News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

A new study led by researchers at Penn State has identified the gene responsible for the color switch between the red and black color forms of the bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus. The black form is similar to other bees in the Pacific Coastal region while the red form is similar to other bees in the Rocky Mountain region. IMAGE: LI TIAN, PENN STATE

May 01, 2019

How The Bumble Bee Got Its Stripes

Researchers have discovered a gene that drives color differences within a species of bumble bees. This discovery helps to explain the highly diverse color patterns among bumble bee species as well as how mimicry — individuals in an area adopting similar color patterns — evolves.

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May 01, 2019

Squire Booker Elected as Member of the National Academy of Sciences

Squire J. Booker, professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, Holder of the Eberly Distinguished Chair in Science, and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

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A man inspects an "Eave Tube" used to intercept and kill mosquitoes CREDIT: Matthew Thomas

Apr 30, 2019

Five Huck Researchers Featured In Penn State's "Impact" Campaign

The Huck Institutes is well-represented among this collection of exciting work being done by members of the University community.

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Apr 30, 2019

NIH Grant Funds Research to Pinpoint Natural Selection’s Influence on Genomes

With a $1.7 million grant through the National Institutes of Health, researchers led by Michael DeGiorgio will begin to tease apart individual forces to understand how much influence natural selection has had on our evolutionary path.

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Apr 29, 2019

'Right' Cover-Crop Mix Good for Both Chesapeake and Bottom Lines

Planting and growing a strategic mix of cover crops not only reduces the loss of nitrogen from farm fields, protecting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, but the practice also contributes nitrogen to subsequent cash crops, improving yields, according to researchers.

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Apr 25, 2019

Food Scientist Kovac Receives Young Investigator Award

Jasna Kovac, assistant professor of food science in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, recently was named recipient of the Institut Merieux Young Investigator Award in Antimicrobial Resistance from the International Association for Food Protection.

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The virus SW1 is carried by cells so that related bacteria may recognize other SW1 carriers and kill bacteria that do not have the virus, giving bacteria with SW1 a competitive advantage when foraging for food. IMAGE: SOOYEON SONG AND MISSY HAZEN/PENN STATE

Apr 25, 2019

Bacteria uses viral weapon against other bacteria

Bacterial cells use both a virus — traditionally thought to be an enemy — and a prehistoric viral protein to kill other bacteria that competes with it for food according to an international team of researchers who believe this has potential implications for future infectious disease treatment.

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White-throated sparrows are among the best-studied North American songbirds. With a typical wingspan of 6 to 7 inches, it breeds primarily in northern boreal coniferous and mixed forests and, a short-distance migrant, winters mainly in the southeastern U.S. To make these migrations, the bird's body changes significantly. IMAGE: PAUL BARTELL / PENN STATE

Apr 24, 2019

Songbird-body changes that allow migration may have human health implications

Songbirds that pack on as much as 50 percent of their body weight before migrating and that sleep very little, exhibit altered immune system and tissue-repair function during the journey, which may hold implications for human health, according to Penn State researchers.

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Apr 24, 2019

Ehau-Taumaunu awarded newly established Phytobiomes Fellowship

Hanareia Ehau-Taumaunu, doctoral candidate in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has been selected as the recipient of the Phytobiomes Fellowship for the 2019-20 academic year.

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A new sensor changes its fluorescence when it binds to lanthanides (Ln), rare earth metals used in smartphones and other technologies, potentially providing a more efficient and cost-effective way to detect these elusive metals. IMAGE: COTRUVO LAB, PENN STATE

Apr 23, 2019

New sensor detects rare metals used in smartphones

A more efficient and cost-effective way to detect lanthanides, the rare earth metals used in smartphones and other technologies, could be possible with a new protein-based sensor that changes its fluorescence when it binds to these metals. A team of researchers from Penn State developed the sensor from a protein they recently described and subsequently used it to explore the biology of bacteria that use lanthanides. A study describing the sensor appears online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

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