New algae species named after poet Amanda Gorman

New species of alga named for poet Amanda Gorman

Researchers from Boyce Thompson Institute discovered a new species of alga in central New York and named it Gormaniella terricola, with the genus named after poet Amanda Gorman. The new species is quite interesting in that its chloroplast genome is highly repetitive and contains quite a bit of DNA from fungi and bacteria, meaning it was likely invaded multiple times from other species through a process called horizontal transfer.

New alga species named after poet Amanda Gorman

Story at a glance Researchers didn’t initially set out to discover a new species and ultimately came upon it by accident. The species was discovered at a time when national morale was low due to th…

Researchers name new alga species after inaugural poet Amanda Gorman

Researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute named a newly discovered species of green alga Gormaniella terricola after Amanda Gorman, the poet for President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021.

New species of alga named for poet Amanda Gorman

In 2020, a group of researchers in Fay-Wei Li's lab at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) had done what many scientists dream of doing: They discovered a new species. But as they discussed what to name this green alga from Central New York State, nothing seemed quite right.

New species of alga named for poet Amanda Gorman

In 2020, a group of researchers in Fay-Wei Li‘s lab at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) had done what many scientists dream of doing: They

New algae species named after poet Amanda Gorman