Department of Biological Sciences

The UB Biological Sciences Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) gives students from across the U.S. the chance to take part in exciting, cutting edge research activities to match their interests from a broad spectrum of biology. REU is made possible by proceeds from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science Program, Understanding the Rules of Life. REU Applications for the 2025 program are now open. Apply here.

Published in Nature Genetics, researchers have created what they say is the highest-quality reference genome to date of the world’s most popular coffee species, Arabica, unearthing secrets about its lineage that span millennia and continents. Their findings, suggest that Coffea arabica developed more than 600,000 years ago in the forests of Ethiopia via natural mating between two other coffee species. The large international team was co-led by Victor Albert, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. Other contributors from the department include Trevor Krabbenhoft and Zhen Wang, both assistant professors of biological sciences; PhD student Steven Fleck; PhD graduate Minakshi Mukherjee; and former research scientist Tianying Lan. “Our work has not been unlike reconstructing the family tree of a very important family,” Albert says.

“Our findings not only provide key insights into the adaptive landscape of the Nepenthes genome, but also broaden our understanding of how polyploidy — having multiple sets of chromosomes — can stimulate the evolution of new functions,” says Victor Albert, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences. He is co-senior author of the study, published in Nature Plants. Other contributors from UB include Charlotte Lindqvist, professor of biological sciences, and PhD students Emily Caroll and Michaela Richter. The work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation. Read article in UB Research News.

The Department of Biological Sciences is pleased to announce that Sarah Lu Chang and Robert Ditter have each won cash awards in the Art of Research. The competition took place April 16, 2024, in Hamlin Hall at the Buffalo Museum of Science. The event recognizes the extraordinary research of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars by showcasing original imagery inspired by the beauty inherent in research, scholarship and creative activities.

Shanna Snider has won the 2024 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. Snider will be presented the award on October 24, 2024 at UB's Celebration of Academic Excellence. The award honors professional staff performance excellence “both within and beyond the position.” Colleagues praise Snider’s time-management skills, which she uses to ready the labs so students can run multiple experiments on the same day, work with various model organisms and apply a range of advanced techniques. Read UB Now.

In a study published in eLife, UB-led researchers identified 109 reproductive-related gorilla genes that are often mutated when present in infertile men. There are likely even more yet to be identified. “We have a set of genes that are involved in sperm biology and have the signatures of harmful mutations when in gorillas. We can then look at those same genes in infertile men and see if they have mutations,” says the study’s lead author, Vincent Lynch, associate professor of biological sciences, College of Arts and Sciences. “Here the gorilla genome essentially acts as a discovery tool for finding candidate genes for human male fertility that we previously wouldn’t have been able to identify.”  Related Podcast, Driven to Discover: Animal Genes and Human Health with Vincent Lynch