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RESEARCH GUIDES

Biology

A guide to the University of Maryland Libraries' services, all in support of the study of biology

Biology Research at the UMD Libraries

Welcome to the Biology Research Guide!

This guide is designed to help you navigate the many resources offered by the University Libraries. From journal databases to research data management, we are here to aid in your learning and research in Biology. From this page you can:

  • Explore library resources that may be helpful to your learning or research.
  • Find research information for specific courses in Biology. 
  • Learn about important scholarly skills such as research data management and citation managers.

As always, if you have any questions about this guide or about library services in general, please reach out to me, your subject specialist by emailing me from the box on the left, or stopping by my office in the STEM Library.

VPN & Proxy Services at UMD

The Libraries' online subscription resources can be accessed from computers and devices on campus and off-campus. When using devices off-campus, access is restricted to current UMD students, faculty, and staff. Below are methods for connecting to the Libraries' resources from off-campus locations. 

If you still need help, you can contact the UMD IT Service Desk at 301-405-1500 or itsupport@umd.edu. 

Biology News

  • Scientists find a new way to help plants fight diseasesThis link opens in a new windowMay 30, 2025
    Laboratory could improve crop resilience In a discovery three decades in the making, scientists have acquired detailed knowledge about the internal structures and mode of regulation for a specialized protein and are proceeding to develop tools that can capitalize on its ability to help plants combat a wide range of diseases. The work, which exploits a natural process where plant cells die on purpose to help the host plant stay healthy, is expected to have wide applications in the agricultural sector, offering new ways to protect major food crops from a variety of devastating diseases, the scientists said.
  • The EU should allow gene editing to make organic farming more sustainable, researchers sayThis link opens in a new windowMay 30, 2025
    To achieve the European Green Deal's goal of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, researchers argue that new genomic techniques (NGTs) should be allowed without pre-market authorization in organic as well as conventional food production. NGTs -- also known as gene editing --- are classified under the umbrella of GMOs, but they involve more subtle genetic tweaks.
  • Leprosy existed in America long before arrival of EuropeansThis link opens in a new windowMay 29, 2025
    Long considered a disease brought to the Americas by European colonizers, leprosy may actually have a much older history on the American continent. Scientists reveal that a recently identified second species of bacteria responsible for leprosy, Mycobacterium lepromatosis, has been infecting humans in the Americas for at least 1,000 years, several centuries before the Europeans arrived.
  • Cellular scaffolding secrets unlocked: Scientists discover key to microtubule growthThis link opens in a new windowMay 29, 2025
    Scientists found out how naturally unstable filaments decide whether to grow or to shorten.
  • Rock record illuminates oxygen historyThis link opens in a new windowMay 29, 2025
    A new study reveals that the aerobic nitrogen cycle in the ocean may have occurred about 100 million years before oxygen began to significantly accumulate in the atmosphere, based on nitrogen isotope analysis from ancient South African rock cores. These findings not only refine the timeline of Earth's oxygenation but also highlight a critical evolutionary shift, where life began adapting to oxygen-rich conditions -- paving the way for the emergence of complex, multicellular organisms like humans.
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