biology

A&S Neuroscience Professor Shapes the Minds of Tomorrow With Hands-on Lab Experience

By Madison Dyment

One of the most rewarding aspects of higher education is the chance to train the next generation of leaders and workers. Every so often, students are lucky enough to find opportunities that go above and beyond to give them practical experience in preparing them for their future. Mark Prendergast’s BIO 199 class is one of those opportunities.

The Power of Genetics with Neurobiologist Robin Cooper

 
It’s been 21 years since Robin Cooper started working in the department of biology in the University of Kentucky College of Arts & sciences. It’s been 130 years since Thomas Hunt Morgan, Kentucky’s first Nobel Laureate, graduated from what is now called UK. What do they have in common? They used the same research organisms: fruit flies and crayfish.
 
“Thomas Hunt Morgan went on for graduate work and he was awarded the Nobel Prize, working with Drosophila [fruit flies] as a model organism.

A&S Graduate Confronts Diabetes in Appalachia

By Mallory Powell

Growing up in Hazard, Kentucky, Brittany Martin was familiar with diabetes. Many of her older relatives had been diagnosed with the chronic condition, and her younger family members were starting to develop it as well. In a state with one of the highest rates of diabetes — 11.3 percent of adults had a diagnosis in 2014 —Martin’s family wasn’t out of the ordinary, but she found the status quo unacceptable.

UK Biology Professor Awarded USDA Research Grant

By Weston Loyd, Whitney Harder

(Jan. 19, 2016) — Catherine Linnen, an assistant professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Biology, has been awarded a three-year, $468,527 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The grant will fund her project, "Comparative Genomics of Specialization: The Genetic Basis of Interspecific Variation in Pine Use in Neodiprion Sawflies."

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