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Biology Department News

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Huddled Up for Healing: Working with the Football Team to Address a Degenerative Brain Disease

July 21, 2022
In 2002, the death of legendary NFL center Mike Webster introduced the world to the degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The disease is marked by depression, rage, substance abuse, cognitive dysfunction, and dementia, and diagnoses are rising rapidly among retired football players.
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Liking a New Species of Lichen

May 05, 2022
Life Sciences students discover a new lichen species in Glen Canyon. As DNA sequencing didn’t match the green lichen, Jacob Henrie ('22) and biology professor Steve Leavitt concluded that this scaly symbiotic fungus was, in fact, a brand-new species of lichen.
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New director of the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum

July 13, 2021
Dean James Porter, College of Life Sciences, announces the appointment of Dr. Michael Whiting as the new director of the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum. The appointment is effective August 1, 2021.
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Native Samoan graduate student studies genetic disease in her homelands

June 15, 2021
Family relationships are the fabric of the Polynesian culture. Grandparents help take care of the young, and in turn, children and grandchildren take care of the elderly. Having grown up in Samoa and Hawaii, graduate biology student Justina Tavana ('23) understands the value of looking out for aging community members, even as the ravaging effects of dementia steal away their close connections and identity.
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