School Notes: Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
May/June 2012

Biology at Yale

A reunion/conference May 4–6 for alumni, students, and faculty of biological science departments traces the history of biology at Yale and brings together panels of alumni and faculty to discuss relevant topics in the field. Speakers include Thomas Lovejoy ’64, ’71PhD, who introduced the term “biological diversity” into the scientific community in 1980; Thomas Steitz, the Sterling Professor of MB&B and winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Jonathan Rothberg ’91PhD, founding CEO and chairman of several high-tech companies; Larry Gold ’63, founder of SomaLogic, Inc.; and leaders in scientific publication Emilie Marcus ’92PhD, executive editor of Cell Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Annette Thomas ’93PhD, CEO of MacMillan Publishers, London, England.

Alumna wins Grawemeyer Award

Barbara D. Savage ’95PhD (history), the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the 2012 Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion for her book, Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion (Harvard University Press). The book introduces important new perspectives on the study of black religion and the political role of African-American churches. The Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the University of Louisville jointly present the award.

An unusual riboswitch

Graduating chemistry student Jenny Baker ’12PhD was part of a team that discovered that the fluoride ion, commonly used in dental hygiene products for its antibacterial properties and ability to strengthen enamel, targets a highly unusual riboswitch. “A riboswitch is a type of RNA that controls whether a specific protein is ultimately created (expressed) from the DNA that codes for it,” she explains. “Riboswitches interact with molecules or ions, their binding partners, which leads to an increase or decrease in protein expression.” Fluoride riboswitches are only the second class in over 20 known classes that are found in more than one domain of life. These new riboswitches are present in both bacteria and archaea—a large group of single-celled microbes that can live in extremely hot or salty environments, as well as under more common conditions. Her research has been published in the journal Science Express.