News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

Zhaoyang Jiang, Biology Ph.D. candidate, records ion channel activity in a living cell with Timothy Jegla, associate professor of biology, overlooking.

Nov 06, 2025

Penn State Eberly College of Science launches new neurobiology major

The Penn State Eberly College of Science is launching a new major in neurobiology, a degree that will prepare students to tackle the cross-disciplinary questions and problems related to the brain, the nervous system and its interactions with the body and environment, and brain health. The Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology will provide a comprehensive framework of training to fill an increasing student interest and need for wide-ranging skillsets in neuroscience research, preparation for medical and healthcare careers, and beyond.

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Leonid Berlyand and his research group apply mathematical principles to better understand and improve deep learning artificial intelligence. Credit: Michelle Bixby / Penn State. Creative Commons

Nov 04, 2025

Q&A: Can mathematics reveal the depth of deep learning AI?

In the following Q&A, Penn State Professor of Mathematics Leonid Berlyand and graduate student Oleksii Krupchytskyi spoke about how they are applying mathematical principles to elucidate the black box nature of deep learning.

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Penn State Beaver Associate Professor of Biology Sarah Nilson discovered Allium buridckii, a second species of wild ramps, growing in southwestern Pennsylvania. Credit: Sarah Nilson/Penn State Beaver / Penn State. Creative Commons

Nov 04, 2025

Second species of wild ramps discovered, solving long-standing debate

Overharvesting has led to conservation concerns for a popular foraged plant, but improved genetic understanding could help conservation efforts, researchers say.

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César de la Fuente, pioneer in artificial intelligence and bioengineering, will speak at Penn State on Dec. 5. Credit: César de la Fuente. All Rights Reserved.

Nov 04, 2025

World leader in AI and antibiotic discovery to deliver lecture at Penn State

César de la Fuente, Presidential Associate Professor at University of Pennsylvania and pioneer in AI-assisted antibiotic development, will visit Penn State on Dec. 5.

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To see how microbial activity changes near and inside roots, the researchers chose crimson clover, or Trifolium incarnatum, as a test plant. It’s a legume commonly grown as a cover crop in the U.S. Northeast that forms root nodules with bacteria like the one shown here. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Nov 03, 2025

Novel technique reveals insights into soil microbe alarm clock

New study yields clues about when dormant microscopic bacteria and fungi in soil ‘wake up’ and colonize roots, which influences plant growth and health.

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Scott Medina, William and Wendy Korb Early Career Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and director of the Center for Biodevices.

Oct 31, 2025

New director expands Center for Biodevices scope for higher impact

Scott Medina, William and Wendy Korb Early Career Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, was recently named the director for the Center for Biodevices within the Huck Institutes for Life Sciences.

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With a $450,000, three-year U.S. National Science Foundation grant and equivalent funding from the Binational Science Foundation in Israel, an international team of researchers co-led by Thomas Wood, biotechnology endowed chair and professor of chemical engineering at Penn State, will investigate the role E. coli plays in the gut and how it may affect intestinal inflammation. Credit: Poornima Tomy/Penn State . All Rights Reserved.

Oct 30, 2025

Q&A: Bacteria research could be a gut-punch to inflammatory bowel disease

In this Q&A, Wood spoke about the significance of gut bacteria in IBD and how Penn State’s advanced organ-on-chip technologies — which are engineered devices and systems of tissues grown inside microfluidic chips that mimic human physiology — could lead to new diagnostic tools and treatments.

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Sahil Pawar, a doctoral candidate in entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, studies how soil salinity, drought and climate change influence the interactions between crops and the pests that feed on them. Credit: Contributed photo. All Rights Reserved.

Oct 30, 2025

Salty soil, scrappy bugs and shared ideas drive graduate student’s research

Sahil Pawar says that tackling the world’s agricultural challenges is not a task for one person — it requires a collective effort. That grounded view shapes the early-career entomologist’s research, which examines how environmental stressors, such as soil salinity, drought and climate change, influence the interactions between crops and the pests that feed on them.

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$A new study involving about 850,000 adults across six continental ancestries, has identified 13 genes associated with obesity across ancestries. While eight of these genes had been found in previous studies, five were identified for the first time, having no previous links to obesity. The colors of the DNA helix in the image represent ancestral difference in genetic background around the world. The black figures represent people who do not carry gene mutations found to be associated with obesity while the red figures carry them. The fraction of red and black figures highlights the differences in genetic mutations across the world. Credit: Deepro Banerjee, Girirajan Laboratory / Penn State. Creative Commons$

Oct 30, 2025

Genes associated with obesity shared across ancestries, researchers find

A new study from Penn State involving nearly 850,000 adults across six continental ancestries has identified 13 genes linked to obesity, including five never before connected to the condition. The findings provide new insight into how genetics influence obesity and related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and heart failure.

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A team of researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and the Allen Institute for Brain Science has produced new detailed brain growth atlas in mice offers insights into brain development. Credit: Courtesy of the Kim Lab / Penn State. Creative Commons

Oct 29, 2025

New detailed brain growth atlas in mice offers insights into brain development

A team of researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and the Allen Institute for Brain Science has produced new detailed brain growth atlas in mice offers insights into brain development.

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