News

January 10, 2022

‘Flurona’ is real, but don’t panic — it’s common to get two viruses at once

A study conducted by Penn State College of Medicine researchers showed that surveying communities about public health compliance may be a useful tool for predicting COVID-19 case trends. Credit: Getty Images | martin-dm. All Rights Reserved.

January 10, 2022

COVID-19 case trajectories may be predicted by surveying communities

January 05, 2022

When will Omicron peak? A Penn State professor shares national COVID-19 modeling team's projections

January 05, 2022

WTAJ News at 6

C. Denise Okafor, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. Credit: Penn State. All Rights Reserved.

January 03, 2022

Okafor receives 2021 National Science Foundation CAREER Award

January 02, 2022

Covid is rampant among deer, research shows

December 29, 2021

Deer populations may 'host' coronavirus

December 20, 2021

Sports Leagues Are Showing Us Just How Bad Omicron Could Get

December 19, 2021

Europe gives US gloomy portrait of what's to come with omicron

December 17, 2021

Omicron may be less severe in South Africa. That may not be the case for the U.S.

David Hughes, Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Global Food Security and professor of entomology and biology in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Eberly College of Science Credit: Dan Lesher / Penn State. Creative Commons

December 16, 2021

David Hughes makes Newsweek’s inaugural list of 'America’s Greatest Disruptors'

December 15, 2021

America's Greatest Disruptors: Planet Protectors

December 14, 2021

Is Omicron as infectious as it gets? Scientists lay out their best and worst scenarios for the virus' future.

Leadership teams from Gamma Biosciences and BioMagnetic Solutions visit Penn State, November 2021

December 14, 2021

Biotech company selects Innovation Park for expansion

December 10, 2021

What omicron's fast spread could mean for the U.S. – and the world

Leonid Berlyand, professor of mathematics at Penn State, a member the Penn State Materials Research Institute, and co-director of the Center for Mathematics of Living and Mimetic Matter at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. Credit: Penn State.

December 09, 2021

Mathematics professor receives Humboldt Research Award

December 09, 2021

The Rise of COVID-19 Vaccines for Animals

December 08, 2021

A claim that viruses and other pathogens always evolve to become less lethal is false

December 08, 2021

Animal health experts: US ag needs to be prepared for disease outbreaks

December 05, 2021

Omicron variant’s unusual mutations could mean it spread from an animal, scientists suggest

December 04, 2021

Omicron's 'wacko' combination of mutations has scientists split over whether it developed in humans or animals

December 03, 2021

Take Note: COVID-19 modeling expert and Penn State professor on the Omicron variant and how modeling works

December 02, 2021

Iowa deer are being infected with COVID. What does it mean for hunters?

The omicron variant (B.1.1.529) of SARS-CoV-2, which has now been detected in the U.S., has been listed as a ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organization, which has stated that the overall global risk related to the variant is ‘very high.’ According to Matthew Ferrari, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State, omicron contains more mutations in more locations of the genome than any of the previous SARS-CoV-2 variants, and some of these mutations are in parts of the virus that may affect the virus’s transmissibility and ability to evade the immune system. However, he says, there is no evidence yet that the severity of disease that omicron causes is any worse than delta.