Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Scientist lives by the Serengeti Rules

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 02:17:06 +0000

Scientist lives by the Serengeti Rules Rachel Sauer Mon, 03/16/2026 - 20:17

Rachel Sauer

Author, filmmaker and scholar Sean B. Carroll, formerly a CU ��ý�� postdoctoral researcher, will deliver the Rose M. Litman Memorial Lecture in Science April 7

When Sean B. Carroll came to the ��ý�� in 1983, right out of graduate school and newly hired as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of molecular, cellular and developmental biologist Matt Scott, he was somewhat indifferent to Drosophila melanogaster, better known as the fruit fly and Scott’s research focus.

“I was coming from an immunology background, working with furry animals, and my attitude was that studying fruit flies wouldn’t teach us anything general,” Carroll recalls. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with humans or important things, or so I thought. But that was a really narrow view, because it turns out that all these genes that build fruit fly parts are in us—they build parts in us—so fruit flies became a passport to the whole animal kingdom.”

Scientist, author and filmmaker Sean B. Carroll, a former CU ��ý�� postdoctoral researcher, will deliver the Rose M. Litman Memorial Lecture in Science April 7.

And with that passport, Carroll has roamed the planet as an evolutionary developmental biologist and award-winning author and filmmaker, observing life from individual cells to continent-spanning populations. Through his observations and experiences emerged what he came to call “The Serengeti Rules,” based on the idea that everything in the living world is regulated.

He will discuss the discovery of The Serengeti Rules, on which he elaborates in his book of the same name, during the Rose M. Litman Memorial Lecture from 4-5 p.m. April 7 in the CASE Chancellor’s Hall Auditorium.

The Serengeti Rules, as he describes them, are ecological rules that regulate the numbers and kinds of animals and plants in any given place, and how they are being applied to restore some of the greatest wildernesses on the planet.

“Every cell contains a society of molecules, every organ a society of cells, every body a society of organs, every habitat a society of organisms,” he writes in The Serengeti Rules. “Understanding the interactions within each of those societies are the primary aims of molecular biology, physiology and ecology.”

Diversity in the animal kingdom

Before he had roamed the globe as a scientist and filmmaker, however, Carroll was the kid growing up in Toledo, Ohio, flipping over rocks to see what was under them. “I have a love for the entire animal kingdom,” he explains, which guided him to a bachelor’s degree in biology from Washington University and a PhD in immunology from Tufts University.

During his graduate studies, he became very interested in the question of how animal bodies evolve—in understanding how all the diversity in the animal kingdom came about. So, he hatched a plan to solve the mysteries of development.

“Changes in development are what lead to changes in form,” Carroll says. “The whole diversity of the animal kingdom is rooted in development, so we had to crack the black-box mystery of development to get any traction in understanding how the physical diversity of the animal kingdom evolved.”

Thus, the fruit flies. He wagered that studying them could be a key to unlocking the diversity of the animal kingdom—and the genes that govern development—and came to CU ��ý�� determined to pick the lock on that black box.

If you go

What: 2026 Rose M. Litman Memorial Lecture in Science—The Serengeti Rules: The Regulation and Restoration of Biodiversity

Who: Sean B. Carroll

When: 4–5 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, with reception to follow

Where: Chancellor’s Hall Auditorium, Center for Academic Success & Engagement (CASE)

Learn more

“During this time, 1983, oh my god—how an egg turns into a complex creature was a mystery,” he says. “It was a spectacular pageant we could watch from the outside, but we didn’t know what was going on inside. We needed to identify the genes that are necessary for that process, figure out what the genes did.

“It’s hard to overstate both how deep the mystery was but how thrilling these clues were as they started to unfold. Those days were incredibly exhilarating and intense, the lab was a beehive, people worked all days and nights and weekends because, first of all, we were fascinated. Also, we felt we had a shot at some really fundamental discoveries. Looking back, these times don’t happen very often in science where you really have a black-box mystery, and it breaks open—and it broke open partly because of what we did in Matt’s lab and partly because of what our peers around the world did.”

One eureka moment from Carroll’s time in ��ý�� came about 18 months into his research. He had taken on the task of seeing genes in action inside developing fruit fly embryos, working every day in the lab, trying this technique and that technique until his bag of tricks was almost empty; he was no closer to understanding which genes caused wings to grow, for example, or determined their shape.

He remembers a particular time when he took his samples down to a borrowed microscope, flipping on an ultraviolet light because he was looking at fluorescence, “and the best thing I can say is that it was a ‘holy sh^t!’ moment. I remember looking down, and I saw these embryos that had these beautiful green rings circling them, which is the mark of a gene that turns on every other segment.

“That’s the day when the dam broke, the door blew open, the clouds parted. It’s almost overwhelming because now so many things are possible. I went from having nothing to show anybody to essentially having the tools that would allow me to really untangle this puzzle.”

During his April 7 lecture, Sean B. Carroll will discuss the Serengeti Rules, the ecological rules that regulate the numbers and kinds of animals and plants in any given place, and how they are being applied to restore some of the greatest wildernesses on the planet.

A discovery of wings

After completing his CU ��ý�� postdoc, Carroll joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where he continued studying the genes that control animal body patterns and play major roles in the evolution of animal diversity. There he “saw something in the microscope that nobody had ever seen before,” he remembers.

He and the other researchers in his lab isolated the handful of genes that are activated in caterpillars to become butterfly wings. This discovery, published in the journal Science, garnered a feature in The New York Times, an interview on PBS News Hour and an invitation to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

From there, Carroll built a career that marries both research and discovery with science communication—as an investigator and vice president for science education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and head of the HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, where he executive produced or was executive in charge of more than 30 documentary films, including the Oscar-nominated and Peabody-winning All That Breathes. He has won three Emmys and been nominated for an additional five.

During that time, “I decided, ‘I’m telling the same story again and again, so I probably should write this down,’” he says. “So, I wrote a book, then I wrote another book.” He has written six books, including Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species, which was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award for nonfiction, and The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters, which will be the foundation for his CU ��ý�� lecture.

Carroll, who is a distinguished university professor and the Andrew and Mary Balo and Nicholas and Susan Simon Chair of Biology at the University of Maryland, credits the depth and success of his career in large part to the collaborations of which he’s been a part. “I like to think my toolkit has grown over the years, but it doesn’t happen all at once and it doesn’t happen alone. I didn’t write a full-length book until I was 45 and truly an expert in my field.

“I think people might look at my portfolio and say the science portfolio is pretty good, the external indicators are good; the writing career, there’s been a fair amount of output; the film career has been good. But in no way could I have done it alone. Science is a hugely collaborative thing; filmmaking’s even more collaborative. An individual like me gets a lot of credit for a body of work owned by an enormous community.”

Through it all—from his extensive travels through the Serengeti to the red carpet at the Academy Awards to the quiet moments in the lab—the joy of discovery and mystery-solving has never ebbed, he says. “I love science because I love nature and I love trying to figure out how nature works. I love the privilege and thrill of peeking into that box and going, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s how it is.’”

