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Biology

Meet the biology major who brought an Iowa caucus to Philadelphia
A group of people talking and laughing in a cluster, with a video camera being held in the top left corner.

Junior Jessica Anderson (center) of Titonka, Iowa, organized an Iowa satellite caucus in Philadelphia, one of more than 90 that took place worldwide. Fourteen people, mostly area college students, participated. 

Meet the biology major who brought an Iowa caucus to Philadelphia

Junior Jessica Anderson organized the satellite event because she wanted to participate in the political process. Politics aside, she’s aiming for a career that combines research and patient care.

Michele W. Berger

How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient
a close up image of a leaf with the main vessels and branches visible

How biology creates networks that are cheap, robust, and efficient

Physicists describe how vascular networks, collections of vessels that move fluid, nutrients, and waste, balance robustness with “cost” to create a diverse array of structures and designs.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Coral reef resilience
Marine biologist Katie Barott with tanks containing corals in her lab at Penn

Marine biologist Katie Barott investigates the strategies  certain corals may use to tolerate the warmer temperatures and acidic waters that climate change is bringing to the world’s oceans.

Coral reef resilience

With coral reefs under threat from climate change, marine biologist Katie Barott studies how some corals may prove resilient to warming temperatures and acidifying oceans.

Katherine Unger Baillie

A new role for a triple-negative breast cancer target
microscope images of a mammary gland duct

A new role for a triple-negative breast cancer target

A team led by Rumela Chakrabarti of the School of Veterinary Medicine has made new discoveries into how a key protein involved in triple-negative breast cancer functions in puberty.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The view from inside the ‘medical scandal’ of China’s gene-edited babies
A scientist in a white coat with blue rubber gloves on holding a petri dish. In the background are lab materials on several sets of shelves.

Kiran Musunuru is an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine and genetics in the Perelman School of Medicine. His work is focused on cardiovascular genetics, in trying to find ways to prevent heart attack using genetics as a tool. (Image: Peggy Peterson)

The view from inside the ‘medical scandal’ of China’s gene-edited babies

In a Q&A, geneticist Kiran Musunuru describes his unintentional connection to the scientist behind the scandal and the book that came out of the experience.

Michele W. Berger

Side Gigs for Good
A person prepares to make a waffle in a farmer's market stand.

Marc Schmidt, a biology professor in the School of Arts and Sciences, started Waffles for Tourette to raise money for research. (Image: Eric Sucar)

Side Gigs for Good

After putting in a full, impactful day at work at Penn, some faculty and staff fill their spare hours with endeavors that make a difference.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

These overlooked global diseases take a turn under the microscope
ebola virus through a microscope

In an experiment by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Ronald Harty and Bruce Freedman, virus-like particles of Ebola (in green and yellow), which mimic the process by which the authentic Ebola virus spreads, exit a cell along filaments of actin (in red), a structural protein. Harty and Freedman are designing compounds to block this process, increasing the likelihood an infected individual could recover. (Image: Gordon Ruthel/School of Veterinary Medicine)

These overlooked global diseases take a turn under the microscope

Faculty at the School of Veterinary Medicine target neglected tropical diseases with advanced science, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and work in the lab and the field.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Computer-generated antibiotics and biosensor Band-Aids
cesar de la fuente in his lab

Computer-generated antibiotics and biosensor Band-Aids

For Penn synthetic biologist César de la Fuente and his team, these concepts aren’t some far-off ideal. They’re projects already in progress, and they have huge real-world implications should they succeed.

Michele W. Berger

Where math meets biology
a person standing in a hallway lit with natural light

Where math meets biology

Through his research, Yoichiro Mori, the Calabi-Simons Visiting Professor of Mathematics and Biology, demonstrates how mathematical theories can provide insights into complex, living systems.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Reprogramming ant ‘soldiers’
carpenter ant perched on the top of a stick

Reprogramming ant ‘soldiers’

A Penn study reveals the epigenetic pathway that controls social behavior in carpenter ants, finding that the ants reprogram up to five days after they hatch, while reprogramming was ineffective at the 10-day mark.

Penn Today Staff