Life Sciences Commons^™

Louis Pasteur Signature Saying: Science Brings Men Closer To God Bicentenary Year: 200 Years After His Birth, Alan L. Gillen, Justin A. Ambrose

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This year (2022) marks the bicentenary birth (December 27, 1822) of Louis Pasteur. He has a global reputation. His contributions can be seen in our homes, in the "pasteurized" products derived from one of his discoveries and in disease prevention. It was in his discovery of gently heating beverages and food for what we today call pasteurization that he first said: “Man's first look at the universe discovers only variety, diversity, multiplicity of phenomena. Let this gaze be enlightened by science — by science which brings man closer to God — and simplicity and unity shine everywhere.” Louis Pasteur (Vallery-Radot, …

A New Spin On The Bacterial Flagellum: Its Normal Niche And Displacement, Alan L. Gillen

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek observed individual living cells for the first time in history in 1674. Two years later, he noted microbes with long, thin appendages protruding from globular cells that seemed to provide locomotion, like “little feet” as they moved in drops of water. He gave credit to God in his writings over these new moving wonders. These appendages are now known as flagella (fig. 1), meaning “little whips” (from Latin).

More than 300 years later, Dr. Michael J. Behe used the flagellum and its nanomotor to introduce the concept of “irreducible complexity”—the idea that a structure is so complex …

Assessing The Effects Of Elevation On The Peaks Of Otter Salamander (Plethodon Hubrichti) Using Body Condition Index, Norman Reichenbach, Timothy R. Brophy, Hannah Suber, Elisabeth Russell, Hannah Kinsley, Liam Cusack, Cetia Dawson, Savannah Dunn, Olivia De Araujo

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Peaks of Otter Salamander (Plethodon hubrichti; POS) is a montane species found at elevations above 442 m within a 117 km2 area of the Blue Ridge Mountains in central Virginia. In allopatric areas (areas without the Eastern Red-backed Salamander, P. cinereus, a known competitor), POS body condition was hypothesized to decline both above and below some optimal elevation. Decreased condition at lower elevations would most likely be due to increased temperatures and lower relative humidities, which may adversely affect the ability of salamanders to forage effectively on vegetation due to desiccation risk. Decreased condition at elevations above …

Why Are There So Many Mosquitoes?, Alan L. Gillen, Savannah Childs, Megan Goin, Karly Mckinney

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mosquitoes have been challenging man and animals alike since the fall.Mosquitoes number in the trillions worldwide. Not only is the mosquito a nuisance with the constant buzz around your ear, they also are the primary vector of many dangerous diseases including the West Nile Virus (WNV). WNV has become a more prominent mosquito-transmitted disease in the United States and more specifically in Colorado, Texas, and other states in the Midwest. While commonly found in the genus Culex, WNV and other diseases can be found in differentgenera of mosquito, including Aedes and Anopheles. While these two are not themost common regarding …

The Directed Steps Of Hans Christian Gram: How Providence Played A Role In The Gram Stain, Which Illumines The Ordered Pattern Of Bacterial Cell Walls And Helps Identify Pathogens Of Infectious Diseases, Alan L. Gillen

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper honors Hans Christian Joachim Gram. In published papers, he simply identified as Christian Gram. Gram devised a staining technique that is still used to identify and classify different types of bacteria. He was a Danish microbiologist, born in Copenhagen on September 13, 1853. In German microbiologist Karl Friedländer’s lab, Gram noticed that staining a smear of pneumonia bacteria with a crystal violet followed by iodine and organic solvent showed differences in various samples. “Gram-negative” bacteria have thin cell walls that allow the solvent to wash away part of the stain. “Gram-positive” bacteria appear purple in microscopy because their …

A Baraminological Analysis Of The Loons (Gaviiformes: Gaviidae) Reveals Their Holobaraminic Status, Timothy R. Brophy, Mary-Clark Matthews, Alexis Ramerth, Mckayla Guillory

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

New Baraminological Methods Confirm Monobaraminic Status Of The Horses (Perissodactyla: Equidae) And Preliminary Analyses Of New Datasets Suggest The Possibility Of Discontinuity Between Horses And Various Outgroup Taxa, Timothy R. Brophy, Jack Gregory, Mary-Elizabeth Tallman, Kara Ray

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.