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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The microbes that live inside us affect more about our lives than we might think. Taichi Suzuki is learning how these hitchhikers have been changing alongside humans.
An interview with limnologist James Elser from the School of Life Sciences. Listen in as Dr. Biology and co-host Michael Saxon learn about a biologist that studies life in and around fresh water, or you might think of him as the other marine biologist.

We hear the word ecosystems in the news and at school but just what are ecosystems? It turns out there are lots of ecosystems. You might even learn you have some inside you! Also in: Français | Español…

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 myrmecologist Rüdiger Wehner from University of Zurich. Listen in as Dr. Biology learns how these desert animals are revealing their success in the Sahara Desert. Don't know what a myrmecologist is? This is a good show to find the answer.
Summer ice. Besides being cold and hard, it turns out to be critical for life on Earth. But what is it about this ice that makes it more important than other ice? Dr. Biology sits down with scientist Stephanie Pfirman to talk about summer ice and how the amount we see is shrinking…

If you are a tobacco plant, you have a bad reputation. The link to cancer and other health related diseases is cause for any person to avoid you. But there is another side to this plant. Dr. Biology sits down with biologist Charlie Arntzen to talk about how tobacco plants are…

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

Zoomed in picture of bug

Ugly Bug Contest 2012

Vote in the 2012 Ugly Bug Contest!

Ugly Bug Contest 2015-2016

Which bug will lead the space travel team?

a bat in the moon light

Bats

Read Bats and then take this quiz to test your knowledge!

Comparative physiology game

Frankenstein's Lab

Play Frankenstein's Lab

Dr. Frankenstein needs your help to learn about how the bodies of different animals work! Build your own creature from 3…

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…

An illustration of different cell sizes and a ruler, to measure nuclear cytoplasmic ratios

Cell Size SIM

Play the Cell Size SIM

Certain cell types should have a general size and have proportionate parts. But what if those sizes and proportions are…

COVID-19 game simulation

COVID SIM Pandemic Simulation

Explore COVID SIM

In the COVID-19 pandemic, how much does wearing masks and distancing matter? How important is it to get vaccinated? You can…