About the Rose M. Litman Memorial Lecture in Science

The Litman Lecture celebrates the legacy of an exceptional scientist and educator with a lifelong passion for research and a firm commitment to keeping rigorous inquiry at the heart of university life.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about molecular, cellular and developmental biology? Show your support.

Author, filmmaker and scholar Sean B. Carroll, formerly a CU ��ý�� postdoctoral researcher, will deliver the Rose M. Litman Memorial Lecture in Science April 7.

Traditional

White

Three CU ��ý�� faculty named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:05:06 +0000

Three CU ��ý�� faculty named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows Rachel Sauer Tue, 02/17/2026 - 09:05

Fellowships provide $75,000 in funding for early-career researchers in fields including chemistry, physics, neuroscience and mathematics

Three ��ý�� faculty members have been selected to receive prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships in 2026. Winners receive a two-year, $75,000 fellowship that can be used flexibly to advance their research.

The three College of Arts and Sciences faculty members are:

Erica Nelson, assistant professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, for physics.
Andres Montoya-Castillo, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, for chemistry.
Kelsie Eichel, assistant professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, for neuroscience.

“The Sloan Research Fellows are among the most promising early-career researchers in the U.S. and Canada, already driving meaningful progress in their respective disciplines,” said Stacie Bloom, president and CEO of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, in announcing the winners Tuesday. “We look forward to seeing how these exceptional scholars continue to unlock new scientific advancements, redefine their fields and foster the wellbeing and knowledge of all.”

CU ��ý�� researchers (left to right) Erica Nelson, Andres Montoya-Castillo and Kelsie Eichel have been named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows.

For 2026, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation named 126 early-career researchers—including Nelson, Montoya-Castillo and Eichel—as Sloan Research Fellowship award winners. Fellows from this year’s cohort were drawn from 44 institutions across the United States and Canada.

Since the first Sloan Research Fellowships were awarded in 1955, 60 faculty from CU ��ý�� have received one, including this year’s winners, according to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

“I’m delighted and honored to receive the support of the Sloan Foundation,” Montoya-Castillo said. “I’m especially grateful to my group, mentors and senior colleagues, both at CU and beyond, who have been immensely supportive and kind.”

“It’s a big honor to be recognized by the Sloan Foundation,” Eichel agreed, adding that she is appreciative of the funding for her research. “My lab studies a fundamental question in cellular neuroscience—how neurons build and maintain their polarized architecture. This polarized architecture enables the nervous system to communicate, adapt and ultimately generate behavior. By uncovering the core principles that govern neuronal function, our work will lay the groundwork for developing new strategies to restore neuronal function in neurological diseases.”

Nelson said she is thrilled to be named a Sloan Research Fellow and added that the fellowship funding will be a valuable asset to her research.

“We’ve discovered mysterious red objects in the early universe with the James Webb Space Telescope that challenge what we thought we knew about the first galaxies and black holes. This fellowship provides crucial support to determine what these objects really are: Are they massive galaxies or a never-before-seen phase in the formation of supermassive black holes? Whatever the answer, it will fundamentally reshape our understanding of cosmic dawn in our universe,” she said.

Sloan Research Fellowships are considered one of the most prestigious awards available to young researchers—in part because so many past fellows have gone on to become distinguished figures in science. To date, 59 fellows have won a Nobel Prize, 72 fellows have received the National Medal of Science, 17 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics and 25 have received the John Bates Clark Medal in economics.

Open to scholars in seven fields—chemistry, computer science, Earth systems, economics, mathematics, neurosciences and physics—more than 1,000 researchers are nominated by their fellow scientists each year, according to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The organization said winners are selected by independent panels of senior scholars based upon their research accomplishments, creativity and potential to become leaders in their fields.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about arts and sciences? Show your support

Fellowships provide $75,000 in funding for early-career researchers in fields including chemistry, physics, neuroscience and mathematics.

Traditional

White

Grad’s work fuses the arts and sciences

Rachel Sauer — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 20:14:26 +0000

Grad’s work fuses the arts and sciences Rachel Sauer Fri, 12/12/2025 - 13:14

Bradley Worrell

Olivia Neilly, who is earning a double major in English and molecular, cellular and developmental biology with a perfect 4.0 GPA, is named the college’s outstanding graduate for fall 2025

When Olivia Neilly stepped onto the ��ý�� campus four years ago, she thought she had her future mapped out.

“I really wanted to go to medical school,” she recalls. “I thought I’d keep my head in the books for four years and then move on.”

However, in pursuit of courses that would prepare her for the medical field, Neilly joined Professor Zoe Donaldson’s neuroscience lab in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB)—and that one experience changed everything for her.

Olivia Neilly is the Fall 2025 College of Arts and Sciences outstanding graduate. (Photo: Julie Chiron)

“I discovered that research is not just about data—it’s about asking questions, embracing creativity and finding joy in discovery,” Neilly says. “It literally changed the trajectory of what I want to do with my life, and now I can’t imagine wanting to do anything else.”

Donaldson and Jenny Knight, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, became important mentors for Neilly, whom she credits with fostering creativity and curiosity in the lab. Additionally, PhD graduate Mostafa El-Kalliny helped shape her thinking about research as well as issues outside of science.

“From day one in the lab I worked with Mostafa, who shaped how to think about science—and other subjects,” she says. “Our conversations weren’t just about experiments—they were about philosophy, literature and life.”

Embracing neuroscience with a passion

For her honor’s thesis, Neilly wrote a 71-page research paper investigating how a small part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens helps animals form close social bonds, research that has potential implications for humans. Her paper specifically explored the neuroscience of social bonding on prairie voles, a small species of furry rodents.

“We study prairie voles because they form lifelong pair bonds, like humans,” Neilly explains. “My project focused on nucleus accumbens, a brain region tied to reward. I used chemogenetics (a technique that makes use of engineered proteins) to turn off specific interneurons during bond formation. When those cells were silenced, voles couldn’t form pair bonds. This suggests one cell type can influence complex social behavior, which has implications for psychiatric disorders.”

Neilly began her lab work with the voles before the start of her sophomore year and spent two summers working full time in the lab. This past summer, she completed the experiment underlying her thesis and spent the school year analyzing the data and writing. While the work was very time consuming, Neilly adds, “It never felt like a burden—I loved the process.”

In addition to that work, Neilly authored a manuscript for the scientific journal Nature Communications as well as a second manuscript currently being considered for publication.

Earning high praise from faculty

Neilly was nominated for the outstanding graduate award by Christy Fillman, chair of the MCDB Honors Committee, and Donaldson, who praised her undergraduate student for her curiosity, intellect and strong work ethic.

“I would often find Olivia in the lab at all hours, eager to contribute and learn new skills. By this time last year, she was already operating at the level of a graduate student despite being only a junior. She accomplished this while also maintaining a 4.0 GPA in two majors and maintaining her involvement in other activities, including the American Lung Cancer Society Screening Initiative,” Donaldson wrote in her letter recommending Neilly for the outstanding graduate honor. Donaldson added, “She is the most impressive undergraduate I have had the chance to mentor or interact with across institutions I have worked at.”

