News

Explore the discoveries and breakthroughs advancing the life sciences

Find By:

Organic beekeeping is healthier for bees - and their keepers

Mark Latash and Sayan Deep De Credit: Provided by Sayan Deep De. All Rights Reserved.

Q&A: How do humans control their bodies?

A new research network co-led by researchers at Penn State seeks to detect the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias years before symptoms emerge, in order to to reduce the personal and financial impacts of the disease.  Credit: Getty Images - Milan2099. All Rights Reserved.

Penn State to co-lead national brain health and dementia prevention initiative

Simple Home Test for Endometriosis Developed

Penn State doctoral students selected to participate in the Biotechnological and Integrative Opportunities in Microbiome Science doctoral training fellowship, from top left: Erika Biernbaum, Talon Jost, Paula Blanco Ortiz, Jie Feng, Natalie Ford, Jessica Gaydos, Ashley Ohstrom, Shane Connolly, Mackenna Yount, Yara Cavalcante Viera and Kathleen Culhane. Credit: Provided by fellows. All Rights Reserved.

One Health Microbiome Center awards 11 inaugural doctoral training fellows

Gene editing, traditional crossbreeding produce disease-resistant cacao plants

Gene editing, traditional crossbreeding produce disease-resistant cacao plants

The human egg cell, illustrated here, contains specialized genetic instructions called mitochondrial DNA.  Credit: Jezperklauzen/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

In brief: Certain age-related DNA mutations are less common in human eggs

Andrew Patterson has been named director of Penn State’s Center for Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogenesis. Credit: Michael Houtz. All Rights Reserved.

Patterson to lead Penn State center on environment and health

Extension Educator Michael Powell instructs on proper, safe chainsaw usage. Penn State Extension offers videos on using the powerful, dangerous tools safely. Credit: Michael Houtz/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Q&A: What are the best ways to protect against chainsaw injuries?

Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

NSF STAIR launches inaugural undergrad internship in research administration

Study first author, Marjorie Jauregui, a pilot plant research technologist at Penn State, found that radish microgreens, no matter at what temperature they were dried, retained a significant portion of nutrients. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Hot air drying largely preserves nutritional composition of radish microgreens

If beekeepers use organic management practices over time, they even can produce 50% more honey than when following conventional management practices, according to the researchers. Credit: Simon Kadula/Unsplash. All Rights Reserved.

Organic beekeeping can be even more profitable than conventional methods

The Huck Institute of the Life Sciences at Penn State University Park. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences names 2025-26 seed grant recipients

Credit: Keith Hickey / Penn State. Creative Commons

September open house to showcase Huck Institutes instrumentation facilities

During extreme heat, older adults can submerge their hands and forearms in tap water to cool their core temperatures and reduce their heart rates, according to a new study by researchers in the Penn State Department of Kinesiology. Credit: Dennis Maney / Penn State. Creative Commons

Submerging forearms in water may help protect older adults during extreme heat

PSU releases new guide on identifying bees in Pennsylvania

PSU Shield

CTSI’s resources enable clinical discoveries, researcher says

To Eat or To Breathe; That is the Question

Mike Campbell, distinguished professor of biology at Penn State Behrend, serves as director of the Lake Erie Regional Grape Research and Extension Center. Credit: Penn State Behrend / Penn State. Creative Commons

Erie research vineyard provides opportunities for Behrend students

When the sidechain bases guanine (G) and uracil (U) are paired in the 3D structure of a molecule of ribonucleic acid (RNA) the unusual pairing creates an unusual molecular conformation called a “wobble," pictured on the left. New research shows that non-covalent modifications to the bases can further alter the conformation creating a “shifted wobble," shown on the right. This conformational diversity could help explain RNAs function versatility, according to the researchers. Credit: Md Sharear Saon/Bevilacqua Lab / Penn State. Creative Commons

Unusual molecular conformation could help explain RNA’s versatility

A group of tiny particles can be made to follow a different group of particles in new experiments demonstrating the first steps in creating intelligent communicating systems involving active particles — sometimes called nanobots — that perform specialized tasks. In the experiment particles coated with the enzyme acid phosphatase (AcP) moved toward a chemical gradient of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), which it converts to glucose that attracts the particles coated with the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx). The situation is akin to a predator chasing its prey or a police officer pursuing a criminal. Credit: Provided by the Sen Laboratory / Penn State. Creative Commons

Can nanobots play follow the leader?

Explainer: What Is the CSL Behring Fermentation Facility at Penn State?

A new method to measure RNA velocity — which describes rate of gene expression in a single cell — overcomes limitations of previous methods and can incorporate spatial information as well as data from cells processed at different times. The new method, called spVelo incorporates two types of neural networks: a Variational Autoencoder that models gene expression and a Graph Attention Network that allows the incorporation of spatial and batch information from the sequencing data. Credit: Provided by the researchers. All Rights Reserved.

New method calculates rate of gene expression to understand cell fate

New sweat monitoring device may help detect oxygen starvation