Microbiome Center News | One Health Microbiome Center

The study's findings could be used to help inform precision agriculture approaches to help conservation efforts, the researchers said. Credit: Freestocks/Unsplash. All Rights Reserved.

Jun 25, 2025

Warmer spots within fields have more blooms and more bees

Climate can vary across large areas of land, but it also can vary within much smaller areas such as farms. A new study by researchers at Penn State examined whether these microclimates — the climate of a very small or restricted area — affect pollination by both wild and managed bees and resulting wild blueberry yields.

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Jun 25, 2025

Nutritional sciences faculty receive national recognition for research

Three Penn State Department of Nutritional Sciences faculty members were recently recognized for their research contributions to the field with prestigious awards by the American Society for Nutrition (ASN).

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Members of the Shao Group, including, from left to right, Zhezheng Song, Tasfia Zahin, Mingfu Shao and Xiang Li, recently presented three papers at RECOMB, one of the top conferences in computational biology. Credit: Kate Myers/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Jun 25, 2025

Q&A: How does computer science advance biology?

In this Q&A, Shao and Koslicki, who are affiliated with the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Bioinformatics and Genomics in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, spoke about how computational tools are advancing molecular biology.

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More than 30 researchers from seven Penn State colleges received seed funding from the Institute of Energy and the Environment to advance innovative, early-stage work addressing critical energy and environmental challenges. Credit: Brenna Buck. All Rights Reserved.

Jun 24, 2025

Ten interdisciplinary research teams awarded IEE seed grants

Ten interdisciplinary research teams have received funding through the Institute of Energy and the Environment’s (IEE) 2025 Seed Grant Program.

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Queen bees emit a pheromone that attracts worker bees — the queen's daughters — to her side. Credit: Sean Bresnahan. All Rights Reserved.

Jun 20, 2025

How a genetic tug-of-war decides the fate of a honey bee

Despite having identical genetic instructions, female honey bee larvae can develop into either long-lived reproductive queens or short-lived sterile workers who help rear their sisters rather than laying their own eggs. Now, an interdisciplinary team led by researchers at Penn State has uncovered the molecular mechanisms that control how the conflict between genes inherited from the father and the mother determine the larva’s fate.

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Study first author Kelly Kosiarski, graduate student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, packs boxes with water testing kits to send to study participants. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jun 16, 2025

‘Forever chemicals’ detected in 65% of sampled private wells in Pennsylvania

Researchers find 18% of sampled wells have PFAS levels beyond drinking water standards; compounds detected most often, and in the highest concentrations, in wells in the southeastern part of the state.

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GAP funding provides principal investigators with essential support on technology commercialization, including intellectual property protection, go-to-market strategies, marketing assistance and connections to industry experts, along with feedback from industry professionals, investors and entrepreneurs. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jun 16, 2025

Eight Penn State research commercialization projects awarded GAP funding

Eight research projects have been selected for support from the Penn State Commercialization GAP Fund. The GAP Fund is a competitive internal program designed to help promising technologies bridge the gap between academic research and industry adoption.

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Curtis Huttenhower is a professor of computational biology and bioinformatics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Credit: Provided by Curtis Huttenhower. All Rights Reserved.

Jun 13, 2025

Human microbiome pioneer to deliver World Microbiome Day lecture

The One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC) in the Huck Institutes of Life Sciences at Penn State will host Curtis Huttenhower, professor of computational biology and bioinformatics, for a special virtual lecture at 10 a.m. on June 27 in honor of World Microbiome Day.

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The arc of health frameworks grew over time from one that siloed human, agricultural and environmental ecosystems from each other to a One Health structure that focused on pathogen spillovers shaping the risk of disease across ecosystems. An expanded vision of One Health microbiome sciences from Penn State incorporates the ecology of all microbes. It emphasizes that the flow of both disease-causing and health-promoting microbes links humans, environment and agriculture together to shape the sustainability of ecosystem wellness and resilience. This One Health framework intentionally unifies the microbiome sciences to advance core disciplinary theories and principles with cross-system validation and comparative studies, according to the researchers. Credit: Provided by the researchers. All Rights Reserved.

Jun 11, 2025

Q&A: Unifying the microbiome sciences for global health and sustainability

Recently, members of Penn State's One Health Microbiome Center published an article in the American Society for Microbiology’s flagship journal, mBio. In this Q&A, a few of the paper’s authors discussed how the center is leading the charge to breakdown traditional disciplinary silos and expand the One Health focus to include more than just pathogenic microbial threats.

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Jun 09, 2025

Two Penn State doctoral students selected for industry internship in Germany

The One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC) in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State is sending two doctoral students to Hilden, Germany, for a seven-week industry internship at the headquarters of QIAGEN, a global leader in biotechnology for life sciences diagnostics, equipment and research.

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