Starting in fall 2012, Cornell’s biology department will offer a new concentration in marine biology. Prof. Ian Hewson, microbiology, assistant director of the Shoals Marine Lab, said the concentration will give new opportunities to students interested in sustainability and conservation.

According to researchers at Kent State University, ophidiophobia, otherwise known as the fear of snakes, is one of the seven most common phobias in the United States. Some scientists, however, seek to learn more about these commonly misunderstood animals. Jessica Tingle ’12, a biological sciences major, travelled over 8,000 miles away to study a little-known snake living deep in the Petriky Forest.

A Cornell study published Friday in the journal Science used Twitter to study changes in peoples’ moods, discovering that seasonal variations in day length affect people in similar ways across cultures, indicating there is an underlying biological rhythm at work.

In front of a packed Statler Auditorum Thursday, one of the world’s most renowned biologists, Dr. J. Craig Venter, discussed his research in creating life from machines in the field of synthetic genomics.

Although it is widely known that many cells are polarized, the mechanism by which this polarity is manifested is not very well understood. In research recently published in Developmental Cell, University researchers are beginning to elucidate these mechanisms.

The Class of 2014 is the first to experience the University's new course curriculum in biology.

Around this time of year, as the weather gets warmer, Prof. Cole Gilbert, entomology, challenges the students in his department to bring him the first live tiger beetle of the season. The hunt for this metallic, green predator with six white spots is not just a scavenger hunt for the entomology students.

From Food, Inc. to Michael Pollan’s novels, in recent years, the public at large has criticized agriculture.  Often, the public portrays farmers as villains. Busy farmers frequently remain unheard in the media. Recently, ABC ran a special with the headline, “Got Milk? Got Ethics? Animal Rights v. U.S. Dairy Industry.”

To the Editor:

Re: “C.U. Not Alone in Changing Bio Curriculum,” News, Nov. 16

I read in this article, “Another key factor in the decision to adjust the curriculum comes from future changes in MCAT requirements for medical school admissions.” Does this mean that the new biology curriculum will be gearing up to teach the test? If so, the tail will really be wagging the lab rat.

One of the most popular majors on campus, biology serves as a gateway to the medical profession, as well as a department for crucial research in areas such as pharmaceutics and genetics. Although we applaud the attention paid to the major in the form of a recent revamping, we are, nonetheless, disappointed with the low level of transparency on the part of the Biology Curriculum Transition Committee throughout the process.