Neilly says receiving the outstanding graduate award is both exciting and humbling.

“My mentor (El-Kalliny) hinted that I might get nominated, but honestly, I was so focused on graduating and finishing classes that I didn’t think much about it. When I got the email and Donaldson announced the award in our lab group chat, I was really touched,” Neilly says. “I’m emotional by nature, so it meant a lot that people I respect recognized my efforts. I usually just put my head down and work, not for recognition, so this felt validating. I was proud—and excited to tell my mom first.”

Olivia Neilly (second from left), Fall 2025 College of Arts and Sciences outstanding graduate, chats with, left to right, Daryl Maeda, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Irene Blair, dean of natural sciences; and Jennifer Fitzgerald, interim associate dean for student success. (Photo: Julie Chiron)

Balancing science and the arts

Neilly’s academic path has proven to be as unique as her research. Initially focused on MCDB, she opted to add an English degree to feed her artistic side.

“At first, I thought there was no overlap,” she recalls. “I started with MCDB for medical school or research but then added English because I missed my artistic side. Over time, I realized they overlap in surprising ways. In science, clear communication is essential—especially now, in a media environment riddled with so much misinformation."

As a creative writer and fan of modern fiction, Neilly applauds how people are pushing the boundaries of language in the same way that scientists are pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge—celebrating the unbounded exploration of both art and science.

“Writing skills from English help me convey research effectively. Creativity is key in both fields. The best scientists are often the most creative.”

Life beyond the lab

Despite her demanding academic schedule, Neilly says she made time for extracurricular activities. She wrote articles for the online magazine Her Campus, attended film festivals and organized a lung cancer awareness event at ��ý��’s historic Chautauqua Park.

She says she feels fortunate to have partaken in many cultural events offered by CU ��ý�� and by the local community, and she encourages her fellow students to do the same, adding, “Connecting with your community matters as much as academics.”

As for any advice for incoming CU students, Neilly says, “Wherever you are, you can make the most of it if you put in the time and energy. Be willing to try new things and embrace discomfort—it’s how you grow.”

Right where she was supposed to be

Neilly says she’s grateful for her time at CU ��ý�� and is now looking forward to what comes next as she prepares to embark on a scientific career. After graduating later this month, Neilly will join Stanford University as a research technician in Boris Heifets’ lab, where scientists study how psychoactive compounds can help treat severe psychiatric disorders.

“I’m passionate about improving mental health and social functioning, so this feels like the right next step before starting grad school,” she says.

Perhaps ironically in retrospect, Neilly says she wasn’t initially committed to attending CU ��ý��. She earned good grades in high school and had a number of options when it came time to select a university.

“I have a long family history with CU; my mom, sister and grandfather all have ties here. At first, I thought I wanted to break the pattern, but my mom reminded me that education is what you make of it,” says Neilly, who spent much of her childhood in Aurora. “CU ended up being the best decision. I found incredible mentors and research opportunities I wouldn’t have had elsewhere.

“I don’t regret a thing. I’ve used CU to the absolute ends of what it could offer.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about arts and sciences? Show your support.

Olivia Neilly, who is earning a double major in English and molecular, cellular and developmental biology with a perfect 4.0 GPA, is named the college’s outstanding graduate for fall 2025.

Traditional

White

Top photo: Olivia Neilly (second from left), Fall 2025 outstanding graduate, with, left to right, Daryl Maeda, interim dean of the college; Irene Blair, dean of natural sciences; and Jennifer Fitzgerald, interim associate dean for student success

Research on python hearts has possible implications for human medicine

Rachel Sauer — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 20:30:32 +0000

Research on python hearts has possible implications for human medicine Rachel Sauer Wed, 10/22/2025 - 14:30

Blake Puscher

CU ��ý�� scientists discover the growth of new tissue in Burmese python hearts, which may be transferrable to mammals

Heart disease is the top cause of death in the United States, resulting in one in three deaths in 2023. In addition to being such a vital organ, the adult heart, unlike other parts of the body, cannot heal itself, only adapt to the damage caused by cardiac events like heart attacks.

In cases of minor injuries like skin wounds, damaged tissue grows back as the surrounding cells begin to replicate themselves and ultimately replace what was lost or damaged. Because cells in developed hearts cannot replicate, they must instead change in size and organization to adapt, but this process is itself pathological and will eventually lead to heart failure if the underlying issue is left untreated.

All of this is true in humans, but there are some examples of animals that can grow new heart cells even after the early stages of their development. Newts, zebrafish and spiny mice can all restart the mitotic reproduction of heart cells as adults in response to cardiac injury. In a previous study of hypertrophy—the process adult human hearts use to adapt to damage—in Burmese pythons, ��ý�� researchers discovered that the snakes’ heart cells can replicate themselves, too, under certain conditions.

CU ��ý�� postdoctoral researcher Yuxiao Tan and his research colleagues are studying the mechanism by which pythons' heart cells are enabled to replicate and how it could be transferred to mammals.

Yuxiao Tan, Thomas Martin, Angela Peter, Christopher Ozeroff, Christopher Ebmeier, Ryan Doptis, Brooke Harrison and Leslie Leinwand conducted a recently published follow-up study based on this information, not only discovering a fuller, dynamic model of how pythons grow after meals, but also the mechanism by which their heart cells are enabled to replicate and how it could be transferred to mammals. According to Tan, once this transferability is fully explored, it is possible that the process could be used to treat the tissue damage associated with heart disease.

Hyperplasia vs. hypertrophy

First, it’s important to understand the difference between the kind of growth that allows for regeneration and the kind of growth that normally occurs in the adult human heart. The first form of growth is called hyperplasia and the second is called hypertrophy.

“Hypertrophy means the cell is growing in size,” explains Tan, a postdoctoral researcher in the Leinwand Lab. “Hyperplasia means the cell is dividing, proliferating, so they are growing in numbers.” Hyperplasia happens because of a cellular process called mitosis, while hypertrophy happens because of an expansion in the volume and surface area of cells.

The human heart undergoes both hyperplasia and hypertrophy, but hyperplasia only happens during fetal development; after that, the heart can only grow when its cells increase in size. Both processes cause growth, but hyperplasia can be regenerative, and hypertrophy can be adaptive. Additionally, although hypertrophy is pathological in the context of cardiac injury, it can also be healthy or physiological, in which case it is reversible. The pythons in this study underwent physiological hypertrophy because no injuries were introduced to their hearts.

Growth after meals

Burmese pythons are predators that consume large prey infrequently, sometimes going months or even more than a year without feeding. When they are between meals, their metabolism is slowed to save energy, but once they begin digesting a large meal, it increases massively.

Correspondingly, the python’s organs, including the heart, grow, expanding by 20 to 40 percent over several days. This growth was generally understood to be driven by hypertrophy because the python’s organs return to their normal size almost as quickly as they grow—it is reversible, just like physiological cardiac hypertrophy in humans. However, the researchers discovered that, if fed enough, the python’s heart would not shrink all the way back to what its weight was before feeding.

