Status Affiliate Faculty
Home Department of Entomology
Phone 265-0309
Email generobi@illinois.edu
Address
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Biography
Gene E. Robinson obtained his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1986 and joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989. He holds a University Swanlund Chair and a Center for Advanced Study Professorship, and since 2001 has served as director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), an interdisciplinary team science institute whose mission is to use genomics to address grand challenges in science and society. Robinson also is co-director of the Bee Research Facility, with former appointments including director of the campus Neuroscience Program and interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Robinson pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior, led the effort to sequence the honey bee genome, authored or co-authored 350 publications, obtained over $70M in extramural research funding, and has trained over 35 postdoctoral associates and 25 doctoral students, about half with faculty/independent scientist positions in academia, government, and industry. He serves or served on the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Council Executive Committee, National Research Council Governing Board and Executive Committee, NIH National Institute of Mental Health Advisory Council, Chan Zuckerberg Chicago Biohub Advisory Committee, provided Congressional testimony, and has past and current appointments on scientific advisory boards for companies and foundations with significant interests in genomics. He is a member of NAS, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and American Philosophical Society.
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Honors
2005: Chancellor's Center for Advanced Study Special Lecture Series, Inaugural Speaker, UIUC
Member, National Academy of Sciences (NAS); K.C. Fisher Lecture, Univ. Toronto; Fellow, American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Fellow and Founders Memorial Award, Entomological Society of America
Fellow and Distinguished Behaviorist, Animal Behavior Society
Distinguished Scientist Award, International Behavioral Genetics Society
Guggenheim Fellowship
Fulbright Fellowship
NIH Pioneer Award
Honorary Doctorate, Hebrew University
Wolf Prize in Agriculture.
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Research
Dr. Robinson studies mechanisms of behavior in social insects. The honey bee is the primary study organism because its rich social life is uniquely amenable to experimentation, a consequence of the many techniques available to alter precisely genetic, physiological, and environmental parameters.
- Current research is focused on one aspect of colony organization, the division of labor among workers. Efforts in this area involve: identifying behavioral, neural, endocrine, and molecular genetic mechanisms that regulate the activities of individual colony members; and then
- determining the role these mechanisms play in integrating worker behavior into a cohesively functioning colony.
Neuroanatomical studies performed in collaboration with S.E. Fahrbach explore the role of brain plasticity in honey bee behavioral plasticity. We seek to understand complex social behavior from "society to gene."
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2012
- Ament, S. A.; Wang, Y.; Chen, C. C.; Blatti, C. A.; Hong, F.; Liang, Z. Z. S.; Negre, N.; White, K. P.; Rodriguez-Zas, S. L.; Mizzen, C. A.; Sinha, S.; Zhong, S.; Robinson, G. E., The Transcription Factor Ultraspiracle Influences Honey Bee Social Behavior and Behavior-Related Gene Expression. PLoS Genetics 2012, 8, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002596.
2009
- Brockmann, A.; Annangudi, S. P.; Richmond, T. A.; Ament, S. A.; Xie, F.; Southey, B. R.; Rodriguez-Zas, S. R.; Robinson, G. E.; Sweedler, J. V., Quantitative peptidomics reveal brain peptide signatures of behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2009, 106, (7), 2383-2388.
- Robinson, G. E.; Fernald, R. D.; Clayton, D. F., Genes and Social Behavior. Science 2008, 322, (5903), 896-900.
2007
- Ismail, N.; Robinson, G.E.; Fahrbach, S.E., Stimulation of muscarinic receptors mimics experience-dependent plasticity in the honey bee brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (in press).
2005
- Robinson, G.E.; Grozinger, C.M.; Whitfield, C.W., Sociogenomics: Social life in molecular terms. Nature Reviews Genetics 2005, 6, 257-70.
2003
- Grozinger, C.M.; Sharabash, N.; Whitfield, C.W.; Robinson, G.E., Pheromone-mediated gene expression in the honey bee brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Suppl. 2 2003, 14519-25.
- Whitfield, C.W.; Cziko, A.-M.; Robinson, G.E., Gene expression patterns in the brain predict behavior in individual honey bees. Science 2003, 302, 296-299.
2002
- Ben-Shahar, Y.; Robichon, A.; Sokolowski, M.B.; Robinson, G.E., Influence of gene action across different time scales on behavior. Science 2002, 296, 741-744.
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2021
2020
2019
2018
- Ambitious project to sequence genomes of 1.5 million species kicks off
- Honey bee researcher Gene Robinson elected to National Academy of Medicine
- How insulin helped create ant societies
- Robinson, Robbennolt to teach new online course
- What turns bees into killer bees?
- Earth Biogenome Project aims to sequence genomes of 1.5 million species
- Gene Robinson awarded Israeli Wolf Prize in Agriculture
2017
- Genomic study explores evolution of gentle ‘killer bees’ in Puerto Rico
- Robinson and colleagues explore evolution of gentle 'killer bees'
- Study finds parallels between unresponsive honey bees, autism in humans
- Ag department addresses honeybee decline
- Beckman researchers among inaugural faculty for Carle Illinois College of Medicine
- Why are some mice (and people) monogamous? A study points to genes
2007
- Robinson Laboratory
- Entomology Faculty Profile
- Department of Entomolgy
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- Illinois Experts Profile
- Center for Economic Entomology
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology