News from

Natural Sciences

Reset All Filters
73 Results
Penn engineers turn toxic fungus into anti-cancer drug
Qiuyue Nie and Maria Zotova, from left, purify samples of the fungus in a lab.

First author Qiuyue Nie (left) and coauthor Maria Zotova purify samples of the fungus.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Penn engineers turn toxic fungus into anti-cancer drug

Penn-led researchers have isolated a new class of molecules from Aspergillus flavus, a toxic crop fungus, and modified it into a promising cancer-killing compound

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Decoding ancient immunity networks
Hand holding a blood vial that reads "complement (C3 + C4)"

A collaborative team from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Perelman School of Medicine have unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that acts like the body’s bouncer, “deciding” which foreign materials get degraded by immune cells and which are allowed entry.

(Image / iStock Md Saiful Islam Khan)

Decoding ancient immunity networks

A collaborative team from Penn Medicine and Penn Engineering have  unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that “decides” which foreign materials are friend or foe.

Nathi Magubane , Ian Scheffler , Holly Wojcik , Matt Toal

5 min. read

What can ants and naked-mole rats teach about societal roles?
Leafcutter ants moving around a bright green leaf.

In eusocial superorganisms like leafcutter ant colonies, labor is divvied up according to body shape and size, but PIK Professor Shelley Berger and her team discovered that molecular signals can override that blueprint. Their findings reveal how simple neuropeptides can reprogram ant behavior, reshuffling roles in nature’s most disciplined workforce.

(Image: Courtesy of Tierney Scarpa)

What can ants and naked-mole rats teach about societal roles?

PIK Professor Shelley Berger and colleagues explored the genetic basis of labor distribution in communal-dwelling species and discovered that pathways dating back hundreds of millions of years are conserved across animal kingdoms. Their findings offer fundamental insights into complex social behaviors.

5 min. read

Native plants from afar
A diagram of areas where marigolds are native plants.

Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News

Native plants from afar

In a course led by 2024-25 McHarg Fellow Leah Kahler, students explored the movement of plants across cultures and climates, as well as the relationships between recreational and productive landscapes.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows collaborate across disciplines
Sibe-by-side portraits of Brynn Sherman, on left, and Kieran Murphy, right.

Penn’s AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows Program is breaking down traditional scientific boundaries by integrating artificial intelligence across diverse research fields. Less than a year in, the program is already paying dividends in the form of new collaborations and research publications for inaugural fellows like Brynn Sherman (left) of the School of Arts & Sciences and Kieran Murphy (right) of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

nocred

AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellows collaborate across disciplines

The new fellowship program, offered through the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, offers mentorship and peer engagement opportunities.

5 min. read

New class of materials passively harvest water from air
A water droplet reflecting the color spectrum.

Image: MamiGibbs via Getty Images

New class of materials passively harvest water from air

Researchers at Penn Engineering have discovered a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, which could enable new ways to collect water in arid regions and devices that cool electronics or buildings using the power of evaporation.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Unlocking the mechanics of protein misfolding
Artist's interpretation of prion mechanics.

Mathieu Ouellet

Unlocking the mechanics of protein misfolding

An interdisciplinary team led by School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Lee C. Bassett and Dani Bassett, also of the School of Arts & Sciences, have studied the mechanical properties of prions, the mysterious shape-shifting proteins that are infamous for mad cow disease yet essential for yeast survival

5 min. read

Delivering a one-two punch to superbugs to fight infections
Rakesh Krishnan sits at a computer staring at a 3D rendering of a protein.

Researchers led by César de la Fuente of the Perelman School of Medicine have created new peptides that fight hard-to-treat “superbug” infections by punching holes in bacterial cells and stimulating immune cells to signal for more defenders.

(Image: Courtesy of Jianing Bai) 

Delivering a one-two punch to superbugs to fight infections

Penn researchers create mirror-image molecules that both kill pathogens outright and rally the immune system—an advance aimed at the growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance.

3 min. read