“Their organs grow after a big meal,” Tan says, “but it’s very transient, very temporary. After one standard meal, if you look at other papers, the organ shrank back to its original size.” Depending on how much and how often the pythons ate, though, the results were different, as the researchers proved by assigning 24 pythons different feeding regimens and observing how those regimens affected them. The pythons were either “Fasted,” “Normal Fed,” “Frequent Fed” or “Frequent Fed/Fasted.”

Burmese pythons are predators that consume large prey infrequently, sometimes going months or even more than a year without feeding. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

“There were frequent feeding regimens, which means we fed them every four days, and they usually average 28 days between meals,” Tan explains. As expected, the Fasted pythons grew the least while the Normal Fed animals grew a bit more and Frequent Fed and Frequent Fed/Fasted pythons grew massively. Meanwhile, although the Frequent Fed and Frequent Fed/Fasted pythons were fed the same amount for eight weeks, the fact that the latter was not fed for four weeks after led to unique results.

While the Frequent Fed/Fasted pythons’ body weight and major organ masses (such as those of the kidney and liver) decreased once they were no longer able to eat so often, the total weight of their hearts remained elevated. This indicates that, while heart growth in Burmese pythons is normally caused by hypertrophy, when they can eat often enough, a different kind of cellular signaling occurs in the heart, and hypertrophic growth is locked in through hyperplasia. So, under the right circumstances, both methods of growth occur, with hypertrophic growth preceding hyperplastic growth.

“It’s a hybrid model,” Tan says. “In the past, we only considered hypertrophy, but in my study, hypertrophy happens first, and then it’s quickly followed up by the hyperplastic process.” Tan says that hyperplasia comes with de-differentiation in this case: The cells that are able to multiply lose their adult functionality during the process.

“During hypertrophy, they don’t want proliferation yet, because cells will de-differentiate and lose contractility. That’s why, at the early stage, when they need the heart to perform, it’s just hypertrophy, but once they complete most of the process, the heart can take a short break, so the cells can divide as well. I propose that’s why hypertrophy happens first.”

Differential gene expression

This leaves an important question: How do Burmese python hearts undergo hyperplasia when adult hearts, including those of these pythons, aren’t normally able to? The answer has to do with the way that genes are expressed by heart cells.

In a previous CU ��ý�� study, researchers showed that the plasma of fed Burmese pythons promoted healthy cardiac hypertrophy in mammals. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Heart cells are capable of hyperplastic growth in principle—they do it during fetal development to form the basic structure of the adult heart. However, after that early stage of development, the heart changes in many ways, including its cells becoming unable to replicate. These two forms of behavior, or differential expressions of the genes, occur because some of the cells’ genes are inactivated after early development.

The genome is like a set of instructions or code that determines how cells behave, with individual genes being like one item in a list of instructions or a line of code. When a gene is inactivated, it is like an item being crossed out or a line of code being commented out: The information isn’t lost, but the way it is annotated tells cells not to follow that part of the instructions or execute that code. Still, something that is crossed out can be rewritten, or something commented out can be uncommented, and this is true for genes as well; a gene that is inactivated can be reactivated.

“You have genes involved in mitotic pathways,” Tan says, “and when they get activated, that will send cells into a mitotic stage, so the cells will prepare themselves for division.” This differential expression is studied through gene set enrichment analysis. “Enrichment simply means these genes in a cluster of genes are activated at the same time,” Tan explains.

Aside from the masses of Frequent Fed pythons’ hearts remaining elevated, the researchers know that mitosis is happening in the animals’ hearts because they observed signals associated with cellular reproduction and because the process was captured with 3D imaging.

“First of all, you see green, because the pHH3 protein is activated, and that means cells are in the mitotic stage,” Tan explains. “For a non-dividing cell, you wouldn’t see anything. Then the figure shows a cell with two nuclei. Everything has one nucleus, but in that cell, there are two, and they’re pulling apart.” This describes the process of mitosis, where the cell duplicates its DNA in its nucleus, the barrier between the nucleus and the rest of the cell breaks down, and the two nuclei—or sets of nucleus content, which will soon become distinct nuclei—are separated into their own cells.

Implications and future research

Although the researchers have good evidence that something in Frequent Fed pythons’ bodies is triggering hyperplastic growth in their hearts, what it is exactly remains unknown. Tan says that the growth was likely triggered by circulating factors in the pythons’ blood plasma. In an earlier study, the researchers showed that the plasma of fed Burmese pythons promoted healthy cardiac hypertrophy in mammals. Along the same lines, the plasma of fed pythons, and especially that of Frequent Fed pythons, activated hyperplasia.

Could pythons' wild feeding habits inspire new treatments for human heart disease?

“The python plasma started the cell cycle again, so that means there’s something there,” Tan says. “You can translate the snake biology to mammals, because the protein activated mammal cells. It’s hard to say if we could use this for drug development, but that’s provisioned here. You identify the factor, synthesize it, and use that. I think it has the potential to be something, but we just don’t know yet.”

A medicine that can regenerate people’s hearts sounds like it would change the world, but because this study did not involve Burmese pythons with injured hearts, we don’t even know how much they could recover using this process yet, much less how well it would work in humans.

“Once people get a heart attack,” Tan says, “the injuries have already happened, and some cells have died already, which will affect your heart function. You can’t just fully recover and get rid of the scar, but at least if the heart cells are able to grow back, even just a little, that’s going to help your overall cardiac function.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about molecular, cellular and developmental biology? Show your support.

CU ��ý�� scientists discover the growth of new tissue in Burmese python hearts, which may be transferrable to mammals.

Traditional

White

Craft-beer pioneer is still eyeing the next big thing

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 15:23:37 +0000

Craft-beer pioneer is still eyeing the next big thing Rachel Sauer Thu, 10/16/2025 - 09:23

Clint Talbott

Keith Villa, who invented Blue Moon Belgian White, thinks cannabis-infused beer might take off; he and his wife, Jodi, both CU ��ý�� alums, have launched an alcohol-free brewery that could help lead the way

Keith Villa did not set out to shake up the American beer industry. He’d aimed to become a medical doctor, but his love of biology led him to become a bona fide beer doctor. That led to the kind of career that happens once in a blue moon.

Or, rather, a Blue Moon.

In 1995, Villa invented what’s now known as Molson Coors Blue Moon Belgian White beer. Ultimately, it became the largest craft beer on the market.

Keith Villa (MCDBio'86) got his start in the science of beer by responding a job posting at Coors for someone to do molecular research on how to improve their yeast. (Photo: Jodi Villa)

After more than three decades at Molson Coors, Keith Villa and his wife, Jodi Villa, launched Ceria Brewing Co., which brews alcohol-free beer and is eyeing the potential for alcohol-free beer infused with cannabis. The Villas are still busy innovating, and their latest chapter is still being written.

