost 2 million Americans suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. Help may be on the way. Richard Hinrichs and Benjamin Sucher are working to develop an effective nonsurgical treatment for CTS.
Dancing on Aero
T. J. Maheras combines his expertise in nutrition, exercise science, physiology, and biochemistry to train dancers in a bold new way.
Sounding Better All the Time
Michael Dorman studies the progress of patients fitted with cochlear implants. He wants to know how much better they're doing, and why.
From Shaking to Shocking
How does the human brain differentiate between a whispered voice, a buzzing mosquito, or a song on the radio? Simply put, the brain has its own personal translator—the human ear.
Restoring the Lost Connection
An ASU research team studies the neural links between the brain and the body's musculoskeletal system.
Brain to Body Link: From Thought to Action
Scientists grapple with the mysteries of spinal cord injuries.
Hip New Hips
ASU scientists are searching for better methods and materials that will bond artificial joints to bone better and longer.
Shaking the Tree of Life
Sudhir Kumar and his colleagues are using the bioinformatics to uproot the conventional wisdom of biology. Their discoveries are shaking up fields from genetics to evolution to medicine.
Walking Wonders
Jiping He and his colleagues are helping paralyzed patients with severe spinal cord injuries to walk again.
When the Ants Get Together
Ants are one of Earth's most successful life forms. They've been around for more than 100 million years. Bert Holldobler thinks that lessons for the long-term survival of humans may lie buried deep within the social structure of ant colonies
A Passion for Ants
Bert Holldobler has had an unrivaled passion for ants since he was seven years old.
Bird Watching on the Web
ASU's virtual aviary offers pictures, recordings, and range maps of more than 215 species of Arizona birds.
Color Me Sexy
New research shows that the female North American barn swallow, even after pairing with a male, still comparison shops for sexual partners.
More than the Sum
ASU biologists are studying the ant world. Their goal is to do the impossible--discover an underlying order in complex systems.
Queen of Bees
Scientists once thought that ants were born to specialize in one task. Jennifer Fewell has discovered that ants, like people, can take on different tasks depending on the situation.
Social Bee-havior
Why do most bees forego reproduction to support their hive? That is a perplexing question for biologists. ASU scientists have some new answers.
Why Bees?
Amdam is now an assistant professor with ASU's School of Life Sciences. And an admitted control freak. She says that she needed more concrete answers from science than her initial foray into conservation biology could give. So she turned to bees.
All About the Animals
As manager of ASU's Department of Animal Care and Technologies, James Badman oversees the health and welfare of everything from African locusts to domestic pigs. Studying these animals helps scientists conserve endangered species and find cures and treatments for a variety of diseases.
Being Red
Kevin McGraw is fascinated by the color of parrot feathers. How does a feather get its color? What does that color really mean for the bird? The ASU biologist wants to find out.
Birds of a Feather
Kevin McGraw's research on the color of birds lies at the crossroads of chemistry and evolution.
Absent Amphibians
Amphibians are dying out all over the world. Researchers at ASU are looking for clues as to why.
Answers May Be Skin Deep
Scientists looking to prevent infectious diseases in humans are looking for help from an unusual source--peptides found in the skins of salamanders and frogs.
True Monster Tales
During the early years of exploration in the desert Southwest, few animals were as misrepresented in the press as the Gila Monster. Tales were tall, the exaggerations deep. Dale DeNardo finds the facts about this desert lizard every bit as amazina as the fiction.
There's No Place Like Home
Well-intentioned desert dwellers often try to relocate venomous reptiles they find near their homes. Unfortunately, rattlesnakes and gila monsters are real homebodies. They often don't survive the move to a new desert neighborhood.
Monster Measures
Facts about the gila monster
Flying Rainbows
For more than a century, biochemists have known that parrots use an unusual set of pigments to produce their rainbow of plumage colors, but their biochemical identity has remained elusive. Now, Kevin McGraw has uncovered the chemistry behind the colors of parrots.
Teaching the Power of Biodiversity
David Pearson is on a mission to show the importance of biodiversity to Latin American students and leaders.
