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March 25, 2025

Center for Plant Excellence launched by PSU, Shapiro admin
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.

March 25, 2025

Translator for biomedical research aims to speed up patient care

March 23, 2025

Just 2 ounces of this buttery snack could help lower cholesterol, reduce heart disease risk
The findings could be helpful to growers as they create management plans for their fields, according to the researchers. Credit: Waldemar/Unsplash. All Rights Reserved.

March 21, 2025

Insecticides may contribute to bigger problems with certain weeds

March 21, 2025

Machine Vision System Monitors Greenhouse-Grown Specialty Crop
Three maps showing the spatial variation of the prevalence of undernutrition among children under the age of five in Uganda. Credit: Provided by Paddy Ssentongo. All Rights Reserved.

March 19, 2025

Rainfall and drought linked to childhood growth outcomes in Uganda
Penn State faculty speaking March 24 during the event “Research Scholarship and the Land Grant Mission: Why It Matters in Turbulent Times” include, clockwise from top left: Ray Block Jr., Brown-McCourtney Career Development Professor in the McCourtney Institute and associate professor of political science and of African American studies; Jennie Knies, University Libraries associate dean for Commonwealth Campus libraries; Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography, director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and associate director of the Institute of the Energy and the Environment; and Rebecca Waltz, University Libraries associate dean for learning and engagement. Credit: Provided by the speakers. All Rights Reserved.

March 19, 2025

Three deans co-host research scholarship and land grant impacts event March 24

March 18, 2025

Brook Trout May Have a Genetic Trip to Adapt to Climate Change
Researchers found that orally administered sevelamer — a dialysis drug — can bind off-target antibiotics, shown being injected into the arm here, in the gut. Off-target antibiotics, or antibiotics that end up in the body away from the point of infection, can contribute to bacteria evolving to develop antibiotic resistance. Credit: Provided by Amir Sheikhi. All Rights Reserved.

March 18, 2025

FDA-approved dialysis drug may help fight against antimicrobial resistance
A study conducted by Penn State entomologists evaluated the effectiveness of various insects in potentially controlling spotted lanternfly populations. Credit: Contributed photo. All Rights Reserved.

March 17, 2025

Natural insect predators may serve as allies in spotted lanternfly battle
‘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.

March 17, 2025

BioArtist Mellissa Monsoon to present 'Collaborating with Microbes'
People who ate pecans in lieu of their usual snacks demonstrated reductions in cholesterol linked to poorer heart health, according to a new study from researchers in the Penn State Department of Nutritional Sciences. Credit: SherShor/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

March 17, 2025

Replacing other snacks with pecans may improve cholesterol, diet quality
Aditya Sapre, a doctoral student studying chemical engineering, participates in the 2024 Three Minute Thesis competition. Sapre would go on to take home first place at the Penn State competition last spring. Credit: Jillian Wesner / Fox Graduate School at Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

March 17, 2025

Stage set for final round of Three Minute Thesis competition on March 29
Five new research collaborations between Penn State and minority-serving institutions selected to receive seed funding via the Inter-Institutional Partnerships for Diversifying Research program

March 15, 2025

Ag Sciences research institute SAFES funds projects addressing critical issues
Movement of Zika virus through a tunneling nanotube formed between two cells. An imaging technique called immunofluorescence assay shows the co-localization of viral structural proteins, the capsid protein in red and envelope protein in green, indicative of virus particles in the tunneling nanotube. Credit: Provided by the Jose Lab / Penn State. Creative Commons

March 14, 2025

Tunnel-building virus: How Zika transmits from mother to fetus
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

March 14, 2025

Protein accidentally lassos itself, helping explain unusual refolding behavior
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

March 14, 2025

Virtual lecture to explore the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems
Brook trout, an iconic coldwater fish species native to streams and lakes in the eastern United States and Canada, begin to experience declines in growth rate in water above 61 degrees Fahrenheit and acute heat stress above 68 degrees Fahrenheit. In this study, researchers caught, sampled and released fish in four streams in Pennsylvania. Credit: Jason Keagy/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

March 13, 2025

Threatened by warming waters, brook trout may be able to adapt to hotter weather
Nazifa Tabassum, left, and Katie Yan will speak at ENVISION: STEM Career Day Supporting Young Women on March 29. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

March 13, 2025

Graduate students to present their journeys in science

March 13, 2025

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Big Pharma? We Ask a Bioethicist

March 11, 2025

Abortion restriction based on environmental impacts fails in Montana

March 11, 2025

Penn State Scientists Use AI to Study Bee Population Decline
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.

March 10, 2025

Analyzing genetic ‘signatures’ may give insight into what stresses wild bees
Sarah Assmann Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

March 10, 2025

Plant biologist awarded the Masatoshi Nei Innovation Prize in Biology