It’s a tale with several plot twists, but one key player was the ��ý��.

Improving yeast

Before college, Keith Villa was inspired by his mother, who was a registered nurse at the Veterans Administration hospital in Denver. He resolved to become a pediatrician.

While in high school, Keith and Jodi met and began to forge their own partnership. They both enrolled at CU ��ý��, he in a pre-med program and she in architectural engineering. Both graduated in 1986.

As a student in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, he worked in the laboratory of Professor Emeritus Lawrence “Larry” Gold, who founded NeXstar Pharmaceuticals.

In the Gold lab, Villa was helping graduate students conduct original research. In 1986, shortly before he graduated with his bachelor’s degree, Villa responded to a job posting at Coors for someone to do molecular research on how to improve their yeast.

“And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s exactly what I’m doing here.’”

Coors hired him more or less immediately, and he went to work trying to design a yeast that would make it cheaper to brew light beer. Although Villa was successful, the yeast was never used commercially, he notes.

After that project concluded, Villa told Coors he was ready to quit to pursue a PhD in biochemistry. Coors’ director of research and development made a counteroffer: Go to Belgium to join a PhD program in brewing, and Coors would foot the bill.

Keith and Jodi didn’t have a mortgage or family yet, so they said, “Let’s do it.”

Studying in Belgium

Belgium was an eye opener. Easy train rides to Germany, Switzerland and beyond widened their horizons to new beers, foods and regional dialects. He conducted his PhD research in Belgium and finished writing his dissertation in Colorado.

Villa’s bosses at Coors said, “Well, you just came back from Belgium. You know about these beers. Can you make something?”

“So that’s when I created Blue Moon,” Villa says.

The top executives at Coors had initial reservations about this new beer: Why was it cloudy and infused with orange peel and coriander, for instance? Eventually, however, Blue Moon became a billion-dollar brand, brewing 2 million barrels a year.

Keith Villa (in the CERIA lab in Brussels, Belgium) earned his PhD at CERIA and named his company in honor of it. (Photo: Jodi Villa)

By 2017, Villa had done “a lot of what I wanted to do in the brewing world,” and he retired from Coors. Soon, he and Jodi launched Ceria Brewing Co., which pays homage to Ceres, the Roman goddess of the harvest. “Ceria” also reflects CERIA, the acronym of the Belgian campus where Keith earned his PhD.

Initially, Ceria produced cannabis-infused beers sold through dispensaries in Colorado and California, and they were aimed at those who consume THC in moderation. But the products faced regulatory hurdles, not least of which is that the federal government doesn’t recognize cannabis as a legitimate business undertaking. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, even though individual states have legalized it to varying degrees.

'Bad movies, hot showers and vanilla'

Today, Ceria offers two non-infused alcohol-free beer styles: Grainwave Belgian-Style White and Indiewave Hoppy IPA. Grainwave is brewed with orange peel and coriander (sound familiar?) and is billed as pairing well with Mexican food, anything spicy, “bad movies, hot showers and vanilla.”

Indiewave, meanwhile, is said to pair well with “charcuterie, Middle Eastern cuisine, after-parties, rainy days, chocolate, your record collection.”

Ceria’s offerings are alcohol free, which differ from “non-alcoholic” beers. According to federal regulations, non-alcoholic beer must be sold with less than 0.5 % alcohol by volume. Alcohol-free beers must have 0.0%.

That distinction matters. One reason is that to infuse beer with THC, the psychotropic ingredient in cannabis, the beer must be alcohol free. And selling cannabis-infused beer could be, in Villa’s estimation, the next big thing.

Hemp-derived THC is a key ingredient. Hemp is distinguished from marijuana largely by the concentration of THC in each; hemp’s concentration is lower. In some states, it’s legal to distribute hemp-derived THC, and selling cannabis-infused beer there is more cost-effective for brewers and consumers.

In states where such sales are legal, Villa notes, consumers can buy cannabis-infused beer in many places, right next to alcoholic beers.

“And when you offer a consumer that choice, you see these beverages just start to take off,” Villa says, adding that there’s a sizable market of people who don’t want to drink alcohol, “or they want to switch back and forth, maybe alcohol this weekend, next weekend cannabis.”

“I would say that we were probably a little ahead of our time with what we did, because now when you look at hemp-derived THC, that really proves our original thesis that beverages with THC are a really great option for people that don’t want alcohol all the time, or they may find alcohol to be bad for their health.”

Now the Villas watch the national market and wait for regulatory changes that could help restart their efforts to sell cannabis-infused beer.

As Villa observed, “We socialize with beverages, and you can’t toast a bride and groom with a gummy.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about molecular, cellular and developmental biology? Show your support.

Traditional

White

Top photo: Jodi and Keith Villa and their daughter, Catherine (right), co-own Ceria Brewing Company. (Photo: Jodi Villa)

CU ��ý�� scientist receives $1.25 million award for cancer research

Rachel Sauer — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 17:12:44 +0000

CU ��ý�� scientist receives $1.25 million award for cancer research Rachel Sauer Wed, 06/18/2025 - 11:12

Edward Chuong is one of five researchers nationwide awarded funding to pursue ‘daring, paradigm-shifting research’ on cancer immunotherapy treatment

Edward Chuong, a ��ý�� assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and a BioFrontiers Institute scientist, has been awarded $1.25 million by the New York City-based Cancer Research Institute (CRI) to pursue his cancer immunotherapy research.

Chuong was one of five researchers nationwide who received the unrestricted funding over a five-year period, which CRI said is designed to allow researchers to pursue high-risk, high-reward projects that could redefine cancer treatment. The organization called the researchers “scientific leaders poised to reshape cancer immunotherapy through daring, paradigm-shifting research.”

Edward Chuong, a CU ��ý�� assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and a BioFrontiers Institute scientist, recently was awarded $1.25 million by the Cancer Research Institute to pursue cancer immunotherapy research.

“These are people who are hitting their stride scientifically and career-wise, and this is where you really want to put some jet fuel in the tank as they are getting established,” said Dr. E. John Wherry, associate director of CRI’s Scientific Advisory Council.

Echoing Wherry’s sentiment, Dr. Alicia Zhou, CRI chief executive officer, added, “Each of these researchers brings fearless curiosity and a willingness to challenge assumptions – the very qualities that drive breakthroughs. They aren’t just advancing cancer science; they are reinventing it.”

Chuong said he was surprised and honored to receive CRI funding for his research.

“As someone from an evolutionary biology background, this award means my outsider ideas are being welcomed into the cancer research community. It’s a huge boost,” he said.

Chuong’s research focuses on the role that ancient viral fragments in human DNA, called transposons, play in regulating immune cell signaling.

“Our lab started out exploring the evolution of transposons—bits of DNA derived from genetic parasites—and discovered they may function as hidden switches in our immune system,” Chuong said. “With this support, we’ll investigate how cancer cells hijack these switches to escape detection, and use that knowledge to develop new markers and therapies that make immunotherapy work better for more patients. I’m grateful to the Cancer Research Institute for supporting this unconventional perspective and I’m incredibly excited to see where it leads.”

