The “Teaching with Tomatoes” program developed by biology professor Gloria Muday takes WFU students to local schools to teach genetics. They reinforce lessons learned in class about how genetics are responsible for the diversity in heirloom tomatoes. Muday estimates the program has reached more than 1,200 students this semester.

On the heels of one the worst U.S. droughts in more than half a century, a new study by Wake Forest researchers raises questions about the future of one of the most integral members of stream ecosystems throughout the Southeast – the salamander.

Dean Franco uses literature to help his students change the way they see the world. In his new book, “Race, Rights and Recognition,” he explores how great writers can alter the way we understand the social and racial challenges of modern Jewishness.

More than 30 of Ray Kuhn’s former students, plus their spouses or significant others, gathered in Clemmons last month to celebrate their mentor’s 70th birthday and their shared experiences as his research partners. Kuhn’s work as a mentor has grown a close-knit group that spans generations.

Inspired by the tattoos on her Algerian grandmother’s face, Yasmin Bendaas (’13) wanted to know more about how this custom began, and why it is disappearing. With the help of the Richter Scholarship and a Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting fellowship, Bendaas spent the summer in Algeria researching.

Undergraduate research has been a cornerstone of Wake Forest’s commitment to academic excellence. Now the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URECA) Center provides student grants and administrative support for mentored, undergraduate research and encourages high-quality programs of great impact.

When staff assistant Linda Tuttle was diagnosed with breast cancer, she never imagined her experience would inspire her colleagues to design new treatments. But medicinal chemist Uli Bierbach and graduate students Song Ding and Xin Qiao were inspired to develop a targeted therapy that delivers a sneak attack to the disease – in the spirit of Pro Humanitate.

Timo Thonhauser has taken on one of the toughest problems of making hydrogen cars a reality: hydrogen storage. His research is supported by the most prestigious award the National Science Foundation has to offer for young scientists, given to a select few junior faculty nationwide who excel as teacher-scholars.

Daniel Kim-Shapiro, physicist and director of Wake Forest’s Translational Science Center, will offer beet juice samples after his talk at the upcoming Technology Briefing, which highlights innovative local companies and institutions. Three others with WFU ties also will present.

Erik Johnson’s latest study, which appears in the current issue of the Genetics, uses the fruit fly to look at enzyme signaling as a key to developing new treatments for diabetes and as an aid in all sorts of metabolic research, including weight-loss drugs.