The Toxoplasma parasite (in red) doesn’t need to infect an immune cell to alter its behavior, according to new Penn Vet research. Simply being injected with a package of proteins by the parasite (indicated by cells turning green) is enough to change the host cells’ activity. (Video: Courtesy of Hunter laboratory)
With a protein ‘delivery,’ parasite can suppress its host’s immune response
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii need not infect a host immune cell to alter its behavior, according to a new study from the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Using a model system of glass particles, researchers from Penn found "solid bridges" formed by smaller-size particles between larger ones. The same bridges were present in suspensions of clay, a common component of natural soils. These structures provided stability, the team found, even when a moving channel of water threatened to wash the particle clumps away. (Video: Jerolmack laboratory)
Looking to mud to study how particles become sticky
A collaboration of geophysicists and fluid mechanics experts led to a fundamental new insight into how tiny ‘bridges’ help particles of all kinds form aggregates.
In partnership with the state, a comprehensive focus on wildlife health
The Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program, a collaboration between the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, will leverage Penn Vet’s expertise to address wildlife health problems.
Activating the immune system of mosquitoes prevents the parasite that causes canine heartworm from developing, according to new research from Penn Vet. The same approach also thwarted the parasite responsible for lymphatic filariasis, a disease that affects humans. (Image: Povelones laboratory)
A roadblock for disease-causing parasites
Activating a mosquito’s immune system can prevent it from transmitting the parasites that cause canine heartworm and human lymphatic filariasis, according to new research from the School of Veterinary Medicine.
As part of a partnership including Penn’s ImpactED and Water Center, trained neighborhood ambassadors shared the benefits of drinking tap water in their local communities, both at formal events and in informal interactions. (Image: Tiffany Ledesma for PWD)
Philly water straight from the tap
A collaborative city-wide campaign that included ImpactED and the Water Center at Penn helped spread the word that Philadelphia tap water is safe and healthy to drink.
Marine biologist Katie Barott investigates the strategies certain corals may use to tolerate the warmer temperatures and acidic waters that climate change is bringing to the world’s oceans.
Coral reef resilience
With coral reefs under threat from climate change, marine biologist Katie Barott studies how some corals may prove resilient to warming temperatures and acidifying oceans.
An international team of scientists, including atmospheric chemists from Penn, describe the first-ever visualization of the atomic structure of two-dimensional ice as it formed. (Image: Courtesy of Joseph Francisco)
A close look at thin ice
A pairing of theory and experiment led to discovering atomic-scale details of the growth of ice on surfaces, which can inform the design of materials that make ice removal simple and cheaper.
Stephanie Dick’s work explores the history of science, philosophy, and mathematics. “I think my whole academic career has been triangulating between those three different fields in various ways,” she says.
Diving into code to illuminate the history of computing
Stephanie Dick delves deep into the practice of computer programming and design to shed light on different communities’ attempts to automate reason, knowledge, and proof.
Urban, a three-month-old black Labrador retriever, trains with Danielle Berger at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center. Berger is leading the training for the U litter, composed of Urban and seven of her brothers and sisters, with assistance from interns including (left to right) Charlotte Kronick, Dominique Andrews, Trevor Vidas, and Tesa Stone.
Eight new pups report for duty
Eight black Labrador retrievers, just 12 weeks old, are already deep into their training at the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Working Dog Center.
