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Making ‘true’ equine IVF a reproducible success
Three foals and two mares in a pasture

Making ‘true’ equine IVF a reproducible success

A new method developed by Katrin Hinrichs and colleagues in the School of Veterinary Medicine resulted in the birth of three healthy foals, opening the door to new insights in the basic biology of horse reproduction.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Microbes that cause cavities can form superorganisms able to ‘crawl’ and spread on teeth
Three microscopic images labeled with green and blue show a group of microbes changing shape and moving

In the microbial assemblages, fungal cells (blue) made up the periphery with bacteria (green) in the middle. Fungal hyphae, or elongated filaments, enabled the cluster of microbes to propel itself along the surface of a tooth. (Image: Penn Dental Medicine)

Microbes that cause cavities can form superorganisms able to ‘crawl’ and spread on teeth

These multicellular, cross-kingdom assemblages were more resistant to antimicrobials and removal and caused more extensive tooth decay than their single-species equivalents, according to research led by School of Dental Medicine scientists.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Environment influences coral’s resilience to acidification
Postdoc Kristen Brown diving in the reef to obtain samples

Postdoctoral researcher Kristen Brown (above) collected coral samples from a reef slope to see how they fared in acidic conditions. (Image: Courtesy of Kristen Brown)

Environment influences coral’s resilience to acidification

Ocean acidification is an effect of climate change that threatens the health of coral. A new study examines how coral samples from the Great Barrier Reef fare in acidic conditions.

Marilyn Perkins

T cells that ‘nibble’ tumors unwittingly help cancer evade the immune response
Fluorescent microscopic image of three T cells surrounding a cancer cell

Tcells surround a cancer cell to finish it off, but such interactions do not always end with the T cells victorious. Researchers from Penn detail how cancer cells can prompt T cells to ingest bits of cancer cell membrane, a process known as trogocytosis. The cancer may evade immune detection as a result. (Image: Alex Ritter, Jennifer Lippincott Schwartz and Gillian Griffiths, National Institutes of Health)

T cells that ‘nibble’ tumors unwittingly help cancer evade the immune response

Blocking this process, known as trogocytosis, improved the ability of a CAR T cell therapy to treat cancer in mice, according to research led by School of Veterinary Medicine scientists.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Undergraduates help songbird research project take flight
Three brown-headed cowbirds sit together in Penn's Smart Aviary

Through the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring program, undergraduates Julia Youngman and Eric Tao studied the mating songs of brown-headed cowbirds like those above in Penn’s “smart” aviary.

Undergraduates help songbird research project take flight

Through the PURM internship program, Julia Youngman and Eric Tao had the opportunity to work in neuroethologist Marc Schmidt’s lab studying the neural basis of courtship behaviors in songbirds.

Marilyn Perkins

Cancer cells selectively load ‘drones’ to keep T cells from infiltrating tumors
four panels show a cancerous tumor with some portions labeled in red, green, and blue, and a close up image of part of it

The researchers found that levels of phosphorylated HRS varied across tumors, negatively corresponding with the level of T cell infiltration in those areas. (Image: Guo lab/Nature Communications)

Cancer cells selectively load ‘drones’ to keep T cells from infiltrating tumors

Biologist Wei Guo and colleagues elucidate the process of sorting and loading cargo for these biological drones with implications for a more targeted and effective use of checkpoint inhibitor drugs in cancer treatment.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Goodbye to an iconic tree
Large tree without leaves on a sunny day

The Quad elm cut an imposing figure, shown here in the spring of 2021, before leaf out. The space will be replanted with three native white oaks at a later date. (Image: Eric Sucar/University Communications)

Goodbye to an iconic tree

More than a century old, the American elm located in the heart of the Quadrangle residences has been ailing and is due to be removed the week of July 25. The site will be replanted at a later date with three native white oaks.

Katherine Unger Baillie