Focus: Hidden - Missouri

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Brain tumor stem cells can resist treatment and regrow tumors, but scientists have identified a vulnerability in these cells that could lead to a new approach in battling deadly brain tumors.

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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has great potential to improve health and health care for people with diabetes, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

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Christine Hachem, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University, reports that patients seem to be embracing probiotics, even as antibiotic use is increasing and over-utilized.

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Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are giving new meaning to the term “read the fine print” with their demonstration of a color printing process using nanomaterials. In this case, the print features are very fine – visible only with the aid of a high-powered electron microscope.

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What is it with cheating? Cheaters seem to have an immediate advantage over cooperators, but do they have an evolutionary advantage? A study published in Current Biology suggests the benefits of cheating change with its prevalence,in a population. Cheaters may succeed, for example, only when they are rare, and fail when they become so numerous they push out cooperators.

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When the AAAS published "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action in 2011," the community of life-science educators was determined that it not become a dead letter. Eight schools have just finished the pilot certification process the community set up to allow departments to measure their progress against the 2011 goals.

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Two Danforth Center scientists, Andrea Eveland, Ph.D. and Daniel Chitwood, Ph.D. were given prestigious awards from the American Society of Plant Biologists.

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Saint Louis University has reached a definitive agreement with Tenet for the sale of Saint Louis University hospital, which is being contributed to SSM in exchange for a financial interest and governance rights in SSM Health St. Louis.

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Researchers at the Stowers Institute have shown that a molecule called elongin A assists with transcription.

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Experts from the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Stanford, PENN, UNC, and the NIH will offer education and networking opportunities for people, families, and friends living with vasculitis, a family of rare autoimmune diseases.

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The nation’s approach to cyber security has much in common with medieval defense tactics, and that needs to change, says a cyber security expert at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have designed a nanoparticle-based therapy that is effective in treating mice with multiple myeloma, a cancer of immune cells in the bone marrow. Targeted specifically to the malignant cells, these nanoparticles protect their therapeutic cargo from degradation in the bloodstream and greatly enhance drug delivery into the cancer cells.

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ROLLA, Mo. – The water crisis in the western United States – especially in California and Washington – may be the most severe and most publicized, but other threats to the nation’s water supply loom, says Dr. Joel Burken, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

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Nearly 70,000 people worldwide are living with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease. There currently is no cure for the condition, but researchers from the University of Missouri have identified a key component in the protein that causes the disease. It is a finding that may lay the foundation for the development of new medications and improved therapies.

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Researchers have found that an antiviral compound may protect the brain from invading pathogens. Studying West Nile virus infection in mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis showed that interferon-lambda tightens the blood-brain barrier, making it harder for the virus to invade the brain.

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​If you have a spring in your step and a smile on your face, you’re in good company. Americans are generally a pretty happy bunch, according to a new study that aims to further our collective understanding of happiness and its root causes.

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A diabetes drug may have benefits beyond lower blood sugar in patients with HIV. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests the drug may prevent cardiovascular problems because it works to reduce inflammation that is linked to heart disease and stroke in these patients. The drug both improved metabolism and reduced inflammation in HIV-positive adults on antiretroviral therapy.

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A newly discovered link between bacteria and immune cells sheds light on inflammatory bowel disease, an autoimmune condition that affects 1.6 million people in the United States, report researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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A team of engineers and researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is working to allow those with upper limb prosthetics to feel hot and cold and the sense of touch through their prosthetic hands.

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Dr. J. David Rogers, the Karl F. Hasselmann Chair of Geological Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, is available to speak to journalists about the Nepal earthquakes.

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Transgender and non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual students are at greater risk for eating disorders, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The study used data from the American College Health Association–National College Health Assessment, a survey of 289,024 students from 223 U.S. universities. Researchers found that the rates of self-reported eating disorders were highest in transgender people. Heterosexual men had the lowest rates.

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The list of authors for an article on the comparative genomics of a fruit fly chromosome, published online May 11 by the journal G3, includes 940 undergraduates from 63 institutions. It is the result of an effort, coordinated through Washington University in St. Louis, to provide many more students with a hands-on research experience than has traditionally been possible.

