Tags: genetics

photo of three women holding plaques at ceremony
Ericson takes Grand Prize at 13th Three-Minute Thesis competition

Hannah Ericson, a doctoral candidate in Genetics, is the Grand Prize Winner at this year’s University of Georgia Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition for her presentation titled “Catalyzing Change: What Helps Department Heads Be Successful?” A Ph.D. candidate studying biology education in the Genetics department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Hannah works with Dr. Tessa Andrews studying teaching evaluations at UGA: To promote…

headshot of man
Schmitz receives Charles Albert Shull Award from American Society of Plant Biologists

University of Georgia faculty member Bob Schmitz was honored with the 2024 Charles Albert Shull Award from the American Society of Plants Biologists (ASPB). The award, initiated in 1971 by the Society to honor Dr. Charles A. Shull, is a monetary award made annually for outstanding investigations in the field of plant biology by a member who is generally under forty-five years of age on January 1st of the year of presentation, or is fewer than…

photo of woman, outdoors, day
Anderson receives 2024 Russell Award

Jill Anderson, associate professor in the department of genetics and the Odum School of Ecology, is one of three University of Georgia faculty members to receive the 2024 Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the university’s highest early career teaching honor for outstanding and innovative instruction: From creating experiments and graphing predictions to interpreting results and designing follow-up studies, Anderson’s…

photo of buildings, landscape at sunrise
Divisional Spotlight: Biological Sciences

Like the heart has four chambers, the Franklin College as the heart of UGA consists of five divisions. We want to begin the new year by highlighting this element of our organizational structure and the academic units contained in each division.  We begin today with the division of BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES! Spanning the broad field of natural sciences concerned with the study of life and living organisms, the Division of Biological Sciences…

photo of man, bookshelves in background
Wyatt Anderson, 1939-2023

Former dean of the Franklin College Wyatt Anderson passed away on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 at Presbyterian Village Athens. Anderson was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, a dedicated scientist, administrator, and great friend of the Franklin College and the University of Georgia. Anderson had a distinguished career and a lasting impact on UGA and in the field of evolutionary biology/genetics. Renowned for his groundbreaking research on…

photo of woman in greenhouse
Research Q & A: Katrien Devos

Katrien Devos is Distinguished Research Professor with joint appointments in the University of Georgia’s departments of Crop & Soil Sciences and Plant Biology in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (CAES) and Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, respectively. Specializing in plant genetics, she also is a member of CAES’ Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics. In this interview, she discusses her…

illustration with plants, roots and clocks
Timing plant evolution with a fast-ticking epigenetic clock

Recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics, the study of inheritance of traits that occur without changing the DNA sequence, have shown that chronological age in mammals correlates with epigenetic changes that accumulate during the lifetime of an individual. In humans, this observation has led to the development of epigenetic clocks, which are now extensively used as biomarkers of aging. While these clocks work accurately from birth until…

graphic with colored leaf detail and lines with scissors and notches
CRISPR enables plant biologists to engage grand challenges

New research from UGA plant scientists describe how CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology has a significant role to play in developing sustainable agriculture. The study and illustrations are featured on the cover of the August issue of the CRISPR Journal, which details how recent studies in the deployment of genome editing in trees are opening new avenues for sustainable forestry: The widespread success of CRISPR medicines in the clinic is…

photo of woman outdoors, with trees, day
Andrews among four UGA faculty members named Meigs Professors

The University of Georgia has honored four faculty members with its highest accolade for teaching, the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professorship. The Meigs Professorship underscores the university’s commitment to excellence in teaching, the value placed on student learning experiences and the central role instruction plays in the university’s mission. The 2022-23 Meigs Professors are: Tessa Andrews, associate professor of genetics in the…

photo of man in lab, with table and lab equipment
Q&A with Doug Menke: Of lizard genetics & human biology

Three years ago, Doug Menke led a team that became the first in the world to create a gene-edited lizard. A professor of genetics in the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences and director of UGA’s Developmental Biology Alliance, Menke was recognized last spring with a UGA Creative Research Medal for the accomplishment. In this interview, Menke discusses his award-winning work, how he fell into the work of genetics and what…

photo of man with design on screen in background
Student blends the art of science with entrepreneurship

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, University of Georgia student Daniel Rouhani had to reimagine his research so he could continue his work as a CURO Summer Fellow. Then something struck him. “Recent discoveries in COVID-19 were emerging, and I noticed the lack of accurate visualizations available to explain the complexities of the disease,” he said. Following that intuition, Rouhani taught himself how to 3D model and visualize COVID-19…

composite of 9 headshot photos of women
Kudos, October 2022

Amid the turning of the season, October brought career milestones and the dedication the McBay Science Library, along with prestigious awards, grants, and new books from Franklin faculty. A sample of recent announcement – congratulations to all: UGA oceanographer Samantha Joye has been awarded the 2022 Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration The University of Georgia has named nine faculty and academic leaders to the 2022-2023…

microscope image of red band with white spots
Genetics professor receives two NIH awards

University of Georgia researcher Pengpeng Bi received a pair of National Institutes of Health grants in September: a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA, 2022–2027) and an Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21, 2022–2024). The $2.3 million awards will support efforts to uncover the molecular mechanism of human muscle development and homeostasis. The MIRA is a funding mechanism to provide support for a program of…

microscopy image of cell, with colorful outlines of round objects
Ghost in the cell

