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Welcome to Ask A Biologist. This site has a large collection of biology learning materials that includes stories, games, activities, videos, and a podcast.

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GMO might sound like a hard-to-understand name. But taking a quick look into the world of genetic modification will hopefully make it all a bit easier to understand.

Have you ever wondered how animals and plants get their names? People give them names, lots of different names! That was how it used to be before Carl Linnaeus created the world of taxonomy.

An interview with biologist Rebecca Clark. Dr. Biology and his co-host Itzany Mendez look into lives of ants and learn some pretty cool things including how to build a slick ant farm using two music CD cases.

Depression affects millions of people worldwide yet anti-depressive medications only work on a handful of people who suffer from the disorder. By looking at depression through the lens of evolution, scientists may learn more about depression and how it can be treated.

Dive into the behavior and physiology of two different primate species that are helping biologists explore the science of stress, aging, and immunity. Dr. Biology sits down with scientist Noah Snyder-Mackler from Arizona…

Journey to the Tibetan plateau in China for an interview with conservation biologist Andrew Smith. Dr. Biology learns about a cute furry animal called a Pika and how it is the key to survival for many animals that live on the plateau.

The 2013 Ugly Bug Contest has come to an end and all the clues point to a single suspect.

Giant beetles, flying treadmills, oxygen and prehistoric insects are just a few of the things that Dr. Biology learns about when visiting with biologist Jon Harrison.

Cartoon of two scientists one male and one female.

Doctor Know

Play Doctor KnowPlay doctor in the 21st century! Practice modern medicine by examining all dimensions of the body, from organs to molecules, as an…
an astronaut in space

Space Physiology

Read Spaced Out Physiology and then take this quiz to test your knowledge!

Observing ants

Collecting Ants

There are several different ways to get ants for an ant farm, depending on when you would like to start the farm and how long you would like for your ant farm to last.

Nano building game

Nano Building

Play the Bionanoengineering Game. Basic building patterns can be used to think about how technologies are built at the nano-scale. Try your hand at…

Ant Gallery (Get up-close to ants)

Now is the time to check out these amazing animals from the safety of your own computer.

Bone Zoom Gallery (Up-close Inside Bones)

Take a look at the microscopic world of bone in our virtual bone histology lab. Just pick a microscope slide from below and click on it to view under the virtual microscope.

Pollen Gallery (Pollen up-close)

Pollen comes in many shapes and sizes. These are just a few of the thousands of examples.

Feather Zoom Gallery (Feathers up-close)

There is nothing like seeing a feather up close.

Saguaro

Sonoran CSI

Little water, sweaty, hot summer days and frigid winter nights make the desert an uninviting place for most animals and plants. But hiding just below the surface, the desert is alive with…

Wordsearch | Crossword
Sea Urchin

Sea Urchins Do Research

No, urchins are not indigenous to the desert. The usual home for Strongylocentrotus purpuratus is the ocean's rocky floor for grazing along the intertidal and subtidal areas. Also in:…

Wordsearch | Crossword
Two-headed kingsnake

The Tale of the Two-Headed Lampropeltis getula californiae

A Common Kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula californiae, but this snake was anything but common. From the title of our story, you may have guessed that our snake, or maybe we should call it snakes…

Wordsearch | Crossword
Microorganisms cartoon illustration

An Invisible Watery World

When you visit a pond or the beach, what kinds of living things do you see in the water? Depending on the environment, you might find fish, frogs, crabs, insects, seaweed, or lily pads. Don’t…

Wordsearch | Crossword