Each year, CRI awards funding for scientists to pursue their research through its grant-making program honoring its founding scientific and medical director, Lloyd J. Old. The organization said its Lloyd J. Old STAR program—Scientists TAking Risks—is designed to provide long-term funding to mid-career scientists, giving them the freedom and flexibility to pursue research “at the forefront of discovery and innovation in cancer immunotherapy.”

CRI said its awards are given out based upon its “exceptional track record of identifying and supporting people who have had a major impact in immunotherapy.” The organization said its grants are not tied to a specific research project but rather support outstanding researchers based upon the quality and promise of researchers’ overall work.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about molecular, cellular and developmental biology? Show your support.

Edward Chuong is one of five researchers nationwide awarded funding to pursue ‘daring, paradigm-shifting research’ on cancer immunotherapy treatment.

Traditional

White

CU ��ý�� prof named Boettcher Investigator

Rachel Sauer — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 18:38:17 +0000

CU ��ý�� prof named Boettcher Investigator Rachel Sauer Fri, 06/06/2025 - 12:38

Assistant Professor Jennifer Hill is one of seven Colorado researchers to be recognized by the Boettcher Foundation for their pioneering biomedical research

The Boettcher Foundation and Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) have named Assistant Professor Jennifer H. Hill with the ��ý��’s Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and BioFrontiers Institute as one of seven outstanding early-career biomedical researchers.

Each scientist will receive a $250,000 grant through the Boettcher Foundation’s Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards Program to support up to three years of independent scientific research, with total grant funding reaching $1.75 million.

CU ��ý�� scientist Jennifer Hill, an assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, has been named a 2025 Boettcher Investigator.

“It’s a huge honor to be selected as one of this year’s Boettcher Investigators, especially given the depth of groundbreaking biomedical research in Colorado,” Hill said. “The award gives my lab the resources to explore the relevance of our work in human tissues, bringing us closer to our goal of preventing type 1 diabetes in children. As a young investigator, receiving funds like these goes a long way to help offset some of the anxiety and uncertainty in the current federal funding landscape.”

This year’s class represents the next generation of scientific excellence and marks another milestone in Boettcher Foundation’s 16-year commitment to strengthening Colorado’s biomedical research ecosystem, according to the Boettcher Foundation. The Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards provide crucial early-career support and position recipients to compete for additional private, state and federal research funding.

“We are delighted to support our 2025 Boettcher Investigators, and as champions of their work, we are confident that these researchers will continue to spark new discoveries and drive innovation in medicine,” said Katie Kramer, president and CEO of the Boettcher Foundation. “The far-reaching impact of our Investigators’ research extends well beyond the lab—each advancement sets in motion a ripple effect that benefits patients, strengthens Colorado’s scientific community, and inspires future breakthroughs. We are proud to invest in these remarkable scientists, whose dedication and creativity are shaping a healthier future for all.”

Hill is a microbe scientist who studies the connection between the pancreas and microbes in the gut, examining microbiota in the development of insulin-producing beta cells. Four Boettcher Investigators with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and two with Colorado State University are pursuing research into fields including osteoarthritis, autism spectrum disorder, cancer and autoimmune diseases, and developmental and neurological disorders.

Since its inception, the Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards Program has supported 113 Boettcher Investigators, including this year’s class, and awarded close to $27 million in grant funding. These researchers have gone on to secure more than $150 million in additional research funding from federal, state and private sources, according to the Boettcher Foundation.

“Colorado BioScience Association is grateful to the Boettcher Foundation for its continued investment in the next generation of scientific leaders in our state,” said Elyse Blazevich, president and CEO of Colorado BioScience Association. “The Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards provide essential early-career funding that empowers researchers to remain in Colorado and advance their discoveries within our world-class academic and research institutions. We are honored to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2025 class of Boettcher Investigators.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about molecular, cellular and developmental biology? Show your support.

Assistant Professor Jennifer Hill is one of seven Colorado researchers to be recognized by the Boettcher Foundation for their pioneering biomedical research.

Traditional

White

Two CU ��ý�� scientists win prestigious honor

Clint Talbott — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Two CU ��ý�� scientists win prestigious honor Clint Talbott Thu, 03/27/2025 - 08:00

Ivan Smalyukh and Tom Blumenthal are named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Two ��ý�� professors have been named 2024 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the group announced today.

Ivan Smalyukh (left) and Tom Blumenthal

Ivan Smalyukh, professor of physics, and Thomas Blumenthal, professor emeritus of molecular, cellular and developmental biology (MCDB), are among the 471 scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.

This year’s class of fellows “is the embodiment of scientific excellence and service to our communities,” said Sudip S. Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals.

“At a time when the future of the scientific enterprise in the U.S. and around the world is uncertain, their work demonstrates the value of sustained investment in science and engineering.”

“I am pleased to see this well-deserved recognition of Professor Smalyukh and Professor Blumenthal. Their accomplishments highlight the remarkable scientific advances occurring at CU,” said Irene Blair, dean of natural sciences.

Smalyukh’s research encompasses different branches of soft-condensed-matter and optical physics, including chiral phenomena, knot theory, laser trapping and imaging techniques, molecular and colloidal self-assembly, fundamental properties of liquid crystals, polymers, organic and nano photovoltaics, nano-structured and other functional materials, as well as their photonic and electro-optic applications.

“We aspire to uncover very fundamental physical principles underpinning phenomena and properties of materials and other physical systems,” Smalyukh noted. “At the same time, we also apply this fundamental knowledge to contribute to a sustainable future via designing artificial forms of meta matter needed to reduce the growing energy demand and slow down climate change.”

Smalyukh earned BS and MS degrees with highest honors in 1994 and 1995 from Lviv Polytechnic National University in Ukraine. He earned a PhD in chemical physics in 2003 from Kent State University in Ohio.

He joined the CU ��ý�� faculty in 2007. In addition to serving as a professor of physics, he holds a courtesy appointment as a professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, is a fellow in the Materials Science Engineering Program and is a fellow of the Renewable & Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), a joint institute of NREL and CU ��ý��.

Among other awards, Smalyukh has been named a fellow of the American Physical Society and has won the Department of Energy Early Career Research Award and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Smalyukh said he is honored by the selection: “I am especially grateful to many students and postdocs doing interdisciplinary physics-centered research together with me over nearly 20 years at CU ��ý��.”

Blumenthal’s lab has studied a variety of important problems in molecular biology, including regulation of gene expression, mechanisms of RNA splicing and arrangement of genes on chromosomes. His lab is responsible for discovering that eukaryotes can have operons for identifying the protein that is responsible for recognizing the 3’ splice site and for a variety of other esoteric findings.

He has also studied how the tiny extra chromosome responsible for Down syndrome changes the levels of many proteins, even though most of those proteins are not encoded on the extra chromosome.

