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Katherine Unger Baillie
Senior Science News Officer
kbaillie@upenn.edu
Biology
How humans evolved a super-high cooling capacity
How humans evolved a super-high cooling capacity
The higher density of sweat glands in humans is due, to a great extent, to accumulated changes in a regulatory region of DNA that drives the expression of a sweat gland-building gene, explaining why humans are the sweatiest of the Great Apes.
The immune link between a leaky blood-brain barrier and schizophrenia
The immune link between a leaky blood-brain barrier and schizophrenia
Research from the School of Veterinary Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia points to the involvement of the immune system the brain as a contributor to mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
Mysterious ‘nuclear speckle’ cell structures may help block cancers
Mysterious ‘nuclear speckle’ cell structures may help block cancers
A new study out of Penn Medicine shows that the tumor-suppressor protein p53 brings speckles and DNA together to boost gene expression.
Penn Medicine awarded nearly $7 million to study influenza viruses
Penn Medicine awarded nearly $7 million to study influenza viruses
Penn Medicine is one of five institutions in the U.S. chosen by the National Institutes of Health as a Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response to improve pandemic preparedness.
David S. Roos on the future of COVID-19
The E. Otis Kendall Professor of Biology and infectious disease specialist discusses the virus, its variants, and vaccines in a Q&A.
Communicating change in a ‘land of extremes’
Communicating change in a ‘land of extremes’
In Aurora MacRae-Crerar’s Penn Global Seminar, students are grappling with the impacts of a shifting and unpredictable climate in Mongolia.
Research reveals how a cell mixes its mitochondria before it divides
Research reveals how a cell mixes its mitochondria before it divides
A team at Penn Medicine has discovered—and filmed—the molecular details of how a cell, just before it divides in two, shuffles important internal components called mitochondria to distribute them evenly to its two daughter cells.
Med study illuminates the molecular details of lung development
Med study illuminates the molecular details of lung development
Researchers at Penn Medicine have produced a detailed molecular atlas of lung development, key for future studies of mammalian biology and of new treatments for diseases, such as COVID-19, that affect the lungs.
Three Goldwater Scholars for Penn
Three Goldwater Scholars for Penn
Penn’s newest Goldwater Scholars, awarded to sophomores or juniors planning research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering are sophomore Emma Keeler, junior Michele Meline and junior Max Wragan.
Five Penn faculty named 2021 Sloan Research Fellows
Five Penn faculty named 2021 Sloan Research Fellows
The fellowship recognizes extraordinary U.S. and Canadian researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of scientific leaders.
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In the News
Scientific American
What monkeys can teach humans about resilience after disaster
PIK Professor Michael Platt and Camille Testard, a Ph.D. student in the Perelman School of Medicine, spoke about their research on how rhesus macaques in Puerto Rico adapted in the wake of Hurricane Maria. “We see this massive surge in the time they spend in proximity to other partners, and their social tolerance increasing toward many different partners,” said Testard. “We saw active building of relationships with individuals that they didn’t really interact with before.”
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The Atlantic
How female frogs tune out useless, noisy males
Amritha Mallikarjun, a postdoc in the School of Veterinary Medicine, weighed in on a study that found that female frog lungs can not only amplify the mating calls of male frogs but also muffle noises from other species. “It seems incredibly smart,” she said. “They’re taking sounds that aren’t interesting and trying to reduce them.”
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Popular Science
Like humans, naked mole-rats have regional accents
Robert Seyfarth of the School of Arts & Sciences weighed in on a new study that found naked mole-rat colonies have unique vocal signatures. “Mole-rats have this incredible society,” he said. “It looks like their vocal communication, and the way their brain organizes vocalizations, has evolved to fit the demands of that society.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
How to conduct an engaging lab experiment in the time of COVID: Brew beer
Biology instructors at Penn assembled and mailed hundreds of lab kits to students to aid virtual learning. “It’s important to get students off of their computers and using some of the tools and techniques that are used by scientists,” said Linda Robinson of the School of Arts & Sciences.
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ABC Australia
Are very long-lived trees immortal and what can they teach humans?
Brenda Casper of the School of Arts & Sciences said it’s hard to measure age-related deterioration in trees that are older than 1,000 years. “It’s not just internal physiology per se but it’s the interaction of the tree with its environment,” she said.
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NPR
Are there zombie viruses—like the 1918 flu—thawing in the permafrost?
Michael Zimmerman of the School of Arts & Sciences said the possibility of reviving long frozen pathogens is “extremely unlikely.”
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