Bruce Wightman
Education
- Ph.D., Harvard University
- B.A., Oberlin College
Teaching Interests
Learning biology is similar to learning a foreign language. Before you can have a very interesting conversation, you need to know the vocabulary and grammar. This is what makes learning introductory sciences so difficult for many — until you really own the language of the discipline, it can be hard to think critically about it. So much about learning biology is about learning how to imagine — how to model — invisible objects and complex processes.
I am interested in how science epistemology (the study of knowledge) influences modern thought. Our ideas about what constitutes truth and what kinds of arguments have the most weight are heavily influenced by science. This can be an effective way of establishing reality and best practices, but it can also blind us from other ways of knowing.
Research and Scholarship
My lab studies the molecular genetics of development in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This microscopic worm has proved a fruitful model for understanding basic biological problems. Research students in my lab are studying a gene called fax-1, which is a nuclear receptor gene found in all other animals including humans. We’re trying to understand how specific neurons influence insulin signaling to regulate sleep.
- Biology Independent Study/Research
- Biology Independent Study/Research - Animal Development
- Biology Independent Study/Research - C. elegan Development
- Biology Independent Study/Research - C. elegan Genetics
- Biology Independent Study/Research - C. Elegans Neuropeptide
- Biology Independent Study/Research - Mechanisms of Development
- Biology Independent Study/Research - Molecular Genetics
- Biology Independent Study/Research - nhr-85 Mutant Sex Muscle
- Biology Independent Study/Research - Wightman Genetics Lab
- Biology Independent Study/Research - Wightman Lab
- Biology Independent Study/Research: C. elegan Genetics
- Biology Independent Study/Research: Mechanisms of Development
- Biology Independent Study/Research: Molecular Genetics
- Biology Independent Study/Research: Osmotic Stress Arrest
- Biology Independent Study/Research: Wightman Research Lab
- CUE: Molecular Biology of Cancer
- From Organisms to Molecules
- Genetics
Mertz JM (’25)*, Kim A (’25)*, Wightman B. Conditional Changes in Brood Size and Speed of Development After Long-term Laboratory Culturing of C. elegans Wild-type Strains. MicroPubl Biol. 2025 Oct 21;2025:10.17912/micropub.
Wightman B. It's about time: the heterochronic background for the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dis Model Mech. 2024 Nov 1;17(11):dmm052187. doi: 10.1242/dmm.052187. Epub 2024 Nov 27. PMID: 39601149; PMCID: PMC11625885.
Bayer, EA (’14)*, Liberatore, KM (’19)*, Schlesinger, E (’20)*, Schneider, JR (’21)*, He, Z. (’19), Birnbaum, S (’18), and Wightman, B, 2022, Insulin-like peptide signaling promotes arousal and developmental progression in C. elegans, Genetics, 220(1):iyab202.
Mardick JI, Rasmussen NR, Wightman B, Reiner DJ, 2021, Rap1>RalGEF>Ral and Ras signals sculpt the C. elegans nervous system, Developmental Biology, 477: 37-48.
Suresh, A. (’19) and Wightman, B., 2020, The daf-2 insulin receptor functions in C. elegans embryo elongation. microPublication Biology. https://doi.org/10.17912/
Bodofsky, S. (’18)*, Liberatore, K. (’19*), Pioppo, L. (’12)*, Lapadula, D. (’14)*, Thompson, L. (’18)*, Birnbaum, S. (’18)*, McClung, G. (’12)*, Kartik, A. (’17)*, Clever, S. and Wightman, B., 2018, A tissue-specific enhancer of the C. elegans nhr-67/tailless gene drives coordinated expression in uterine stem cells and the differentiated anchor cell, Gene Expr Patterns, 30: 71-81, doi: 10.1016/j.gep.2018.10.003. PubMed PMID: 30404043.
Bodofsky, S. (’18)*, Koitz, F. (’19)*, and Wightman, B., 2017, Conserved and Exapted Functions of Nuclear Receptors in Animal Development, Nuclear Receptor Research, 4: 1-34, Article ID 101305.
- Ruth and Joel Spira Prize for Distinguished Teaching (2025)
- Williams Award for Scholarship
- Hoffman Award for Research
- Bridge Builder Award
- B. Wightman and Z. He (’19), 2019, “Insulin-Dependent Quiescence and Arrest at Hatching.” 22nd International C. elegans Conferences, UCLA, Los Angeles, June 20-24. International Conference. Invited talk.
- K. Liberatore (’19), Z. He (’19), F. Koitz (’19), D. Silver (’18), and B. Wightman, 2019,” FAX-1 interneurons and insulin signaling regulate arousal and quiescence,” 22nd International C. elegans Conferences, UCLA, Los Angeles, June 20-24.
- E. Schlesinger (’20), K. Liberatore (’19), A. Mesrobian (’20), and B. Wightman, 2019,”The Effects of DAF-16/FOXO Translocation on Quiescent Peri-Hatching Arrest in Caenorhabditis elegans,” 22nd International C. elegans Conferences, UCLA, Los Angeles, June 20-24.
- J.I. Mardick, B. Wightman, D.J. Reiner, 2019, “The RalGEF-Ral signaling module confers positional information in cell migration.” 22nd International C. elegans Conferences, UCLA, Los Angeles, June 20-24.
- K. Liberatore (’19) and B. Wightman, 2018,” Insulin signaling and neuronal function in arousal in C. elegans,” 21st Undergraduate Research Symposium, U. Maryland, Baltimore Co., Baltimore, MD, October 20.
- Z. He (’19) and B. Wightman, 2018, “The role of insulin signaling and neuron function in developmental progression,” 21st Undergraduate Research Symposium, U. Maryland, Baltimore Co., Baltimore, MD, October 20.
- F. Koitz (’19) and B. Wightman, 2018, “The C. elegans RevErb gene, nhr-85, is expressed increasingly over the first half of larval development,” 21st Undergraduate Research Symposium, U. Maryland, Baltimore Co., Baltimore, MD, October 20.
- B. Wightman, 2018,” Insulin-dependent quiescence and arrest at hatching,”C. elegans Developmental Biology and Gene expression Meeting, Barcelona, Spain, June 13-17.
- B. Wightman, K. Lightfoot (’17) and E. Bayer (’14), 2017, “The fax-1 and nhr-85 nuclear receptors of C. elegans function in gonad development,” 21st International C. elegans Conferences, UCLA, Los Angeles, June 21-25.
- S. Bodofsky (’18), S. Birnbaum (’18), L. Thompson (’18), S. Clever and B. Wightman, 2017,” An nhr-67 promoter element mediates expression in AC and VU uterine cells,” 21st International C. elegans Conferences, UCLA, Los Angeles, June 21-25.
- F. Koitz (’19), E. Bayer (’14), S. Clever and B. Wightman, 2017, “FAX-1 and UNC-42 transcription factors mediate insulin-dependent quiescence and arrest,” 21st International C. elegans Conferences, UCLA, Los Angeles, June 21-25.
Biochemistry
Biology
Prehealth Faculty Advisory Committee
Contact: brucewightman@muhlenberg.edu