Blumenthal earned a BA in biology from Antioch College in 1966 and a PhD in genetics from Johns Hopkins University in 1970. He did postdoctoral research at Harvard University from 1970-73, then spent 23 years at the Biology Department at Indiana University Bloomington and nine years at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He joined CU ��ý��’s faculty in 2006 and served as professor and chair of MCDB.

Among other awards, Blumenthal was recognized as a fellow by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2010 and won a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1980.

Lee Niswander, professor and chair of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, said the department is thrilled about Blumenthal’s recognition. “Tom’s research program related to RNA processing and gene regulation, as well as his strong leadership of MCDB, have left an enduring mark on science and MCDB.

“Tom continues to engage with astute questions and the endowment of a lecture series related to RNA biology through a partnership between CU ��ý�� and CU Anschutz.”

Counting Blumenthal and Smalyukh, 81 CU ��ý�� professors have been named AAAS fellows since 1981.

Ivan Smalyukh and Tom Blumenthal are named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Traditional

White

Partnering with bots for better learning

Rachel Sauer — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 14:30:00 +0000

Partnering with bots for better learning Rachel Sauer Mon, 11/25/2024 - 07:30

Cody DeBos

CU ��ý�� Professor Mike Klymkowsky uses AI tools to help students develop critical-thinking skills

For many, the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) taking on an expanded role in academia stirs uneasy feelings. Visions of computer-generated tutors and students “writing” essays using a chatbot paint a cold, impersonal destiny for education. However, Mike Klymkowsky, a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the ��ý��, pictures a different future.

“It’s a tool that students will need to master, but its role will be largely determined by how the institution sets standards,” Klymkowsky says.

Mike Klymkowsky, a CU ��ý�� professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, is using AI tools in the classroom to help students grow critical thinking skills.

Klymkowsky, a veteran educator and innovator, is experimenting with AI not to provide answers to students, but to prompt intelligent questions and facilitate more effective learning. Through self-made AI assessment tools and interactive, personified tutor bots, he encourages students to shift their mindset from memorizing facts to becoming active champions of critical thinking.

Ultimately, Klymkowsky says, the aim of education is to foster skills that extend far beyond the classroom.

“The goal isn’t just to remember the right answer,” he says; “it’s to understand why that answer makes sense and why the other answers don’t.”

Developing more meaningful feedback and assessment

Klymkowsky argues that traditional grading methods, particularly multiple-choice exams, fail to measure true comprehension; they look only for memorization.

Fortunately, he says, AI tools offer a different solution.

“When ChatGPT came out, it became clear to me and everyone else in the universe that these were tools that allowed you to do things you’d always wanted to do,” he explains.

By automating the analysis of students’ responses to open-ended prompts, AI can quickly highlight which concepts cause them to struggle and where instructors can spend more time. Such tasks involving quick analysis of vast datasets to identify patterns are where AI excels, Klymkowsky says.

“Now you can evaluate instructors on whether their learning goals are meaningful and whether the students are achieving them,” Klymkowsky says.

His “Dewey” AI bot can reduce days of manually combing through exam responses down to minutes, offering insights that allow him to target lectures more precisely and understand if learning outcomes are being reached.

Klymkowsky says this approach is key to helping students understand not just what they got wrong but why—and how to improve.

From cramming to critical thinking

Klymkowsky’s approach to AI addresses a long-standing challenge in academia: the prevalence of rote memorization.

“Whenever a class starts using multiple-choice questions to answer, forget critical thinking. You’re not asking them how they got the answer; you’re asking them whether they recognize it,” says Mike Klymkowsky.

“Whenever a class starts using multiple-choice questions to answer, forget critical thinking,” he explains. “You’re not asking them how they got the answer; you’re asking them whether they recognize it.”

Klymkowsky, an avid proponent of exploratory, inquiry-based learning, created an AI “tutor bot” called “Rita” to enhance his students’ learning. The bot uses a technology known as retrieval-generated augmentation and is trained on information provided by Klymkowsky, including lecture materials and textbooks. Limiting the bot’s knowledge to a select dataset prevents it from “hallucinating”—making up potentially incorrect or misleading answers to questions it doesn’t know.

“Our bots, when you ask them a question they don’t know, they say ‘I don’t know.’ If you ask ChatGPT or Claude a question, it’ll answer whether it knows it or not,” he says.

Klymkowsky views Rita as a patient guide capable of leading students through complex materials at their own pace.

“These bots don’t just spit out answers,” he says. “They respond based on what students already know and ask follow-up questions to deepen their understanding.”

He also explains that the bots can be tailored to specific disciplines with a custom knowledge base. Keeping the bots within their trained parameters ensures students can rely on them to deliver accurate information without straying into unfamiliar territory.

“You want to have the bot be focused on what the learning outcomes of the department are,” Klymkowsky says. “So, if students are engaging with a bot in a biology course, that bot is designed to know what it knows and what it doesn’t know.”

Tutor bots like Rita use the Socratic teaching model to promote critical thinking. They work with students to challenge their assumptions and develop solid explanations for their reasoning.

“Imagine being able to practice asking questions with a bot that makes you feel appreciated because it never loses its patience, right? It’s never snarky,” Klymkowsky says.

Rita won’t simply ask a student for the answer. In the form of a conversation, the bot asks for a reflection on why the student believes their answer is correct—or why it isn’t—to help them grasp the underlying principles of a given topic.

“The goal is not to memorize facts, but to understand the why and how behind them,” Klymkowsky says. “It’s about cultivating the kind of thinking that lets students ask the right questions—and teaches them how to start finding answers independently.”

Engaging students beyond the classroom

In addition to Socratic tutor bots, Klymkowsky is using Notebook LM to explore AI-generated podcasts as a novel tool to spark curiosity. As with Rita, he creates these podcasts using a limited dataset, such as a course textbook.

The AI tool then turns the input into a two-way conversation between virtual speakers. Despite the surreal experience of listening to an entirely non-human conversation, the format allows students to explore high-level information in a more accessible style through a medium many younger adults favor.

“The goal with these podcasts is to give students a jumping-off point—something that piques their interest and motivates them to dig deeper,” Klymkowsky explains.

“The goal is not to memorize facts, but to understand the why and how behind them. It’s about cultivating the kind of thinking that lets students ask the right questions—and teaches them how to start finding answers independently.”

Each podcast episode introduces a biology concept, immersing students through storytelling and examples.

While the application is promising, Klymkowsky knows producing such content is a tricky balancing act of depth and attention span: “What is the attention span of the student? How long are you going to keep them on task before you ask them to do something themselves?”

Despite this challenge, Klymkowsky believes AI podcasts can complement classroom learning by acting as conversation starters.

“It’s more about using the podcast to motivate students to go read the book or the chapter—or to ask questions that they wouldn’t otherwise consider,” he says.

From there, students can bring their questions into class discussions or interact with a tutor bot to reinforce their learning.

By embracing AI tools like Socratic tutor bots and podcasts, Klymkowsky believes it’s possible to create an educational space where students can deepen their understanding through diverse content formats while cultivating a habit of lifelong learning that goes beyond a multiple-choice bubble.

Fueling curiosity, one question at a time

As technology continues to shape academia, Klymkowsky emphasizes that AI, when thoughtfully applied, needn’t be the villain. Instead, it can be a powerful catalyst for cultivating critical thinking.

“If you don’t understand a thing, can you ask an intelligent question?” Klymkowsky says.

With AI as a partner, he says he believes students can learn to ask those questions, and that AI can be used to develop curiosity and intellectual resilience—skills that will serve students far longer than a perfectly memorized breakdown of the Krebs cycle.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about molecular, cellular and developmental biology? Show your support.

CU ��ý�� Professor Mike Klymkowsky uses AI tools to help students develop critical-thinking skills.

Traditional

White

Scientists help students vanquish research-experience Catch-22

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 22:13:25 +0000

Scientists help students vanquish research-experience Catch-22 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/05/2024 - 16:13

Rachel Sauer

In new publication, CU ��ý�� scientists detail how the SkillsCenter allows students to gain credentials in basic to advanced research skills

It’s an unfortunate truth of higher education that students are not exempt from a classic Catch-22: You need research experience to gain research experience.

“Undergraduates participating in research is a key variable for enhancing their persistence in STEM professions,” explains Zachary Hazlett, a PhD candidate in the ��ý�� Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. “But to gain access to opportunities in research is not the most straightforward. For a lot of students, these things aren’t baked into their undergraduate degree plan.”

So, students seeking research-focused internships, jobs or higher education opportunities after graduation are often inconsistently prepared with the necessary skills and experience. Hence, the SkillsCenter.

Zachary Hazlett, a PhD candidate in the ��ý�� Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, is a lead TA on the SkillsCenter proctor team and first author on a paper newly publish in Cell detailing the organizing philosophy, structure and goals of SkillsCenter.

As detailed in a paper newly published in the journal Cell, the SkillsCenter is a modular research skills training course that allows students to “gain training and micro-credentials in the laboratory skills of their choosing.”

In other words, Hazlett says, “what if there was a bridge, something between the classroom and these research spaces that can allow students to gain that necessary experience? That can help equip them to enter those spaces both confidently and competently?”

Module-based curriculum

The SkillsCenter, which is open to students of every major, emerged, in part, from a recognition that undergraduate students have often gained research experiences “by cold-calling faculty members and saying, ‘I’d like to work in research, are there any opportunities in your lab?’” Hazlett says.

Understandably, faculty often ask what their previous experience is, and if a student doesn’t have any, they have to hope they’ll get lucky and find a faculty member willing to teach them.

So, faculty and graduate students in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, led by Professor Michael Stowell, began researching and discussing alternative means by which undergraduate students could gain the training and experience they need to gain these critical professional development opportunities.

Based on the principle of “learning by doing,” they designed a module-based curriculum in which modules are scaled by skill level, with appropriate prerequisites, and students can learn at their own self-directed pace. In fall 2021, the first 10 students enrolled in the for-credit SkillsCenter course, working through skills such as lab safety, pipette operation and calibration, centrifugation, buffers and stocks preparation, autoclave sterilization and more.

Today, the course offers training in the laboratory basics as well as advanced training techniques such as polymerase chain reaction, protein expression and purification and various forms of microscopy.

“The course has been designed very carefully,” Hazlett says. “We’ve done our best to build a laboratory space that mimics a traditional research space. Students working in the SkillsCenter gain the experience of what it would be like to be a member of a laboratory research group—in charge of maintaining their space, scheduling equipment, restocking materials, etc. The training modules themselves mimic something a trainee would encounter, with resources to help them and guide them in their conceptual understanding and procedural competence.”

Lab proctors—who are the course instructor, graduate students in the department and a number of undergraduate students who previously took the course—provide on- and off-site guidance for students and assess their work.

What if there was a bridge, something between the classroom and these research spaces that can allow students to gain that necessary experience? That can help equip them to enter those spaces both confidently and competently?"

Learning the scientific process

Through six semesters, SkillsCenter has grown and evolved from the original 10 students to nearly 100 per semester. The lab space is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday thanks to increased staffing, and students can work on their modules when their schedule allows.

“It is very important that we have trained lab proctors, and that we instruct our students very carefully on how to engage in this course,” Hazlett says. “Students are instructed that they are responsible for seeking out the resources and guidance they need, and we make sure they know how to access the supports they need.”

Each module requires a certain number of tasks that students complete and submit to proctors for review. Proctors monitor students’ work through each module, give feedback and assess their progress through the scientific process—from hypothesis through notes and observations to interpretation of results.

After completing a module and passing all its required tasks, students receive a certificate for each skill, “so they can collect these certificates and put those skills on their resumes,” Hazlett says, adding that he and his colleagues are working with ORCiD and digital badge organizations to create digital credentials that students can display to future employers. “We also want to embed students’ raw data into those badges, so if an employer wants proof of their skills, they have direct evidence of students’ technical proficiencies.”

Hazlett and his colleagues also are building a network of industry and academic research lab partners to “create an ecosystem for training STEM students. Many students often excitedly explain to me how they have convinced faculty researchers to let them join their labs because of the experiences they have gained in the SkillsCenter.”

Researchers Beiyi Xu, Jennifer Knight, Michael Klymkowsky and Michael Stowell also contributed to the Cell publication.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about molecular, cellular and developmental biology? Show your support.

In new publication, CU ��ý�� scientists detail how the SkillsCenter allows students to gain credentials in basic to advanced research skills.

Traditional

White

Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Scientist lives by the Serengeti Rules

Related Articles

Three CU ��ý�� faculty named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows

Related Articles

Grad’s work fuses the arts and sciences

Related Articles

Research on python hearts has possible implications for human medicine

Related Articles

Craft-beer pioneer is still eyeing the next big thing

Related Articles

CU ��ý�� scientist receives $1.25 million award for cancer research

Related Articles

CU ��ý�� prof named Boettcher Investigator

Related Articles

Two CU ��ý�� scientists win prestigious honor

Ivan Smalyukh and Tom Blumenthal are named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Related Articles

Partnering with bots for better learning

Related Articles

Scientists help students vanquish research-experience Catch-22

Related Articles

Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Scientist lives by the Serengeti Rules

Related Articles

Three CU ������ý���� faculty named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows

Related Articles

Grad’s work fuses the arts and sciences

Related Articles

Research on python hearts has possible implications for human medicine

Related Articles

Craft-beer pioneer is still eyeing the next big thing

Related Articles

CU ������ý���� scientist receives $1.25 million award for cancer research

Related Articles

CU ������ý���� prof named Boettcher Investigator

Related Articles

Two CU ������ý���� scientists win prestigious honor

Ivan Smalyukh and Tom Blumenthal are named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Related Articles

Partnering with bots for better learning

Related Articles

Scientists help students vanquish research-experience Catch-22

Related Articles

Three CU ��ý�� faculty named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows

CU ��ý�� scientist receives $1.25 million award for cancer research

CU ��ý�� prof named Boettcher Investigator

Two CU ��ý�� scientists win prestigious honor