Fall 2004
A library of rhizobial genes
Kahn and his team have nearly completed a monumental step in understanding nitrogen fixation. » More ...
Genetics
Summer 2004
A Quick Test for a Killer
While Listeria monocytogenes accounts for only 1/100th of 1
percent of all food-borne illnesses in the United States, it's
responsible for a whopping 28 percent of annual deaths. Development of
a quick test for the pathogen promises to drastically reduce that
statistic. » More ...
Summer 2004
Full Circle
Steve Jones and Tim Murray want to make the immense area of eastern
Washington, or at least a good chunk of it, less prone to blow, less
often bare, even more unchanging. The way they'll do this is to
convince a plant that is content to die after it sets seed in late
summer that it actually wants to live. » More ...
Videos of the Conner Museum
A series of videos introducing WSU’s Conner Museum and its work in research, education, and public service. The Charles R. Conner Museum features the largest public collection of birds and mammals in the Pacific Northwest, and the scientific collection used by researchers houses over 65,000 specimens.
Read “Fine Specimens” in the Winter 2008/09 issue.
Education and Public Displays at the Conner Museum
Why is lead shot bad for birds? Is it possible to bring a mammoth to life using fossil DNA? Director Mike Webster tells how new displays and public lectures at the Conner explore these and other questions.
Preparing … » More …
Summer 2005
Genes and DNA: A Beginner's Guide to Genetics and Its Applications
Evelyn Fox Keller, a well-known social critic and professor of philosophy of science at MIT, termed the 20th century the “Century of the Gene.” Five years into the 21st century, it can be easily argued that we are in for another century full of genetic wonder, hope, frustration, and fear.
It is impossible to read a newspaper or watch the news without hearing about the discovery of a gene that will affect all of our lives. Recently, genes have been reported to be responsible for problems ranging from compulsive shopping, obesity, and alcoholism to breast and prostate cancer. How do nonscientists wade through the hype … » More …
Fall 2008
To Err is Human
The older a woman is when she conceives, the more likely it is her eggs will have abnormal chromosomes. But beyond the fact of the biological clock, we often overlook a bigger story. Even with young mothers, chromosome abnormalities are the single most frequent cause of miscarriage and birth defects. Between 25 and 30 percent of all fertilized human eggs have the wrong number of chromosomes, a rate that seems peculiar to humans. » More ...