News
Feb 15, 2022
World’s first gene editing tools for ticks may help decrease tick-borne diseases
Reducing tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, may now be possible thanks to two new gene editing methods developed by researchers at Penn State; the University of Nevada, Reno; and the University of Maryland. The methods could allow scientists to alter parts of the tick genome that are involved in harboring and transmitting pathogens.
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Feb 15, 2022
Researchers to study COVID-19 effects on maternal, child health during pregnancy
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has awarded Penn State College of Medicine $3.9 million through May 2025 to study the impact COVID-19 has on pregnancy. The researchers will conduct a multi-site study to examine the health outcomes for pregnant women and their infants before and after childbirth.
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Feb 14, 2022
Student receives Fulbright to study honey bee health, behavior in Kenya
Darcy Gray, a graduate student in Penn State's intercollege graduate degree program in ecology, has received a Fulbright Study/Research Award to help beekeepers by examining how habitat and weather patterns drive bee migration and honey production in Kenya.
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Feb 08, 2022
Geneticists close to grasping how plant communities may adapt to climate change
A century after scientists first noted that the environment contributes to the evolution of adaptive differences among plant populations, scientists are on the verge of figuring out how that adaptation happens — by combining results from huge “common garden” experiments with genomic sequencing.
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Feb 07, 2022
Benkovics support pioneering research in chemistry and the life sciences
You might think of Patricia and Stephen Benkovic as Penn State’s “first couple of chemistry,” considering all the pioneering contributions they’ve made at the University in their shared discipline over a span of more than five decades. Now the pair are giving back to their research community in an exciting new way, hoping to inspire the next generation of scientists to carry the torch of innovation and discovery to even greater heights.
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Feb 07, 2022
Soil tillage reduces availability of ‘longevity vitamin’ ergothioneine in crops
Soil tillage on farms may significantly reduce the availability in crops of ergothioneine, an amino acid produced by certain types of soil-borne fungi and bacteria that is known as a “longevity vitamin” due to its potent antioxidant properties, according to new research. The study is among the first to demonstrate that soil disturbance can directly impact a key dietary factor associated with long-term human health.
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Feb 04, 2022
SCInet graduate student internships available 2022, applications due March 15
Paid graduate student internships are available this summer at Mississippi State University through the USDA SCINET program. SCINET provides resources and opportunities for training in (for example) landscape effects on insect distributions and conservation - as such, we encourage our IBC student membership to apply!
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Feb 02, 2022
The key to a powerful antibiotic’s formation now clear
A powerful class of antibiotics called carbapenems can circumvent antibiotic resistance thanks to a particular chain of atoms in their structure. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State and Johns Hopkins University have imaged an enzyme involved in the creation of this chain to better understand how it forms — and perhaps replicate the process to improve future antibiotics.
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Jan 31, 2022
New exhibition to examine the impact of extraction economies on climate change
A new exhibition examining the long-term spatial and ecological consequences of extraction economies and their impact on climate change will run 1/31–3/4 in the Penn State Stuckeman School’s Rouse Gallery as part of its Lecture and Exhibit Series.
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Jan 27, 2022
Nita Bharti to deliver 2022 Darwin Day Lecture
Nita Bharti, Penn State assistant professor of biology, will deliver a virtual lecture titled “Adaptation for Survival: Humans and Their Pathogens” at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10, as part of Penn State’s 2022 Darwin Day celebration. Advance registration is required for the event, which is open to the public.
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