Phlebolepis, a streamlined jawless fish with tiny scales that lived 425 million years ago, swims in deeper subtidal waters near a reef. (Image: Nobumichi Tamura)
Tracing the evolutionary origins of fish to shallow ocean waters
Coral reefs are envisioned as the seats of great biodiversity, but they may not be where all that diversity got its start. In a new study in Science, paleobiologist Lauren Sallan and colleagues reveal that the earliest fish may have diversified in shallower waters near shore.
Dr. Oliver Garden and Sabina Hlavaty, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Burroughs Wellcome Fund Medical Research Fellow, view a plate of cultured canine bone marrow cells to compare conditions during an experiment. Photo courtesy of Penn Vet News.
Studying the players in immune regulation
Penn Vet's Oliver Garden Garden's lab is exploring new facets in regulating immune responses.
Physicists Eugene Mele and Charles Kane of the School of Arts and Sciences are being recognized for their innovative work on topological insulators.
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Charles Kane and Eugene Mele to share Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
For introducing a new class of materials with unique and useful properties, known as topological insulators, physicists Charles Kane and Eugene Mele will receive the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The award honors “fundamental discoveries…that are transforming our world.”
Drivers of inflammation provide valuable targets for new gum disease therapies
A subset of T cells contributes to the inflammation and bone loss that characterizes periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease. According to new research by George Hajishengallis and scientists at the National Institutes of Health, drugs that specifically inhibit these cells may offer an effective therapy.
New scholars named to promote research into the influence of gender on health
Melanie Kornides of the School of Nursing, Jennifer Lewey of the Perelman School of Medicine, and C. Alix Timko of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are pursuing research that examines the role of sex and gender on health, supported by the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health program.
Multidisciplinary team to develop stem cell-based approaches to restore vision
Gene therapies have had success in treating blindness but can’t save areas of the retina where cells have already died. In a new effort, School of Veterinary Medicine scientists John Wolfe and William Beltran will attempt to develop a stem-cell-based approach that restores vision.
Immune cells involved in triple-negative breast cancer could offer future therapeutic target
New research led by Rumela Chakrabarti reveals how immune cells called myeloid-derived immunosuppressor cells contribute to the progression of triple-negative breast cancer, a particularly aggressive cancer. Pairing chemotherapy with a drug that blocks these cells may one day help stem its growth.
Kyra Schapiro, a graduate student in the lab of Perelman School of Medicine neuroscientist Joshua Gold, uses LabArchives to plan experiments and track results. Penn’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research has made the electronic research notebook freely available to campus scientists.
Electronic research notebooks streamline the scientific method
To do it right, scientific research requires careful record keeping, dutiful repetition of protocols, and, in many cases, free exchange of data. Electronic research notebooks are intended to help researchers up their game and are now available at no charge to the University community through the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Dawn Bonnell.
Cutting-edge science moves to the clinic to help ‘our furry friends’ fight cancer
A year after its launch, the Penn Vet Cancer Center is solidifying the translational science pipeline, connecting basic scientists to the clinic and vice versa, to transform veterinary cancer care.
The new research shows the benefits of ventilating horses undergoing surgery with a mixture of helium and oxygen. (Image: Courtesy of Klaus Hopster)
Ventilating with mixture of helium and oxygen improves outcomes for horses in surgery
Horses are so large that their weight can cause their lungs to collapse while under anesthesia. In a new study, Klaus Hopster and colleagues at the School of Veterinary Medicine found that ventilating horses with a mixture of helium and oxygen can lead to better pulmonary gas exchange.
