Department of Biology

DNA analysis and the work of Biology's Sam Wasser has proved a game changer in wildlife crime investigation.

UW's Conservation Canines are back on the case, helping researchers discover the interrelationships of wolves and other carnivores in Eastern Washington.

A team of University of Washington researchers has engineered yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that can “talk” to one another.

A team of UW biologists has identified a key mechanism plants use to decide when to release their floral scents to attract pollinators.

A UW Biology study finds Argentinian hunter-gatherers without electricity sleep longer than those with power.

The root cause of why we get less sleep now than our ancestors could come down to a very simple reason: artificial light.

To stop elephant slaughter in Africa, zoologist Sam Wasser spent years extracting DNA from elephant dung and tissue. Much of the world's poached ivory, he discovered, comes from just three places.

UW biologist Samuel Wasser's pioneering work is helping stop illegal ivory trade that's decimating the African elephant population.

Biologists estimate the business kills roughly one out of every ten African elephants each year.

Most illegally poached African elephant ivory can be traced back to just two areas of Africa, research shows.

The key to saving elephants from poachers could be locked up in the animals' DNA, according to the results of a new study.

Most illegal ivory comes from animals killed in two areas in Africa: Tanzania and a protected area that spans Gabon, Republic of Congo, Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

Investigators who collected DNA from the tusks of slain elephants have identified two large areas where the slaughter has been occurring

Biology Professor Keiko Torii and her team have identified a mechanism that some plant cells use to receive complex and contradictory messages from their neighbors.

Research from UW Biology Professor Tom Daniel and colleagues shows Hawkmoths see at dusk by slowing down visual processing in the brain.