News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

This herbicide-resistant pigweed was found growing in a Pennsylvania soybean field. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jun 23, 2025

Multistate herbicide-resistant weeds study aims to protect soybean crops

New grant will fund development of rapid testing to detect herbicide-resistant weeds in soybean fields; to gain a better understanding of plant mechanisms that contribute to resistance.

Full Article

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.

Full Article

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.

Full Article

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 13, 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.

Full Article

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 12, 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.

Full Article

Anton Bankevich and Yana Safonova, two assistant professors of computer science at Penn State, helped develop a specialized algorithm to analyze and verify complex genome sequences. Credit: Caleb Craig/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

Jun 11, 2025

Understanding us: Researchers apply algorithm to decode complex genome sequences

Two assistant professors of computer science at Penn State helped develop a specialized algorithm to analyze and verify complex genome sequences.

Full Article

Study first author Yanxin Lin, left, and senior author Misha Kwasniewski examine the structure of the chemical catechin, an important polyphenol and building block of tannins. The new tannin-measurement method breaks large, complex structures into catechin ions and other fragments to characterize the original structure. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jun 11, 2025

‘Fingerprinting’ plant compounds helps explain food, drink tastes

Researchers develop method to determine what compounds affect bitter taste, mouthfeel in wine, dark chocolate, and other foods and drinks.

Full Article

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 10, 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.

Full Article

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.

Full Article

Milk protein and cellulose derived from plants can be electrospun into thin fibers for use in mats that could be used for biodegradable and edible food packaging, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State. Pictured here are variations in the composition of fibers made from different ratios of milk protein and cellulose. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

Jun 06, 2025

Edible, biodegradable fibers made from milk protein, cellulose

Milk protein and cellulose derived from plants may be the next big thing in sustainability, thanks to a first-of-its-kind advancement made by researchers at Penn State.

Full Article