News

Human heart beats using nearly billion-year-old molecular mechanism

Neurobiologist Tim Jegla and his Lab find in a living, ancient sea anemone species the same gene family and ion channel that regulate the slow wave contractions of the human heart.

Existence of new neuron repair pathway discovered

The Rolls Lab discovers a new neuron repair pathway that could one day help people suffering from nerve damage.

Critical protein discovered for healthy cell growth in mammals

A team of researchers including Huck Institutes affiliates Aimin Liu and Gang (Greg) Ning has discovered a protein required for the growth of tiny, but critical, hair-like structures called cilia on cell surfaces.

Will Hancock named American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering fellow

Huck Institutes faculty researcher William Hancock has been named a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

Experiments show hypothesis of microtubule steering accurate

Tiny protein motors in cells can steer microtubules in the right direction through branching nerve cell structures, according to Huck Institutes faculty researchers Melissa Rolls and Will Hancock and graduate student Yalei Chen.

A new pathway for neuron repair is discovered

Penn State University molecular biologists including Huck Institutes faculty member Melissa Rolls and graduate students Richard Albertson, Michelle Stone, and Li Chen have discovered a brand-new pathway for repairing nerve cells that could have implications for faster and improved healing.

Breakthrough could one day help sufferers of brain injury, Alzheimer's disease

Penn State researchers including Huck Institutes faculty member Gong Chen and graduate students Ziyuan Guo, Yuchen Chen, and Fan Wang have developed an innovative technology to regenerate functional neurons after brain injury and also in model systems used for research on Alzheimer's disease.

Protein changes linked to symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease

A research discovery that helps point the way to potential therapies for memory-related disorders including Alzheimer's Disease has been made by a team of neuroscientists that includes Huck Institutes affiliate Douglas Cavener.

Gong Chen selected as holder of the Verne M. Willaman Chair in the Life Sciences

Gong Chen, a professor of biology at Penn State, has been appointed as Holder of the Verne M. Willaman Chair in the Life Sciences effective July 1, 2013 in recognition of his national and international reputation for excellence in research and teaching.

Short-term gene-expression "memory" is inherited in proteins associated with DNA

By studying a gene in yeast, a team of scientists led by Huck Institutes affiliate Lu Bai has found that modifications to proteins associated with DNA can control whether or not a gene is allowed to function and may be important in maintaining a gene's "expression potential" so that future cells will behave as the parent cell did.