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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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A tiny creature that flies and swims at the same time caught the attention of Arizona State University Professor Richard Satterlie a few years ago.

They might be colorful. They might be cute to some people. But don’t let that fool you. These bright-colored frogs are poisonous. Dr. Biology talks with biologist Molly Cummings to learn about her work with some frogs that advertise to predators to stay away and other frogs that…

Medicinal plants come in all shapes and sizes. Probably some of the weeds growing in your yard, fields, or even cracks in your sidewalk are medicinal. Who knew there was a different kind of drugstore—a vital and ancient one—all around us? Also in:

Can storytelling transform biology research? Join us for an engaging conversation with Kayla Burgher and Risa Schnebly, two visionary PhD students at Arizona State University.…

Remember your last paper cut, or the bad cold that had you coughing and blowing your nose? It was your immune system that was busy trying to make you better by battling the bacteria or virus that was attacking your body. How your immune system works is the discussion Dr. Biology has with…

Get the 411 or in this case the ATGC on DNA and the new gene editing tool called CRISPR.
Life in the year 2050, what will it look like? Will it be the age of intelligent computers? Could this happen even sooner? Physicist and author Max Tegmark talks about the future of artificial intelligence and how it might impact biological life on this planet. Dr. Biology learns…
An interview with biologist James Collins who is the person directing the biology section of the National Science Foundation. Listen in and learn about this important science funding agency.
Poppy flower

Composting

Microorganisms in action! Turn a pile of grass clippings into an experiment.
some ants carrying puzzle pieces with food on them

Ants

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

Can you see DNA?

Seeing DNA

Every living thing uses DNA as the instructions for life. But how can we be sure that something so small is actually there at all? Here is one experiment that you can do at home or school that…

a shadow of a person seeing a human like shaped hole on the floor

Scientific Method

Read Using the Scientific Method to Solve Mysteries and then take this quiz to test your knowledge!

Plankton Zoom Gallery (Plankton up-close)

Plankton 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.

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.

Bee with mites

Mite Mighty Foe to 'Killer' Bees in State

Africanized "killer" bees have fallen prey to a deadly predator of their own- parasitic mites whose infestation has dropped their wild colony numbers by as much as 70 percent statewide.

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Cloning Sheep

Cloning Ewe

What is cloning and do we have clones living among us today? The answers might surprise you or maybe we should say ewe.

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jigsaw sail boat

Why Are English Sailors Called Limeys?

Imagine you are on a sailing ship in 1747. You left England only a couple of months ago and you felt fine. Now you are so tired you can barely walk. Dr. Lind wants to discover what is causing…

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Monarch butterfly puzzle

Migrating Monarchs

Thousands of orange and black shapes flutter through the trees. Welcome to one of the few wintering homes of the monarch butterfly. Also in: Español…

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