Moran Lab Research
My long-term interests are in the biology of symbiosis, particularly that between multicellular hosts and microbes. Symbioses are central in the evolution of complexity, have evolved many times and are critical to the lifestyles of many animals and plants and also to whole ecosystems, in which symbiotic organisms are key players. The primary reason that symbiosis research is suddenly active, after decades at the margins of mainstream biology, is that DNA technology and genomics give us enormous new ability to discover symbiont diversity, and more significantly, to reveal how microbial metabolic capabilities contribute to the functioning of hosts and biological communities.
> Read MoreLAB NEWS
- Congratulations to former Gradutate Student, Margaret Steele, on her fall 2025 position of Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University. (January 2025)
- Madi Wade and Elizabeth Forrester join the lab as Undergraduate Research Assistants. (January 2025)
- Congratulations to Moran lab undergraduates, Sabrina Sakurako Rinaldi on winning the Science Slam and Sylvia Tanguma on winning Best Presentation at the Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium (FURS) (October 2024)
MEDIA COVERAGE
- Science & Art: Exploring Bee Microbiomes in UT Biodiversity Center News. (September 18, 2024)
- Boosting Bee Health With Probiotics and Vaccines in American Society for Microbiology. (May 24, 2024)
- Engineering a bee-gut bacterium to prevent a deadly parasite from spreading in Phys.org. (June 13, 2023)