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Four from Penn receive Kaufman Foundation grants

Four from Penn receive Kaufman Foundation grants

Penn researchers will receive two of four grants awarded this year by the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation in support of interdisciplinary collaboration aimed at developing novel approaches to fundamental scientific questions.

2 min. read

A serendipitous find leads to lifesaving discoveries
Fluorescent imaging of glioblastoma under a microscope.

Image: Kyosuke Shishikura

A serendipitous find leads to lifesaving discoveries

A Penn-led team has revealed a how hydralazine, one of the world’s oldest blood pressure drugs and a mainstay treatment for preeclampsia, works at the molecular level. In doing so, they made a surprising discovery—it can also halt the growth of aggressive brain tumors.

3 min. read

Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?
Researcher Xin Sun injects substance into glass vials.

Xin Sun prepares samples collected from the Eastern Tropical North Pacific aboard a research vessel. By adding stable isotope tracers to these vials, Sun and her team can track how different microbial groups convert nitrogen compounds into nitrous oxide, revealing how subtle shifts in oxygen and organic matter change the ocean’s chemistry.

 
 

(Image: Courtesy of Xin Sun)

Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?

In the shadowy layers of the Pacific, microbes decide how much nitrous oxide—a potent greenhouse gas—rises skyward. New research from Penn’s Xin Sun offers an improved understanding of microbial ecology and geochemistry—key to forecasting global emissions in response to natural and man-made climate change.

3 min. read

Does early-life cellular activity influence cancer and aging?
Artist rendering of chromosome structure with telomeres highlighted at the ends.

Mia Levine and Michael Lampson’s research examines how telomere length is inherited, and how this can inform future genetic research in how cancer develops.

(Image: Courtesy of Getty/nopparit)

Does early-life cellular activity influence cancer and aging?

New research from Michael Lampson and Mia T. Levine in the School of Arts & Sciences offers insight into how telomeres—protective chromosomal caps linked to aging and cancer in mammals—are inherited. Their finding that telomeres become longer or shorter during early embryonic development opens new avenues for research.

3 min. read

A summer in the tick trenches
A person in PPE holding blue painters tape covered in several ticks.

nocred

A summer in the tick trenches

With the help of five Penn undergrads, biology professor Dustin Brisson’s research group collected 9,000 tick specimens this summer to understand how seasonal activity patterns of these arachnids affects human pathogens and what role a changing climate might play.

Kristina Linnea García

2 min. read

Foraging patterns and preferences of local honeybees
A person in a beekeeper suit holding a panel covered in bees and honeycomb.

nocred

Foraging patterns and preferences of local honeybees

A new Penn Vet study aims to shed light on honeybees’ foraging habits, with an eye toward aiding their survival.

From Penn Vet

4 min. read

Centuries after discovery, red blood cells still hold surprises
Four microscopic views of red blood cells.

In these microscopic close-ups, samples of red blood cells aggregate from left to right, becoming more compact despite the absence of platelets, long thought essential to clotting.

(Image: Rustem Litvinov)

Centuries after discovery, red blood cells still hold surprises

In a new collaborative study, researchers at Penn turned to mechanical engineering to understand how blood clots can compact, even without platelets.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read