Are You New Here? Tracing the Origin of Viruses
With support from a grant, SDSU’s Viral Information Institute is exploring theories on whether some viruses pop up spontaneously.
Two College of Sciences Projects Selected as Big Ideas Finalists
Two project proposals led by College of Sciences professors were recently selected as finalists for SDSU President Adela de la Torre’s Big Ideas initiative. These interdisciplinary teams aim to solve society’s toughest challenges.
Biologists Devise Arks to Save Coral Reefs
Ph.D. candidate Jason Baer and the Rohwer Lab team are deploying first-of-their-kind floating structures in an attempt to rebuild damaged reefs.
Head Start to Microbiology Research as a Rising Sophomore
Sama Rakin Michael began as a teaching assistant and is now working on genetically modifying bacteria in a lab that focuses on how bacteria induce the metamorphosis of tubeworms, and how this can inform research to develop therapeutic drugs
Ancient Baleen Whales Had a Mouthful
A strange phenomenon happens with modern blue whales, humpback whales and gray whales: they have teeth in the womb but are born toothless. Replacing the teeth is baleen, a series of plates composed of thin, hair- and fingernail-like structures growing from the roof of…
Big Ideas for Climate Change
Chemists Douglas Grotjahn and Jing Gu will develop catalysts and use microbial fermentation to convert CO2 into chemicals. Microbial biologist Marina Kalyuzhnaya will work on leveraging microbes to consume methane and convert into cell building blocks to produce proteins.