News

Don Sakaguchi was charting a course to medical school as a biology undergraduate at the State University of New York, Albany, when he made a life-changing discovery.

The lab is quiet. Suddenly, a student exclaims, “I figured out how to do it!” These moments of joy keep instructors Jeff Essner and Renu Srivastava motivated.

January 20
Steve Whitham — Iowa State University    
Topic: Effects of increasing atmospheric CO₂ on crop-pathogen interaction
Host: Dior Kelley

A mentee of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology Associate Professor Dior Kelley, Ella McGrath, received World Food Prize honors as she was named the 2025 Lambert "Hunger Fighter" Scholar.

Kaylee Herrig works to improve prosthetic access worldwide.

Geetu Tuteja, genetics, development and cell biology professor, is diving into the genetic development of the placenta. The computational tools her lab creates support other researchers worldwide.

Morrill Professor Don Sakaguchi of genetics, development and cell biology, discusses the importance of undergraduate research in the Iowa State University Foundation's Forward magazine article, "Connective tissue: Educating the next gener

Geetu Tuteja, professor in genetics, development and cell biology, has always enjoyed puzzles. Through her research at Iowa State University, she is studying "one of the most unique puzzles in human biology: the placenta." 

Congratulations to GDCB Associate Professor Hua Bai, GDCB Teaching Lab Specialist Aron Nakama and Madelyn Clements (teaching lab specialist in GDCB and the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology) on receiving College of Liberal Ar

August 26 
Alejandro Sanchez Alvarado — Stowers Institute, HHMI 
Topic: Understanding the sources of regenerative capacity in animals 

AMES, Iowa - Laboratory work in many undergraduate classes is focused on achieving a certain outcome. For Wren Murzyn, a senior in genetics at Iowa State University, uncertainty in the lab has been more valuable. 

More than 100 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, postdocs and staff attended the 2025 Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology Honors and Awards Recognition Luncheon on May 7 in the Molecular Biology Building atrium to cheer

Sabrena Rutledge, graduate student in the Tuteja Lab, is one of four Iowa State University graduate students selected to receive a total of $40,000 in Brown Graduate Fellowship Program funding supporting strategic univer

AMES, Iowa – Biologists know that animals that mature slowly tend to live longer, but they aren’t sure why.

Imagine a world where students with learning disabilities could better understand and process what is being taught in their classroom.

Simply Blood spotlights the lab of Raquel Espin Palazon, genetics, development and cell biology assistant professor in its April edition. 

Geetu Tuteja, professor in genetics, development and cell biology, and her lab discuss how her lab is working to better understand the placenta's functions and why placental disorders start in The Pew Charitable Trusts Episode 154 After the Fa

Erik Vollbrecht aims to improve the yield and crop resilience of maize for peak performance during less-than-ideal growing conditions.

Congratulations to genetics, development and cell biology (GDCB) faculty members Dior Kelley and Renu Srivastava and  on being the recipients of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Spring Awards in 2025.