Randy Wayne (biologist)

Randy O. Wayne is a plant cell biologist at Cornell notable for his work on how plants sense light and gravity.

Career
Wayne studied how plants sense gravity by using pressure sensitivity, and he found ways to lead plants to believe they were upside down when they were not, according to a report in the New York Times. According to one report, Wayne's interest in how plant cells sense light and gravity shifted after the focus of biology became oriented towards mapping gene sequences.

In 2010, Wayne wrote a textbook entitled Plant Cell Biology which received a mixed review from reviewer Nigel Chaffey writing in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Botany. Chaffey wrote that it was good to have a text "devoted to the biology of the plant cell" and applauded the "idiosyncratic" book for its humor which helps to get the material across; however, he faulted it for omitting a reference list, although he noted that the reference list could be found on the companion website. Chaffey wondered whether there was too much math and physics in the textbook for a introductory lecture course for undergraduates. He liked Wayne's effort to put botany in context as well as stories about the scientists behind the discoveries. Another review suggested that his book Plant Cell Biology blurred the boundaries between such disciplines as biology, chemistry, and physics.

In 2010, Wayne proposed a theory of light which contradicts relativity.

Controversies
Wayne's introductory course for undergraduates entitled Biological Principles was canceled by the university administration "arbitrarily" regarding content issues according to one report. Wayne was quoted in the Cornell Daily Sun regarding controversies between the university's administration and its faculty.