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Katherine Unger Baillie
Senior Science News Officer
kbaillie@upenn.edu
Research led by Jeremy Wang of the School of Veterinary Medicine has discovered that the enzyme DOT1L, a stem cell renewal factor, is essential for mice to produce sperm throughout their adult lives.
Penn Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli speaks with Penn Today about the evolution of the research and manufacturing project, led by Longfellow Real Estate Developers, and its value for Penn and the region.
Researchers from the School of Arts & Sciences have discovered that the balance between fighting viruses and avoiding autoimmunity has a key role in shaping how bacteria “remember” old infections.
After finding out about STAC3, a rare disease without a cure, biology major Magnolia Wang of the College of Arts and Sciences set out to raise awareness and advocate for those struggling with the illness.
School of Arts & Sciences biologist Mia Levine and Cara Brand, a postdoc, shed light on an example of coevolution in fruit flies that has implications for human health.
A team from the University of Pennsylvania analyzed genomic data from global populations, including thousands of ethnically diverse Africans, to identify genetic variants that may be associated with clinical COVID-19 outcomes.
In his first year at Penn, biologist Aman Husbands is busy working on projects aimed at illuminating the molecular mechanisms that govern plant development.
Both dense human populations and a plethora of wildlife can pose a challenge to marine and public health in the Galápagos Islands. With portable, user-friendly PCR technology, Penn faculty and students are training local scientists and school children to perform water quality research.
Faced with an onslaught of changes—heat, drought, fire, flood, pests, and disease—forests are under stress.
Research led by School of Veterinary Medicine scientists reveals a new layer of complexity with which the immune system finds a balance between controlling pathogens and protecting healthy tissue.
Katherine Unger Baillie
Senior Science News Officer
kbaillie@upenn.edu
Ali Nabavizadeh of the School of Veterinary Medicine commented on research that found evidence of respiratory infections in dinosaurs. “This paper provides yet another piece of evidence to show just how modern dinosaurs—the birds—are biologically so similar to their extinct non-avian dinosaurian relatives, even to the point of showing similar diseases,” he said.
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Robert Seyfarth of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about how and why groups of primates “break up” and warned not to project that information onto human relationships. "You always find somebody who says, yeah, the baboons are showing us that you shouldn't have a despotic breakup and it's bad to just dump somebody and walk off," he said. "But I guess I'm not going to go into that territory."
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Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine said cats are capable of bonding with people, contrary to claims that they’re merely using their owners for food and shelter. “Humans hug and kiss. Dogs become very excited and jump around. Cats don’t do anything like that. They are much more elegant,” he said. “They approach us. They bump their heads. Then they have some contact with us and walk away.”
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Research by PIK Professor Shelly Berger and Roberto Bonasio of the Perelman School of Medicine found a protein in the brains of ants is responsible for regulating social behavior. “Kr-h1 is required to maintain the boundaries between social castes and to ensure that workers continue to work while gamergates continue to act like queens,” said Berger.
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Kristen Brown, a postdoc in the lab of Katie Barott at the School of Arts & Sciences, won a contest with a photo she took while researching coral reefs.
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Erol Akçay of the School of Arts & Sciences and former postdoc Amiyaal Ilany discussed their research on hyena’s social networks. “We show that a simple process—social inheritance—is important to understanding network structure and dynamics,” said Akçay.
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