News

Apr 09, 2025

Complete genome sequences of six ape species unveiled

Differences among the DNA of seven ape species — including humans — are greater than originally thought, according to an international team led by researchers at Penn State, the National Human Genome Research Institute, and the University of Washington.

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Credit: guenterguni/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

Apr 09, 2025

Complete genome sequences of six ape species unveiled

Previously inaccessible regions reveal novel insights that may advance understanding of evolution and conservation genetics for endangered apes as well as human health.

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The U.S. National Science Foundation National Synthesis Center for Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Sciences at Penn State recently announced its first cohort of working groups. The center is supporting 10 initial working groups which will conduct research in accordance with open science principles, producing peer-reviewed articles, public datasets and reproducible workflows. The working groups will reuse and integrate diverse datasets, creatively visualized in this illustration, to gain insights about emergent properties that could potentially answer fundamental scientific questions and lead to transformative discoveries. Credit: NicoElNino/Alamy Stock Photo. All Rights Reserved.

Apr 09, 2025

NCEMS working groups to answer molecular and cellular bioscience questions

The U.S. National Science Foundation National Synthesis Center for Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Sciences at Penn State aims to drive multidisciplinary collaboration utilizing publicly available research data.

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Four faculty members representing the College of Agricultural Sciences, the Eberly College of Science and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Credit: Curtis Chan / Penn State. Creative Commons

Mar 28, 2025

Four Penn State faculty elected AAAS Fellows

Four Penn State faculty members in areas ranging from agriculture to the biological sciences, geology and physics have been elected to the latest cohort of fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

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A team led by researchers at Penn State including David Koslicki, associate professor of computer science and engineering and of biology, was recently awarded a five-year project by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Science to work on a project aiming to accelerate drug discovery, with the potential to treat rare diseases. The team seeks to improve NIH's Biomedical Data Translator, which is a network of computer interfaces that take biomedical research questions and provide fact-based responses. The above graph shows a high-level view of the Biomedical Data Translator functionality. Researchers input a question and the system, which includes knowledge bases of scientific research and literature from discoveries, works together to provide a response to the question. Credit: National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Science's Biomedical Data Translator Consortium. All Rights Reserved.

Mar 26, 2025

Translator for biomedical research aims to speed up patient care

$12.8M, five-year project brings together multiple institutions to improve and expand NIH Biomedical Data Translator

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‘Microbial Me’ brings the invisible world of microbes through visual art, showcasing the ecosystems on our skin through a series of agar sculptures displaying bacteria. By casting her own face and swabbing the bacteria, Monsoon encourages viewers to reflect on the microorganisms present on their own skin. Credit: Mellissa Monsoon. All Rights Reserved.

Mar 18, 2025

BioArtist Mellissa Monsoon to present 'Collaborating with Microbes'

The One Health Microbiome Center and College of Arts and Architecture are co-hosting three events as part of a multi-year SciArt collaboration.

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Mar 17, 2025

Ag Sciences research institute SAFES funds projects addressing critical issues

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, through its Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science, known as SAFES, announced funding awards to accelerate the advancement of its Critical Issues Initiatives. These initiatives serve as the college’s impact hubs, addressing urgent and high-impact challenges through targeted efforts and innovative projects.

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On March 25, Erika Ganda, an assistant professor in Penn State’s Department of Animal Science, will discuss via Zoom how microbes in animals, people and the environment are interconnected through a concept known as “One Health.” The lecture is part of the Penn State Alumni Association's Virtual Speaker Series. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Mar 17, 2025

Virtual lecture to explore the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems

On March 25, Erika Ganda, an assistant professor in Penn State’s Department of Animal Science, will discuss via Zoom how microbes in animals, people and the environment are interconnected through a concept known as “One Health.” The lecture is part of the Penn State Alumni Association's Virtual Speaker Series.

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A new study has described a potential mechanism that could help explain why some proteins refold in a different pattern than expected. The research showed that a type of misfolding, called non-covalent lasso entanglement, in which the proteins incorrectly intertwine their segments, can occur and create a barrier to the normal folding process. The image shows the native folded structure of the protein phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) on the left and one of the misfolded PGK structures predicted in this study on the right, with the entangled regions highlighted in red and blue. Credit: Provided by Yang Jiang / Penn State. Creative Commons

Mar 17, 2025

Protein accidentally lassos itself, helping explain unusual refolding behavior

New study demonstrates a potential protein misfolding mechanism that could solve a decades-old mystery of why some proteins refold in a different pattern than expected.

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The new method may eventually help give insight into why bee populations are declining overall, according to the researchers. Credit: Adonyi Gábor/Unsplash. All Rights Reserved.

Mar 12, 2025

Analyzing genetic ‘signatures’ may give insight into what stresses wild bees

A new method of examining gene expression patterns called landscape transcriptomics may help pinpoint what causes bumble bees stress and could eventually give insight into why bee populations are declining overall.

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