Oscine Serenade
Pierre Deviche studies the interactions between hormones, brains, and reproductive behavior in songbirds. He and other scientists have found that birds are remarkably complex, and share many characteristics with humans.
Birds of Note
Songbirds are part of the group of birds known as passerines. They belong to a suborder called oscines.
To Sing a Song
No opera star can match the range and complexity of a common songbird. The bird's anatomy makes its vocal prowess possible--some birds can even sing two different, complex songs simultaneously.
Simple Solution for Clean, Fresh Water
Seventy percent of the Earth is covered by water. But the majority of it is undrinkable. Jim Beckman's Dewey device purifies water even better than RO, the current king of desalination.
Inside a Dewey
The Dewey water purifier operates on a combination of evaporation and dew formation. ASU engineer Jim Beckman calls it "dewvaporation."
Comparing Vertebrate Genomes
Humans are more closely related to rodents than to dogs or cats, according to recent findings by a group of scientists that includes ASU's Jeff Touchman.
An Eye for Survival
ASU entomologist Ron Rutowski says that understanding butterly mating behavior begins with looking the insect deep in the eye.
Mapping the Butterfly Eye
Ron Rutowski studies the structure of the butterfly eye to learn how these insects perceive each other in the wild.
More Than Meets the Eye
How does one become a behavioral ecologist? For Ron Rutowski, a career studying butterfly behavior started when he was very young.
Froggy Allure
ASU biologists are learning how a protein called allurin found in frogs attracts sperm to an egg. They believe their findings could help develop fertility treatments and contraceptives for humans.
Lessons from Snails
Snails can teach us quite a bit about treating obesity and drug addiction.
King of the Hill
When the topic is successful mating strategy among tarantula hawk wasps in the Sonoran Desert, you can be sure that size does make a difference.
Low Tech Science Down Under--Or in the Back Yard
Does scientific research have to be high-tech? ASU biologist John Alcock doesn't think so.
Tracking Rattlers
For ASU doctoral student Emily Taylor, studying Western diamondback rattlesnakes means she can interact with creatures she loves while learning how chemistry drives behavior.
Occupational Hazard
Nature is unpredictable. Rattlesnake researcher Emily Taylor learned this the hard way--by getting bitten.
Evolution of a Biologist
David Pearson travels the world in search of colorful tiger beetles that help scientists guage the health of an ecosystem.
Build a Better Bioindicator
David Pearson has compiled a set of guidelines for choosing a bioindicator, or a species that represents an ecosystem.
Tiger Beetle Trivia
Tigers in the Arizona desert? Believe it. David Pearson studies these fierce desert hunters, known as tiger beetles.
Signs From Salamanders
Jim Collins explores the decline of the Earth's amphibian populations.
Big Ideas About Big Bugs
Jon Harrison wants to know why giant insects evolved and why they disappeared.
Test Flying an Idea
Jon Harrison and John Lighton test dragonflies's flight abilities to find out why giant insects evolved.
Phoenix--A City For The Birds
Mark Hostetler supervises a bird survey to help scientists understand the nature and dynamics of the Phoenix's ecosystem.
Tale of Tails
Matthew Flowers studies the unique color pattern of what is possibly a new species of chuckwalla.
Following the Fighting Females
Sarah Woodley studies the physiological basis of female aggression in mountain spiny lizards.
Resource Management--It's for the Birds!
In Kazakstan, four distinct groups vie for the same land and resources. Todd Katzner studies the competitors: four species of eagles.
A Furry Factory Against Scary Scorpions
Pamela is a goat who saves lives. Her blood donations help produce scorpion antivenin.
Speeding Tortoises
Scientists at ASU West and the Phoenix Zoo are trying to give young tortoises a head-start toward sexual maturity.
Adapt or Die?
Kimberly Hughes wants to know why natural selection has not eliminated variation within populations.
World's Fish in Hot Water
Shelby Gerking studies fish populations around the world.
Doing Science
ASU's biology department follows a simple philosophy: teach science to students as science is practiced.