Biology | Penn Today

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.

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.

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.

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.

shape of a human head made of outlines of wine glasses, drink glasses and beer bottles.

Consuming alcohol leads to epigenetic changes in brain memory centers

What drives the biology behind alcohol cravings has remained largely unknown. A new Penn study shows how a byproduct of the alcohol breakdown produced mostly in the liver travels to the brain’s learning system and impacts behavior around environmental cues to drink.

The science of sensations

To confront the ills of the opioid epidemic, scientists must develop a fundamental understanding of the biology of pain. Biologist Ishmail Abdus-Saboor’s work is setting the stage for screening alternative drugs and uncovering new pathways that an opioid-alternative could target.

Engineers solve the paradox of why tissue gets stiffer when compressed

Tissue gets stiffer when it’s compressed. That stiffening response is a long-standing biomedical paradox, as common sense dictates that when you push the ends of a string together, it loosens tension, rather than increasing it. New research explains the mechanical interplay between that fiber network and the cells it contains.

Study finds kittens bond with their human caregivers like babies do

Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine advised readers to keep in mind that while babies and kittens are similar, they’re not analogous; scientific findings about one may not hold true for the other. “We should be open-minded about the idea that there are other variables [at play],” he said.

fruit fly close-up on a piece of vegetation

Fruit flies’ microbiomes shape their evolution

In just five generations, an altered microbiome can lead to genome-wide evolution in fruit flies, according to new research led by Paul Schmidt and postdoc Seth Rudman of the School of Arts and Sciences.

An abstract depiction of data features an elongated shape with various projections in pixels of different colors.

A molecular ‘atlas’ of animal development

Scientists have studied the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans for decades, making essential contributions to basic science. In the latest milestone, a team uses cutting-edge technology to individually profile the genes expressed in more than 80,000 cells in a developing C. elegans embryo.

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