UGA’s Audrey Ward won Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Yeast Microscopy Competition in the category of Best Special Effects and Editing with “Ghost in the Cell,” this spectral shot of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To create the image, she and Yee Mon Thu of Colby College used calcofluor-white staining of the cell wall of the yeast species, which has been used in winemaking, baking and brewing since antiquity. Ward edited the final…

photo of three people in white lab coats, laboratory
Westpheling to receive SIMB Charles Porter Award

Janet Westpheling, professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of genetics, has been selected to receive the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB) Charles Porter Award. The award recognizes meritorious service to the Society as exemplified by Charles Porter, co-founder of the SIMB. Dr. Janet “Jan” Westpheling is a dedicated and active member, volunteer, and leader within the SIMB community. As a…

single-frame image of cellular-level video
Student’s ‘One Cell’ video wins SciComm Hackathon

Aaron Alcala, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of genetics, won Arcadia Science’s first SciComm Hackathon with “One Cell to Rule Them All: Chlamydomonas,” a video that explains how studying a type of green algae has led to landmark discoveries that shed light on human health. He also produced a video for an earlier round of the competition that explores the question “Why Study Glowing Animals?” Alcala’s research focuses on how…

photo of woman standing next to outline of Africa
Databases to help cure diseases

Jessica Kissinger is using her expertise in biology and big data to help other scientists. Today, the University of Georgia professor not only studies deadly pathogens like malaria and Cryptosporidium (a waterborne parasite), but also is a driving force behind worldwide, groundbreaking collaborations on novel databases. During her time at UGA, she has received nearly $40 million in federal and private grants and contracts. These databases can…

magazine cover illustration with white text and crystals on leaf
When pollen comes of age

New research from the University of Georgia has determined when pollen comes of age and begins expressing its own genome, a major life cycle transition in plants. Each grain of pollen is actually its own multicellular organism – with two to 40 cells, depending on the species. Pollen expresses its own genome and is genetically distinct from its parent plant. That means pollen grains from a single flower can have different traits and…

photo of woman outdoors on sidewalk
Claire Bunn named Gates Cambridge Scholar

University of Georgia senior Claire Bunn of Marion, Arkansas, will continue her studies in lung biology this fall as one of 23 Americans selected for the 2022 class of Gates Cambridge Scholars. The scholarship fully funds postgraduate study and research in any subject at the University of Cambridge in England. Bunn is UGA’s ninth Gates Cambridge Scholar in the program’s 21-year history. The scholarship, which recognizes intellectually…

three headshot photos with two women, one man
Kissinger, Yager elected as AAAS Fellows

Jessica Kissinger, Distinguished Research Professor of genetics, and Patricia Yager, professor of marine sciences, are among three UGA faculty named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In a tradition stretching back to 1874, these individuals are elected annually by the AAAS Council for their extraordinary achievements leading to the advancement of science. Fellows must have been AAAS members for at…

photo of woman, with text
Professor Emerita Mary Case passed away on October 13, 2021, at the age of 95

Mary Elizabeth Case was a founding member of the department of genetics at the University of Georgia in 1980. She remained an active participant in the department after her retirement as Professor Emerita. Case was born on December 10, 1925, in Crawfordville, Indiana. She received her B.A. in Biology from Maryville College in Tennessee and an M.A. in Botany from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She earned her doctorate from Yale…

headshot photo of man
Ye receives NIH award to pursue precision medicine

University of Georgia researcher Kaixiong Ye has received a Maximizing Investigators Research Award from the National Institutes of Health. The nearly $2 million, five-year award will support efforts to characterize gene-environment interactions, or genetic effects modified by environment, underlying complex traits in humans. The MIRA is a grant to provide support for a program of research in an early-stage investigator’s laboratory that…

collage of seven headshots of people
PhD students named 2021 ARCS Scholars

Seven UGA doctoral students have been named 2021 ARCS Scholars by the Office of Research. Amanda Caulfield, Kendall Clay, Christian Freeman, Morgane Golan, Megan Meany, Judith Reyes Ballista and Aarya Venkat will receive $8,000 each for the next three years to support their dissertation research. Four of the seven hail from departments or research areas within the Franklin College: [Aarya] Venkat, a biochemistry Ph.D. student, is…

photo of man standing in corn stalks
Genetics research paves way for better corn plants

The newly assembled genomes of 26 different genetic lines of corn illustrate the crop’s rich genetic diversity and lay the groundwork for a better understanding of what genetic mechanisms account for crop traits prized by farmers. The mapping of the 26 genomes, published recently in the journal Science, was a team effort co-led by University of Georgia’s Kelly Dawe that will help scientists piece together the puzzle of corn genetics.…

computer-generated illustration
UGA undergrad brings science vividly to life

Daniel Sina Rouhani is just finishing up his second year as a UGA undergrad, but this genetics and biochemistry double major has already put together a portfolio that would be the envy of many college graduates. Rouhani is the founder of the 3D design studio ExonScientific, which develops new techniques in digital graphic design to “push the boundaries of scientific communication.” He’s put his talents to use in projects with both UGA…
Subscribe to genetics

Support Franklin College

We appreciate your financial support. Your gift is important to us and helps support critical opportunities for students and faculty alike, including lectures, travel support, and any number of educational events that augment the classroom experience. Click here to learn more about giving.

Every dollar given has a direct impact upon our students and faculty.