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HIV discovery

Penn State researchers and their collaborators have made a discovery that could lead to new treatments for HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that causes AIDS. Knocking out a particular enzyme (a tyrosine kinase) makes immune cells less vulnerable to infection with the virus.

Marshall elected to National Academy of Sciences

Barry Marshall, who has a visiting appointment as the Francis R. and Helen M. Pentz Professor of Science at Penn State, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Initial round of CTSI projects awarded, Spring 2008

Out of 70 applications received, Penn State's Clinical and Translational Science Award Initiative has selected 13 pilot projects for funding. These projects involve 57 faculty members in 8 colleges on 3 campuses.

Tropical reservoir for human influenza?

Analysis of more than 1300 complete genomes of human influenza A suggests that new viral strains arise in a reservoir in the tropics, and move out to temperate regions.

Shuttle service change

From May 12, the free shuttle between University Park and Hershey will run three times daily rather than four.

Cell membrane lipids involved in allergic response

A Penn State team is the first to show in living cells, under physiological conditions, that lipid molecules in cell membranes are involved in mammalian cells' reactions to allergens.

Center for Cellular Dynamics (CCD) launch

Penn State cell and developmental biologists form a group to foster sharing of ideas and expertise. The CCD has scheduled a variety of events for all interested researchers.

PSU biologists on TV and radio

Recent editions of Pennsylvania Inside Out featured interviews with Peter Hudson on emerging infectious diseases, and Barry Marshall on his Nobel-winning research.

Alcohol addiction and sex in flies

A PLoS One paper by Penn State researchers reports how chronic alcohol exposure makes male fruit flies more likely to court females and other males. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this study has attracted a lot of media interest.

Proteomics and mass spectrometry facility moves buildings

The Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry Core Facility at University Park has just moved to 3 Althouse.

New Associate Director for Huck Institutes

Dr Pamela Mitchell has been appointed the Associate Director of the Huck Institutes.

Radio program: comparative genomics

"Beyond Human", a radio program recently broadcast on NPR, featured interviews with several researchers in Penn State's Center for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics. A podcast of the program is available.

New MRI capabilities

Penn State has purchased two whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. One will be housed on the University Park campus and the other at the College of Medicine. The new University Park system will be based in Moore Building and is expected to become operational in summer 2008.

2 facilities have moved buildings

The Nucleic Acid Facility and the DNA Microarray Facility on the University Park campus have moved from Wartik Laboratory to the basement of Thomas Building.

Why is 'flu seasonal?

In temperate regions, winter is the season for 'flu. Annual influenza epidemics hit the northern hemisphere between November and March, and the southern hemisphere from May to September. Together with collaborators at the National Institutes of Health, Penn State researchers have now found evidence that the global migration of viruses is responsible for this seasonality. Their findings suggest that even in geographically-isolated places like New Zealand, epidemics are triggered by viruses arriving from elsewhere in the world, rather than by reactivation of viruses that have remained latent in hosts, or that have been transmitting locally at low levels.

Enzyme-deficient mice are less fat

College of Medicine scientists and their collaborators have discovered that mice deficient in a particular enzyme are leaner than normal mice even though they eat more food. In a paper in Cell Metabolism, they show that the enzyme-deficient mice appear to burn extra calories through a "futile" cycle of protein synthesis and breakdown. These findings could potentially lead to new weight-loss therapies.

Mammoth discovery

The field of ancient DNA has seen a major breakthrough. An international team of researchers led by Stephan C. Schuster and Webb Miller of The Pennsylvania State University has developed a way of isolating DNA from extremely old hair, rather than from fossil bones. They used this method to recover the mitochondrial genomes of ten woolly mammoths dug out of the Siberian permafrost during the last 200 years; the mammoths died between 12,000 and 50,000 years ago. The publication of their genetic sequences in the journal Science more than doubles the number of published mitochondrial genomes from extinct animals, and opens the way to further study of species only known from museum specimens.

This website has been revamped

If you've visited the Huck Institutes website before, you may have noticed that it has changed a lot since your last visit. We have given the site a complete make-over. Not only does it have a new visual design, but information has been reorganized.

Nobel prize-winner joins Penn State

Barry Marshall, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, has accepted a part-time position at Penn State. Dr Marshall won the Nobel Prize, together with his colleague Robin Warren, for discovering that many stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria, and hence can be treated effectively with antibiotics.

Joint lab with Chinese university

Penn State and the South China Agricultural University have established a joint laboratory in root biology. The lab will focus on understanding the molecular biology, breeding, physiology and agroecology of root traits that are important to plants.