News

Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin

UT News

Chemistry in Mold Reveals Important Clue for Pharmaceuticals

In a discovery from the lab of Jessie Zhang that holds promise for future drug development, scientists have detected for the first time how nature...

Overall structure of FtmOx1, a mold enzyme that helps produce a toxin by adding a pair of oxygen atoms.

Podcast

The Case of the Missing Folate

Richard Finnell studies the genetic underpinnings of neural tube defects such as spina bifida.

Spinach leaves in a bowl, sitting on a wooden table

Research

Engineering Bacterial Communities Improves Plant Growth

University of Texas at Austin scientists say there's a simple way for home gardeners and small farmers to give plants a pesticide-free boost: by harnessing...

A row of 8 plants growing and flourishing at levels to varying degrees appear in front of a wall in an academic setting

Features

Three of a Kind: Triplets Tackle Pre-Health Degrees Together

Amira, Amier, and Layla Haidar plan to go into healthcare after they graduate

Three students hold a sign that says "Gone to Texas"

Features

Prof_iles: Steve Finkelstein

Astronomer Steve Finkelstein studies galaxy evolution

A man speaking in front of a bookshelf

Features

Visualizing Science 2015: Beautiful Images From College Research

As part of a continuing tradition, we invited faculty, staff and students in the College of Natural Sciences community to send us images this past...

A map of DNA fragments sequenced from the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. The dead zone is an area of low oxygen in the Gulf. Each square is a different DNA fragment from the water. The colored groupings—based on similar DNA sequence composition—represent genomes of newly discovered species that are important to the ecosystem.

Accolades

Neuroscience professor wins NSF CAREER award

Laura Colgin studies the relationship between brain waves and memory during sleep.

Portrait of a woman

Research

Study Shows Common Molecular Tool Kit Organisms Share Across Tree of Life

Researchers at UT Austin discovered the assembly instructions for nearly 1,000 protein complexes shared by most kinds of animals.

Researchers created the world’s largest protein map, identifying nearly 1,000 protein complexes that are shared across the tree of life. This image shows a small portion of that map.

Podcast

Cocktail Party Effect

Your brain has to do all sorts of tricks to focus on just one voice floating in a sea of noise, including localization

Illustration of a see-through brain with bright orange spots scattered in the interior

Research

Froggy Went a Courtin'

A graduate student and her advisor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UT Austin have discovered that female frogs are also prone to the...

Two frogs sitting on moist ground