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News
Frederick Khachik Receives Astellas Award from American Chemical Society
Senior Research Scientist Frederick Khachik
is one of the 2009 recipients of an Astellas Award from the American
Chemical Society. The awards, funded by the Astellas USA Foundation,
are given to individuals or teams who have made significant scientific
research contributions that improved public health through their work
in the chemical and related sciences. The award includes a $30,000
grant to support the recipient's continuing research program.
Jim Dietz's Work to Save Golden Lion Tamarins Featured in NatureNews
A special edition of NatureNews "Biodiversity in Crisis" features the story "Biodiversity's Bright Spot" about the strides that conservationists in Brazil have made towards saving the golden lion tamarin and its forest habitat from destruction. The article highlights the decades of work by Biology Professor Jim Dietz to study the behavioral ecology of golden and golden-headed lion tamarins in southeastern Brazil and to preserve their habitat. His research on the evolution of monogamy and helping behavior in this communally breeding primate forms an integral part of an international project targeting the conservation of this endangered species and the biodiversity in its ecosystem.
Eric Haag Quoted in NatureNews article "Biologists turn against worm"
Associate Professor Eric Haag, Department of Biology, is quoted in a NatureNews story "Biologists turn against worm." Haag studies the developmental genetics of evolutionary change using the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system. This worm has been one of the most important biological model systems for more than 30 years, but now Haag and others are using other species to gain insight into the origins of complex biological traits.
UM Scientists Create Fruit Fly Model to Help Unravel Genetics of Human Diabetes
Researchers at the University of Maryland are using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster,
as a model system to unravel what genes and gene pathways are involved
in the metabolic changes that lead to insulin resistance and full-blown
diabetes in humans. In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (November 2, 2009), Leslie Pick, associate professor, Department of Entomology,
and colleagues describe how they altered genes in fruit flies to model
the loss of insulin production, as seen in human Type 1 diabetes. "We can use these genetically manipulated flies as a model to
understand defects underlying human diabetes and to identify genes and
target points for pharmacological intervention," suggests Dr. Pick, who
is also using flies to study Type 2 diabetes and other syndromes of
insulin resistance.






