News archive
News and updates about people, programs, centers, institutes, facilities and initiatives associated with the Huck Institutes. Articles are listed in reverse date order, with newer articles at the top and older articles at the bottom.
Breast Cancer Research Fellowship Announcement
Announcement from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) regarding the fiscal year 2009 offerings ($150 million appropriation). » full article
Social and Life Sciences Imaging Center receives MRI
New 3-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine installed in Chandlee Lab as the center piece of the Social and Life Sciences Imaging Center. » full article
Economy and innovation benefit from growth in research funding
Penn State’s record $717 million in research funding for 2007-2008 ranks it among top universities and helps to grow the economies of Pennsylvania and the nation. » full article
Obesity drives desire for sweet foods
Researchers find link between taste and body weight explaining how obesity causes the desire for sugary foods. » full article
Researchers investigating gene regulation
Research into gene regulation has shown that regulatory regions of DNA are not conserved between related species over the course of evolution like once thought. » full article
Student recognized for research in Neuroscience
Christina Ragan has been recognized by Science News for her presentation at the Society for Neuroscience Conference. » full article
Mammoth genome sequenced
Scientists working in a team are the first to report the genome-wide sequence of an extinct animal. » full article
$155,000 raised for scholarships in honor of the Hucks
$155,000 was raised by the Renaissance Fund in honor of this year's honorees, Lloyd and Dorothy (Dottie) Huck. » full article
Global warming causing amphibian decline questioned
Climate change could be one of a combination of reasons leading to the decline of amphibian populations. » full article
Breakthrough could reverse leukemia
A breakthrough that blocks signals from a protein to activate cells in the immune system could help fight leukemia, a rare form of blood cancer. » full article
New NASA astrobiology grant received
An interdisciplinary team, including biologists and biotechnologists, have received a new five-year grant from NASA's Astrobiology Institute for "Signatures of Life from Earth and Beyond" to develop strategies for finding life on other planets and extreme environments here on Earth. » full article
New life form in Yellowstone hot springs
Scientists from Penn State University and Montana State University have found a new heat-loving bacterium that survives by transforming light into chemical energy. » full article
Christine Kapelewski receives Nina Fedoroff Teaching Award
Christine Kapelewski received the Nina Fedoroff Teaching Award for her excellent work as a teaching assistant during the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters. » full article
Final plans approved for new building
The University's Board of Trustees approved the final plans for the new Millennium Science Complex that will house the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Materials Research Institute. » full article
Nanomedical approach targets multiple cancer genes, shrinks tumors
Cancer researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine may have found potential cure for cancer using nanoparticles filled with a drug targeting two genes that trigger melanoma. » full article
Assmann named ASPB president
Sarah M. Assmann has been named president of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). She takes up the presidency in October, 2008. » full article
Study sheds light on mammoth extinction
Analysis of hair from museum specimens suggests that woolly mammoths consisted of two genetically-distinct lineages which diverged from each other more than a million years ago. One of the lineages was found only in Siberia, whereas the other occurred much more widely. The geographically-restricted lineage appears to have gone extinct about 45,000 years ago, long before human hunting is likely have contributed to their demise. Instead, low genetic diversity could have made the mammoths more vulnerable to environmental factors such as climate change or disease. » full article
Highlights from 2008 ISAC Meeting
Cytometry Facility folks attended this biennial meeting (held in Budapest this year). Here are some key points. » full article
Clue to melanoma development
Penn State researchers have discovered that the interaction of 2 proteins can lead to development of malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. This finding could aid the development of cancer therapies. » full article
Hudson elected to Royal Society
Peter Hudson, Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. » full article