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More than 50 international organizations and global experts signed The Hague Declaration on Knowledge Discovery in the Digital Age May 6. The declaration calls for immediate changes to intellectual property (IP) law and the removal of other barriers preventing larger and more equal access to data. The document is based in part on the work of Neil Richards, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. Richards is a noted expert on data ethics and intellectual freedom and has published widely on issues related to privacy in the digital age.

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Medications have long been used to treat pain caused by injury or chronic conditions. Unfortunately, most are short-term fixes or cause side effects that limit their use. Researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered a new compound that offers longer lasting painkilling effects, and shows promise as an alternative to current anesthetics.

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Crunch the numbers and the math adds up to more strokes for women, making it important for women monitor their risk.

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When it comes to rewards and punishments, which is more effective — the carrot or the stick? A simple experiment devised at Washington University in St. Louis suggests that punishments are more likely to influence behavior than rewards. The results, which stem from a study involving 88 students at the university, are available online in the journal Cognition.

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Though people often think of the benefits from exercise, calorie restriction and weight loss as interchangeable, it appears that they may all offer distinct and cumulative benefits when it comes to managing Type 2 diabetes risk.

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Researchers have uncovered a unique connection between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, providing further evidence that a disease that robs people of their memories may be affected by elevated blood sugar.

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A student-led strategic consulting firm, The BALSA Group, is expanding the technology transfer capabilities of Washington University in St. Louis while broadening career opportunities for its members. BALSA, which has become a national model for similar student groups, also supports local economic growth and development.

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Carrie Pettus-Davis, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, has been tapped to serve as executive director for the research initiative of a new public, private and academic partnership aimed at lowering incarceration rates in the United States.

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​Recalling long lists of random words, numbers and playing cards will be the challenge this weekend as two dozen of the world’s top memory athletes square off in San Diego for the 2015 Extreme Memory Tournament, an annual competition sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis and Dart NeuroScience.

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Celebrated Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov to Deliver 2015 Commencement Address at Saint Louis University May 16.

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Washington University School of Medicine neuroscientists have attached the light-sensing protein rhodopsin to opioid receptor parts to activate the receptor pathways using light from a laser fiber-optic device. They also influenced the behavior of mice using light, rather than drugs, to activate the reward response.

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SLU researchers are investigating a new vaccine approach that could be an important step in ending the need for annual flu shots.

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A demographic study of two endangered plants at Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco shows that they favor recently disturbed open areas over areas that have established plant cover. The study strengthens the case for removing the beachgrass originally planted to stabilize the dunes and allowing the sand to move in response to storm surges and strong tides.

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By training a type of grasshopper to recognize odors, a team of biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis is learning more about the brain and how it processes information from its senses.

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Fragile X syndrome, an inherited cause of autism and intellectual disability, can have consequences even for carriers of the disorder. Researchers have identified a potential target for treatments for these carriers.

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The key to the modernization of Africa is an African renaissance, says Dr. Tseggai Isaac, associate professor of history and political science at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Isaac has recently co-authored and edited a collection of essays on the topic.

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International executives are ready to hit the ground running as the inaugural class of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) and Washington University in St. Louis joint Executive MBA program. An intensive residency focusing on leadership and management began April 22 in Mumbai for the inaugural first cohort (see class profile).

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Many studies have linked more sleep to better memory, but new research in fruit flies demonstrates that extra sleep helps the brain overcome catastrophic neurological defects that otherwise would block memory formation, report scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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An enzyme secreted by the body’s fat tissue controls energy levels in the brain, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, in mice, underscore a role for the body’s fat tissue in controlling the brain’s response to food scarcity, and suggest there is an optimal amount of body fat for maximizing health and longevity.

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Sánchez Alvarado, known for his groundbreaking work on the biology of the planaria—a flatworm model organism known for its regenerative abilities, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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New research highlights how nerves – whether harmed by disease or traumatic injury – start to die, a discovery that unveils novel targets for developing drugs to slow or halt peripheral neuropathies and devastating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

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An international team of scientists, including researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, have found antibiotic resistance genes in the bacterial flora of a South American tribe that never before had been exposed to antibiotic drugs. The findings suggest that bacteria in the human body have had the ability to resist antibiotics since long before such drugs were ever used to treat disease.