The future of forests Faced with an onslaught of changes—heat, drought, fire, flood, pests, and disease—forests are under stress. (Image: photo by Tommy Kwak on Unsplash) The future of forests Faced with an onslaught of changes—heat, drought, fire, flood, pests, and disease—forests are under stress.
Regulating the regulators of the immune system Regulating the regulators of the immune system 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.
Revising the lifecycle of an important human parasite The parasite Cryptosporidium, transmitted through water sources, is one of the most common causes of diarrheal disease in the world. (Image: Muthgapatti Kandasamy and Boris Striepen) Revising the lifecycle of an important human parasite Researchers from Boris Striepen’s lab in the School of Veterinary Medicine tracked Cryptosporidium in real time, creating a new paradigm for how the widespread parasite reproduces in a host.
The changing face of portraiture at Penn Homepage image: A portrait in Leidy honors Nathan Francis Mossell, who, in 1882, became the first African American student to earn a medical degree from Penn. With its placement in the accessible portion of the building’s stairway, this new portrait gallery is highly visible to students, staff, faculty, and visitors who spend time in the Biology Department. The changing face of portraiture at Penn Efforts around campus aim to diversify those honored in portraits and rethink how to approach representation through art.
From a pandemic, scientific insights poised to impact more than just COVID-19 Bijels, or bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels, are structured emulsions of oil and water that are kept separated by a layer of nanoparticles. Penn Engineering researchers will develop a way of using them to manufacture mRNA-based therapeutics. (Image: Penn Engineering Today) From a pandemic, scientific insights poised to impact more than just COVID-19 Pivoting to study SARS-CoV-2, many scientists on campus have launched new research projects that address the challenges of the pandemic but also prepare us to confront future challenges.
Rapid adaptation in fruit flies In a controlled field experiment on Penn’s campus, biologists tracked fruit fly evolution over the course of four months, documenting some of the fastest rates of adaptation ever in animals. (Image: Seth Rudman) Rapid adaptation in fruit flies New findings from School of Arts & Sciences biologists show that evolution—normally considered to be a gradual process—can occur in a matter of weeks in fruit flies in response to natural environmental change.
Links between diet and cancer Kathryn E. Wellen, an associate professor of cancer biology and principal investigator of the Wellen Lab. Links between diet and cancer Kathryn E. Wellen, an associate professor of Cancer Biology and principal investigator of the Wellen Lab, seeks answers to find the connections between metabolism and cancer biology.
Even dinosaurs couldn’t escape the sniffles Penn In the News Popular Science Even dinosaurs couldn’t escape the sniffles 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. Context-dependent behavior can make cooperation flourish New investigations into cooperation by Penn researchers are illuminating the role that different social settings can have on the spread of prosocial behavior. Context-dependent behavior can make cooperation flourish Recent studies led by School of Arts & Sciences’ researchers show that changing social strategies between settings—for example, cooperating at home but not at work—can in fact lead to more cooperative behavior in a society. Revealing the mysterious biology of a fundamental process: reproduction Revealing the mysterious biology of a fundamental process: reproduction New findings from the lab of P. Jeremy Wang in the School of Veterinary Medicine shed light on the cell division process that creates eggs and sperm, recurrent pregnancy loss, and the mechanism by which sperm move.
Context-dependent behavior can make cooperation flourish New investigations into cooperation by Penn researchers are illuminating the role that different social settings can have on the spread of prosocial behavior. Context-dependent behavior can make cooperation flourish Recent studies led by School of Arts & Sciences’ researchers show that changing social strategies between settings—for example, cooperating at home but not at work—can in fact lead to more cooperative behavior in a society.
Revealing the mysterious biology of a fundamental process: reproduction Revealing the mysterious biology of a fundamental process: reproduction New findings from the lab of P. Jeremy Wang in the School of Veterinary Medicine shed light on the cell division process that creates eggs and sperm, recurrent pregnancy loss, and the mechanism by which sperm move.