USDA Fellow to Study Pesticide Exposure in Key Pollinators

Sarah Orr headshot
Sep 07, 2023 -
As part of an $11.6 million research initiative, Biological Sciences postdoctoral fellow Sarah Orr will leverage a new USDA Fellowship to study the impact of synthetic pesticides on bumblebees — a key pollinator for U.S. agricultural production.

When Sand-Slithering Snakes Behave Like Light Waves

Georgia Tech undergraduate student Lillian Chen demonstrates how she and colleague Alex Hubbard studied snakes as they moved through an arena covered with shag carpet to mimic sand. (Photo: Allison Carter, Georgia Tech)
Feb 25, 2019 - Atlanta, GA
A new study shows how the motion of snakes moving across a sandy surface can be affected by obstacles.

Swapping Bacteria May Help ‘Nemo’ Fish Cohabitate with Fish-Killing Anemones

A clownfish peers out of an anemone in a tank at Georgia Aquarium. Anemones usually sting, kill and eat fish, but not clownfish. Georgia Tech researchers found that the microbial colonies in the slime covering clownfish shifted markedly when the nested in an anemone. Could the microbes be putting out chemical messengers that pacify the fish killer? Credit: Georgia Tech / Ben Brumfield
Dec 10, 2018 - Atlanta, GA
Why the fish-killing anemone spares the clownfish is a scientific mystery that Georgia Tech marine microbiologists are now tackling in fish mucus.

Synthetic Organelle Shows How Tiny Puddle-Organs in our Cells Work

In a vile three watery solutions phase separate into three layers. In membraneless organelles, chemical reactions occur at the interfaces of such layers, processing a reactant step-by-step and moving the reaction product from one layer to the next. Credit: Georgia Tech / Rob Felt
Sep 20, 2018 - Atlanta, GA
Just tiny puddles. That's what some of our cells' organelles are, and this synthetic organelle, engineered in the lab, shows how they can work.

New Chip Measures Multiple Cellular Responses to Speed Drug Discovery

CMOS multi-modal cellular interface array chip in operation in a standard biology lab.
Oct 24, 2018 - Atlanta, GA
Nano-electric technology may improve the drug development process.

When Boy Fish Build Castles to Impress Girl Fish, Boy Genes Get a Rise

A special breed of cichlid fish has allowed researchers to match up gene activation with behavior. The up and down-regulation of genes may actually be steering ritual mating behaviors. The research is potentially useful in understanding autism since some genes involved in the fish behavior have human genetic cousins implicated in autism spectrum disorder. Credit: Georgia Tech / Rob Felt
Nov 21, 2018 - Atlanta, GA
Instinctive behavior may be directly driven be gene regulation, at least researchers were able to match the two up.

Bacterial Conversations in Cystic Fibrosis

May 31, 2018 - Atlanta, GA
Georgia tech researchers obtain benchmark data for the impact of spatial arrangement in bacterial signaling in a cystic fibrosis model.

Chemical Octopus Catches Sneaky Cancer Clues, Trace Glycoproteins

An artist's rendering of cancer cells clustering among healthy cells. Credit: iStock via rights purchase / not a press handout / not for redistribution outside Georgia Tech Generic cancer cell illustrations available at iStock/Getty Images.
May 04, 2018 - Atlanta, GA
Tiny cancer signals of the glycoprotein sort evade detection, but they'll have a hard time dodging the new "chemical octopus."

Study Shows How Bacteria Behave Differently in Humans Compared to the Lab

Image shows a rendered confocal laser scanning micrograph of a mixed species bacterial biofilm observed in a chronic wound model of infection. Staphylococcus aureus (yellow) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (purple), organize themselves in small, dense clusters of cells called aggregates. (Credit: Sophie Darch, Whiteley Lab and Rumbaugh Lab at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.)
May 22, 2018 - Atlanta, GA
Study shows how bacteria behave differently in humans versus the lab.

More Workers Working Might Not Get More Work Done, Ants (and Robots) Show

To understand their strategies for working effectively without clogging traffic jams, researchers studied how fire ants dug tunnels in glass particles that simulated soil. (Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech)
Aug 16, 2018 - Atlanta, GA
A new study shows that ants have a lot to teach robots about working in confined spaces.
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