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Climate change doesn’t spare the smallest
Topographic map of Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in Costa Rica showing different biomes

The ACG is home to a variety of different types of environments and ecosystems, and a rich diversity of species. (Image: Courtesy of Daniel Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs)

Climate change doesn’t spare the smallest

Changing conditions have taken a toll on insects in the tropics, according to research by School of Arts & Sciences biologists Daniel Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs. But education and science offer a path forward, they say.

Katherine Unger Baillie

One step closer to an at-home, rapid COVID-19 test
A hand in a black rubber gloves holding a cell phone with a sensor attached. A dropper is touching the sensor.

Created in the lab of César de la Fuente, this miniaturized, portable version of rapid COVID-19 test, which is compatible with smart devices, can detect SARS-CoV-2 within four minutes with nearly 100% accuracy. (Image: Courtesy of César de la Fuente)

One step closer to an at-home, rapid COVID-19 test

The lab of César de la Fuente is working on a paper-based biosensor that could provide results in minutes. Clinical trials began Jan. 5.

Michele W. Berger

Novel anti-craving mechanism discovered to treat cocaine relapse
Profile of human head with brain made up of 3D shapes

Novel anti-craving mechanism discovered to treat cocaine relapse

New research from School of Nursing has discovered that certain biological chemicals are expressed on specific cell types and neural circuits in the brain that reduce cocaine-seeking behavior.

From Penn Nursing News

Dynamic plants
Larger plant growing next to smaller plant

Dynamic plants

Led by School of Arts & Sciences prof Brian Gregory and postdoc Xiang Yu, researchers have uncovered one way plants respond to hormonal cues. A similar process is likely at play in mammals.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Two Penn faculty named 2020 AAAS Fellows
Close-up headshots of two people. The person on the left wears a suit and tie, the one on the right wears a plaid button-down shirt.

Qi Long (left), a professor of biostatistics in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and E. Michael Ostap, a professor of physiology, both of the Perelman School of Medicine, have been named 2020 American Association for the Advancement of Science fellows. (Images: Courtesy of Penn Medicine)

Two Penn faculty named 2020 AAAS Fellows

Qi Long and E. Michael Ostap of the Perelman School of Medicine are among a cohort of 489 distinguished scientists recognized with the honor from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Melissa Moody, Michele W. Berger

Customized kits turn students’ dining rooms into biology labs
Person in mask takes a sample of pond water

Customized kits turn students’ dining rooms into biology labs

Students in introductory biology laboratory courses in the School of Arts & Sciences used customized laboratory kits to get hands-on practice with the scientific method.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Donita Brady is ready for the next steps in cancer biology research
Donita Brady in her office.

Presidential Professor of cancer biology Donita Brady. (Image: Penn Medicine News)

Donita Brady is ready for the next steps in cancer biology research

The Presidential Professor of cancer biology leads a team that is working to understand how cancer grows uncontrolled in cells and discovering novel ways to stop it. 

Melissa Moody

Two key events that turn normal cells into cancer
Microscopic view of cells of a living organism.

The findings may inform the development of new therapies that could treat any tumor type.

Two key events that turn normal cells into cancer

The discovery of a unifying mechanism could inform new therapeutic approaches to prevent normal cells from transforming into any type of tumor.

Melissa Moody

The role of data in a world reshaped by COVID-19
people six feet apart in a park

The role of data in a world reshaped by COVID-19

Experts across Penn share their insights on how data and data science affect their fields in the context of an ongoing pandemic.

Katherine Unger Baillie, Michele W. Berger, Erica K. Brockmeier