Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

The Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology strives to develop new knowledge through basic research about the function of living organisms with focus on the molecular and cellular levels of all branches of life - bacteria, plants, and animals. Our faculty research strengths are animal physiology and neurobiology, biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, microbiology and plant molecular biology. We are home to the undergraduate concentration in Cell and Molecular Biology that graduates nearly 200 students per year. Our General Public and Pre-College Students section offers answers to questions about biology. We hope you find our site informative!

Abdulrahman El-Sayed,

a 2007 Biology major from Michigan, has been selected as one of 32 men and women from across the U.S. as a Rhodes Scholar for 2009. The Rhodes Scholarship is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious academic scholarships, providing two or three years of study. Read more.

Associate Professor
Ursula Jakob

was featured on NPR's "Talk of the Nation: Science Friday" program with host Ira Flatow from 2:40-3:00pm EST Friday, November 14th about her Cell paper. The topic was on how bleach kills bacteria. Listen to the interview. Read more.

Assistant Professor
Patricia Wittkopp

has been spotlighted in The Scientist magazine as a "Scientist To Watch." Read more.

Associate Professor
Ursula Jakob

and her lab group have recently discovered how bleach kills bacteria!

While chlorine bleach is a popular disinfectant, scientists never have understood exactly how the product kills bacteria. In a study published in the November 14th issue of the journal Cell, molecular biologist Ursula Jakob describes a mechanism by which hypochlorite, the active ingredient of household bleach, attacks essential bacterial proteins, working its antimicrobial magic and ultimately killing the bugs. Jakob's findings are not only important for understanding how bleach keeps our kitchen countertops sanitary, but they may lead to insights into how we fight off bacterial infections.

Read the UM News Services article, Reuters article, and Yahoo! article.