News
Aug 13, 2024
Less sleep and later bedtime in childhood linked to future substance use
A good night’s sleep is essential for children’s health and development, but childhood sleep patterns may also be linked to future substance use. A new study led by a team of Penn State researchers found that adolescents were more likely to have consumed alcohol or tried marijuana by age 15 if they went to bed later and slept fewer hours during childhood and adolescence.
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Aug 13, 2024
NCEMS aims to ‘build a nationwide community' and address research barriers
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) National Synthesis Center for Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Sciences (NCEMS) at Penn State “will “bring scientists together from different disciplines to integrate diverse data sets to answer transformative scientific questions,” according to Justin Petucci, associate director of NCEMS and Research Innovations with Scientists and Engineers' (RISE) artificial intelligence and machine learning team lead.
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Aug 12, 2024
Rewriting the evolutionary history of critical components of the nervous system
A new study has rewritten the conventionally understood evolutionary history of certain proteins critical for electrical signaling in the nervous system. The study, led by Penn State researchers, shows that the well-studied family of proteins — potassium ion channels in the Shaker family — were present in microscopic single cell organisms well before the common ancestor of all animals.
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Aug 09, 2024
Memory problems in old age linked to a key enzyme, study in mice finds
A team of researchers from Penn State has identified an enzyme that contributes to age-related impairments in memory updating. When blocked, older mice were better able to incorporate new information and performed similarly to their younger counterparts. The researchers said the findings may lead to the development of potential therapeutic targets for improving cognitive flexibility in old age.
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Aug 09, 2024
Ecology Student Wins Award from Phycological Society of America
Caleb Butler, an Ecology graduate student working in Todd LaJeunesse's lab, won an award for their presentation at a Seattle-based meeting of the Phycological Society of America.
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Aug 07, 2024
Biomedical engineer to use $2M NIH grant to improve human tissue repair
A team of Penn State researchers led by Wang was recently awarded a four-year, $2.02 million National Institutes of Health grant to explore how to safely add growth factors to collagen used by doctors for tissue repair.
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Aug 02, 2024
$3.8M NIH grant funds 3D tissue and organism visualization project
Keith Cheng, distinguished professor of pathology, of pharmacology and of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Penn State College of Medicine, has been awarded a four-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop novel methods for 3D tissue imaging.
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Aug 01, 2024
Penn State researchers receive USDA-NIFA grant to study male cattle genetics
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a grant to a team of researchers in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences to study the genetic mechanisms underlying the development of the testis, the male organ that produces reproductive cells, in cattle and its role in sperm production.
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Jul 31, 2024
How duplicated genomes helped grasses diversify and thrive
Grasses cover about 40% of the Earth’s land surface, thriving in a multitude of environments. The evolutionary success of this plant family, which includes rice, maize, wheat and bamboo, likely results from a history of whole-genome duplications, according to a new analysis led by Penn State biologists.
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Jul 30, 2024
Genes or environment? A new model for understanding disease risk factors
A new model more accurately predicts how genetics and air pollution levels causally influence disease development; may help better assess disease risk and intervention strategies.
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