News

Jul 08, 2021

Fighting COVID with COVID

What if the COVID-19 virus could be used against itself? Researchers at Penn State have designed a proof-of-concept therapeutic that may be able to do just that. The team designed a synthetic defective SARS-CoV-2 virus that is innocuous but interferes with the real virus’ growth, potentially causing the extinction of both the disease-causing virus and the synthetic virus.

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Jun 30, 2021

Claude dePamphilis named Huck Chair in Plant Biology and Evolutionary Genomics

Claude dePamphilis, Penn State Professor of Biology, has been named the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Distinguished Chair in Plant Biology and Evolutionary Genomics by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

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Jun 14, 2021

New tissue-closure model may aid in promotion of faster wound healing

The observation of a previously undetected biological mechanism for closing gaps in living tissue improves basic understanding of the wound-healing process and may one day inform strategies to speed healing after surgery.

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Jun 03, 2021

New images of canine parvovirus may help predict how virus jumps to new species

​Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a highly infectious pathogen that causes severe diseases in unvaccinated dogs, including inflammation of the heart and acute gastrointestinal illness. Originating in cats, the virus is a rare example of a DNA-based virus that can jump between species, and a team of researchers’ discovery may help in predicting this and the virus’ ability to evolve, which could have implications for current vaccines used in dogs.

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May 27, 2021

Widespread coral-algae symbioses endured historical climate changes

One of the most important and widespread reef-building corals, known as cauliflower coral, exhibits strong partnerships with certain species of symbiotic algae, and these relationships have persisted through periods of intense climate fluctuations over the last 1.5 million years, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.

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May 17, 2021

What makes plant cell walls both strong and extensible?

A plant cell wall’s unique ability to expand without weakening or breaking — a quality required for plant growth — is due to the movement of its cellulose skeleton, according to new research that models the cell wall.

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Apr 22, 2021

Bypassing broken genes

A new approach to gene editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 system bypasses disease-causing mutations in a gene, enabling treatment of genetic diseases linked to a single gene, such as cystic fibrosis, certain types of sickle cell anemia, and other rare diseases

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Apr 26, 2021

MCIBS head Melissa Rolls honored with 2021 Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award

Melissa Rolls, Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in the Eberly College of Science, is the 2021 recipient of Penn State's Graduate School Alumni Society Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award.

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Apr 09, 2021

New position will support graduate and post-graduate training

Donna Korzick, professor of physiology and kinesiology, recently assumed a new role as director of graduate training initiatives in the Huck Institutes for the Life Sciences. In this role, Korzick is dedicating half of her time to support the application for and execution of training grants from organizations like the National Institutes of Health.

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Mar 19, 2021

New antibiotic clears multi-drug resistant gonorrhea in mice in single dose

A new antibiotic compound clears infection of multi-drug resistant gonorrhea in mice in a single oral dose, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State and Emory University.

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