News | The Huck Institutes (en-US)

The novel Cleavage High-throughput Assay (CHiTA) developed at Penn State provides a scarless method to characterize thousands of diverse small self-cleaving RNA enzymes, called twister ribozymes, in a single experiment. The image shows 2D models of some of the tested ribozymes that had imperfections in their helical and loop elements but were still active, demonstrating that twister ribozyme's ability to self-cleave is tolerant of these slight structural imperfections. Credit: Lauren McKinley and Philip Bevilacqua / Penn State. Creative Commons

Nov 05, 2024

Testing thousands of RNA enzymes helps find first ‘twister ribozyme’ in mammals

A new method, developed by Penn State researchers, can test the activity of thousands of predicted ribozymes in a single experiment.

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Credit: Getty Images - fcafotodigital. All Rights Reserved.

Nov 04, 2024

Nutritional sciences researchers receive funds from McCormick Science Institute

Researchers from the Departments of Nutritional Sciences and Food Science at Penn State have recently received $420,000 in funding from the McCormick Science Institute (MSI) to study the use of herbs and spices in school lunch recipes over the next two years.

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Rangelands offer potential for natural climate solutions — storing vast quantities of carbon in rangeland soils while also supporting the livelihoods of communities. Credit: Conservation South Africa. All Rights Reserved.

Oct 31, 2024

$1.3M NSF grant to fund research into restoration of degraded ecosystems

An international team of researchers led by Ida Djenontin, assistant professor of geography at Penn State, was recently awarded a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems program to investigate the socioecological outcomes of restoration in degraded woodlands ecosystems.

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Using a new method to turn stripped-down plant cells into other types of cells, a team led by Sarah Pfaff, postdoctoral scholar in biology at Penn State, explored how structures called banding patterns in cell walls can increase their stability. They also studied how the assembly of these patterns goes astray in mutant plants, which could inform methods to break down plant cells for biofuels. Credit: Michelle Bixby / Penn State. Creative Commons

Oct 31, 2024

Stem cell-like approach in plants sheds light on specialized cell wall formation

New method reprograms isolated plant cells to form other cell types.

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Oct 31, 2024

Huck researchers reflect on the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

This month, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists credited with historic breakthroughs surrounding proteins and their structures. Three Huck researchers working on similar challenges chime in with their thoughts.

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Oct 30, 2024

Panel discussion to highlight art and science collaborations

Faculty and postdoctoral scholars exhibiting their work in the “Synergies in Art and Science” exhibition at the Borland Project Space (BPS) will participate in a panel discussion, open to the public, on Friday, Nov. 8, noon–1:30 p.m., in the BPS, 125 Borland.

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Christine Kirchhoff (left), associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and associate professor of law, policy and engineering, poses with two of the members of the Civic SciTech Traineeship, a new initiative of COPA-STEP that matches trainees with governmental offices to develop civic science tools. Vijay Bhaskar Chiluveru (center), a recent graduate of the master’s program in energy and mineral engineering in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and Soumita Mukherjee (right), a doctoral candidate in informatics in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, will work on developing civic science tools for air quality monitoring and heat island mapping in Allentown. Credit: Poornima Tomy/Penn State . All Rights Reserved.

Oct 30, 2024

New initiative in Law, Policy and Engineering trains state governor’s fellows

Faculty and staff in Penn State’s Law, Policy, and Engineering initiative (LPE) were recently tapped by the governor’s office to lead a two-day training program in September in Harrisburg on science and technology policy.

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Oct 30, 2024

Physiology Conference to feature celebration marking 50 years of Noll Lab research

Penn State and the American Physiological Society will celebrate a half century of research at the groundbreaking Noll Laboratory, welcoming attendees of the Integrative Physiology of Exercise (IPE) conference with commemorative “Noll@50” events centered around the landmark facility.

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Oct 30, 2024

Kantor appointed to the executive board of the Society of Nematologists

Mihail Kantor, assistant research professor of nematology, has been appointed to the executive board of the Society of Nematologists (SON). A nonprofit, international organization dedicated to advancing the science of nematology in its fundamental and economic aspects, SON is the highest professional organization for nematology and fosters knowledge across all areas of nematology.

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Oct 29, 2024

Penn State’s Neurosciences Biorepository expands access to University Park

The Neuroscience Biorepository, a collection of specimens and data housed at the Penn State College of Medicine, will be expanding its availability to researchers at University Park.

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