Researchers from ISB’s Baliga Lab recently published a paper in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, in which they identified a diatom-specific gene that may play a key role in predicting when diatoms might transition from a low/moderate to a high carbon dioxide environment.
In a study published in Nature Communications and with implications for understanding effects of climate change, ISB researchers show microscopic phytoplankton are more resilient in an acidified environment.
Seattle’s Magnificent Forest at Seward Park is located within one of the nation’s most diverse neighborhoods. The 98118 zip code in southeast Seattle is home to people of all socioeconomic classes including groups of immigrants who speak more than 60 languages. Seward Park serves as an urban oasis for the community to enjoy nature, easy hikes, and access to the expansive Lake Washington. The park’s Magnificent Forest, so called because…
ISB participated in Earth To Dinner 2 on Jan. 12 at Seattle Culinary Academy. This was a follow-up event for the Dec. 12 Earth to Dinner event at ISB. (Read more…) The theme was sustainable food/agriculture and urban design. Panelists for the evening included: Grace Kim: Architect and co-founder of Schemata Workshop Liz Fikejs: Conservation Program Manager, Seattle Public Utilities Jessica Day: Project Manager, Project Feed 1010 Dean DeCrease: Principal…
Earth To Dinner: In December 2015, 195 global leaders came together to adopt the historic Paris Agreement – the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement. GOOD, in partnership with the #EarthTo coalition (100+ partners strong), has created the #EarthToDinner (earthtodinner.org) climate conversation dinner series to keep climate action on the table. Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) is hosting dinner for 50 at its labs in the South Lake Union neighborhood of…
By Claudia Ludwig Baliga Lab Education Program Manager The past nine days have been exciting for the Baliga Lab. Dr. Anne Thompson and I have been working with eight teachers to begin the process of translating Anne’s oceanography research on the Invisible Forest into curriculum that offers a hands-on, engaging experience for high school students. The group developed the framework and drafted lessons that will be field tested this year….
3 Bullets Rapid climate change, including ocean acidification caused by increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, is predicted to affect the oceans, sea life, and the global carbon cycle. Marine microalgae, including diatoms, are responsible for converting CO2 into oxygen and biologically usable carbon through photosynthesis. How these organisms will respond over the short and long term to rising CO2 is unknown. Growth experiments and transcriptomic analyses performed by UW and…
This is an excerpt from Environmental Microbiology Reports, 2015, authored by Arjun Raman, a postdoc in the Baliga Lab here at Institute for Systems Biology. The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together. Information distilled over four billion years of biological evolution. Incidentally, all the organisms on the Earth are made essentially of that stuff. An…
There’s something calming about watching algae grow. What you see in the tubes are two types of algae: Thalassiosira pseudonana or “Thaps” is the brown diatom. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii or “Chlamy” is the green algae. We use Thaps to study ocean acidification and Chlamy is for studying biofuel production.
3 Bullets: When an organism duplicates its genes, it increases its ability to adapt and colonize new environments. ISB researchers used the systems approach to study how one family of microbial genes evolved to bring functions that were adaptive to specific environments. This new understanding of how gene regulatory networks rewire themselves has many potential applications, including how to wire new functions into an organism for biofuel production, bio-remediation or…
Institute for Systems Biology has a dizzying breadth of research projects. But when we talk about what we do, it’s how we do it that matters most. The systems approach that we pioneered and exemplify continues to distinguish our ability to tackle the most complex biological and environmental challenges today. Because of how we apply our hallmark collaborative, cross-disciplinary and integrative approach, our collective success is greater than the sum…
Congratulations to Dr. Mónica Orellana and Dr. Nitin Baliga on their new grant for $1.8 million from the National Science Foundation. The project title is “Ocean Acidification: A Systems Biology Approach to Characterize Diatom Response to Ocean Acidification and Climate Change.” Abstract from the proposal: Diatoms account for approximately 40 percent of primary production in the world’s oceans and are the most productive marine phytoplankton group. They form the basis…
