Bioinformatics And Genomics News | Bioinformatics and Genomics

Andrew Patterson, John T. and Paige S. Smith Professor, professor of molecular toxicology and of biochemistry and molecular biology, and Huck Chair in Molecular Toxicology at Penn State, has been named associate director for shared and core facilities at the Huck Institutes. Credit: Mike Houtz / Penn State. Creative Commons

Sep 02, 2025

Andrew Patterson named Huck associate director for shared and core facilities

Patterson, Huck Chair in Molecular Toxicology, champions discovery through collaboration at Huck’s core facilities.

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New research by Penn State scientists shows that migration of farming groups was the dominant factor in the spread of agriculture, while cultural adoption by hunter-gatherers only played a minimal role. Pictured are the remains of a house in the Neolithic village of Barnhouse Settlement, Orkney, Scotland. Credit: Creative Commons. All Rights Reserved.

Aug 28, 2025

Ancient DNA reveals farming spread through migration, locals slow to adopt it

Using mathematical models, computer simulations, and ancient DNA analysis, an interdisciplinary team of scientists at Penn State was able to measure how migration and cultural adoption each contributed to the expansion of farming.

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The team's research, conducted on mouse-ear cress — scientific name Arabidopsis thaliana, pictured — and fava beans, or Vicia faba, revealed that sugars, along with maleic acid, a chemical involved in energy production, act as crucial messengers that control how and when plants “breathe” and “eat." Credit: Sarah Assmann / Penn State. Creative Commons

Aug 25, 2025

Messenger signals that cue plants to ‘eat’ and ‘breathe’ revealed for first time

A new study by an international team of scientists led by Penn State researchers reveals for the first time the molecular messengers that control how and when plants “breathe” and “eat,” which could have implications for agriculture.

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David Kennedy, associate professor of biology at Penn State, and Clara Shaw, now assistant professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Duluth Credit: Keith Hickey / Penn State / Penn State. Creative Commons

Aug 22, 2025

What traits matter when predicting disease emergence in new populations?

Traits of early virus spread help determine if a virus will ultimately persist in a new population, according to new research.

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Study lead author Sophia Kenney, postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Animal Science, samples a maternity pen for Salmonella Dublin. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Aug 25, 2025

Bacteria strains infecting cattle and humans in US are highly similar

Researchers report dangerous, often antibiotic-resistant pathogen called Salmonella Dublin is circulating among animals, humans and food-associated environments.

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Penn State’s Roar supercomputer, housed within the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS), enables researchers across the University to conduct complex simulations, calculations and analyses on a large scale, something a personal computer is not capable of. Ed O'Brien and Romit Maulik, ICDS co-hires, recently spoke to Penn State News about the need for and benefit of using high-performance computing resources to complete challenging inter- and multi-disciplinary research projects. Credit: ICDS/Ryan Antion / Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Aug 18, 2025

Q&A: Boosting research with supercomputing

In this Q&A, ICDS co-hires like Ed O’Brien, professor of chemistry in the Eberly College of Science, and Romit Maulik, assistant professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, spoke about how they use Roar’s HPC services.

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The findings provide a better understanding of the viruses that could help lead to better disease control in the future, according to the researchers. Credit: meriç tuna on Unsplash. All Rights Reserved.

Aug 14, 2025

Study offers new insight into mixed virus interactions in plants

New research led by researchers at Penn State examined what happens when two common viruses — tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus (TSWV) and impatiens necrotic spot orthotospovirus (INSV) — infect the same plant.

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Recently identified and long-lasting type of protein misfolding — non-native entanglements — observed in all-atom protein folding simulations. Representative misfolded conformations of the small proteins, Ubiquitin and λ-repressor, exhibit gains-of-entanglement in all-atom folding simulations and are shown alongside their native structures. In the misfolded states, non-native entangled loops are highlighted in red, with yellow spheres marking loop closures and blue segments indicating threading through the loop. Credit: O’Brien Laboratory / Penn State. Creative Commons

Aug 11, 2025

New class of protein misfolding simulated in high definition

New computer simulations that model every atom of a protein as it folds into its final three-dimensional form support the existence of a recently identified type of protein misfolding.

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Aug 05, 2025

Huck names new associate director for graduate education

Penn State Professor of Anthropology David Puts has been named the associate director for graduate education at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

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Denise Okafor, Huck Early Career Chair in Biophysics and assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and of chemistry at Penn State, teaches a course-based research experience for undergraduates (CURE), where students learn how to create molecular models of biomolecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids, to study their function. Credit: Michelle Bixby / Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Aug 04, 2025

Research need inspires student opportunity

Unprecedented demand for molecular modeling skills, coupled with a funding award for innovative teaching, leads to the creation of a new course-based research experience for undergraduates.

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