Gene E. Robinson
| Gene E. Robinson | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 9, 1955 |
| Institutions | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Notable awards |
Fulbright scholar Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences |
Gene Ezia Robinson (born January 9, 1955) is an American entomologist, Director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and National Academy of Sciences member. He pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior and led the effort to sequence the honey bee genome. On February 10, 2009, his research was famously featured in an episode of The Colbert Report whose eponymous host referred to the honey Dr. Robinson sent him as "pharmaceutical-grade hive jive".
After acquiring his bachelor's in biology from Cornell University, Robinson went on to earn his Ph.D in entomology from Cornell in 1986. He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1989. Currently, Robinson is the Director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois and a Swanlund and Center for Advanced Study Professor of Entomology, with affiliate appointments in the Neuroscience Program, the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, the Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
Authoring or co-authoring over 250 publications, Robinson has made a wide range of fundamental advances in understanding the endocrine, neural, and genetic regulation of behavior at the individual and colony levels in honey bees. His discoveries have significantly advanced the understanding of the role of genes, hormones, and neurochemicals in the mechanisms and evolution of social behavior.
Robinson’s lab discovered the first gene known to be involved in regulating the bee colony’s famous division of labor, and in 2002 published this in Science. The very next year, Robinson’s lab was the first to show that social information causes mass changes in brain gene expression, also publishing this in Science.
...
Wikipedia