David B. Dusenbery is a biophysicist with a central interest in how information influences the behavior of organisms.
At Caltech and the early years at Georgia Tech, Dusenbery focused on experimental studies of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans because of its small nervous system and favorable genetics.
These experimental studies inspired the development of several innovative techniques: Initially, Dusenbery was attempting to understand the flow of information in the nervous system of this simple animal.
[10] From physical analysis, Dusenbery predicted[11] that the long-held belief that bacteria were too small to employ spatial sensing mechanisms to follow chemical gradients[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] was erroneous and predicted that bacteria following steep gradients of chemicals at high concentrations would benefit from using a spatial mechanism.
[20] Similar considerations have also been applied to the behaviors of gametes, leading to an explanation of why the sperm/egg (ovum) and thus the male/female distinctions exist.