A new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison offers a first-of-its-kind visual of a non-mammal species' adaptive immune system in action. The advance holds potential implications for a range of scientific aims, from improving wildlife vaccines to better understanding fundamental disease processes and possibly the evolution of adaptive immunity itself.
Plants live across wide ranges of heat and cold and rain and drought, but they don’t fill their niches alone. Along with the animals and insects that live on and around a tree — pitching in now and then to aid pollination or pest control or seed dispersal — there are innumerable microbes in the soil (like various fungi that grow alongside tree roots). These microbes can blunt the normal stresses of life by helping trees draw in more nutrients and water or influencing the time they leaf out or flower to best match seasonal conditions.
Today, foldable phones are ubiquitous. Now, using models that predict how well a flexible electronic device will conform to spherical surfaces, University of Wisconsin–Madison and University of Texas at Austin engineers could usher in a new era in which these bendy devices can integrate seamlessly with parts of the human body.
In an advance they consider a breakthrough in computational chemistry research, University of Wisconsin–Madison chemical engineers have developed model of how catalytic reactions work at the atomic scale.
University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have developed a new method for targeting tumors with cancer drugs by exploiting the clotting propensity of blood platelets.The new approach, first described March 29 in the journal Science Advances, adds to a growing set of innovative drug delivery techniques under development in the lab of Quanyin Hu, a professor in the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy.
Corporate investments in climate-tech start-ups are a growing but overlooked aspect of energy innovation. According to a new report from Morgan Edwards, a professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and her lead co-author at University of Maryland, these investments should be more fully considered as methods to advance climate technology.
While recent studies and polls indicate the nation is in the midst of a mental health crisis, the situation in academia is even more grim: Within the high-stress, high-pressure, often socially isolated world of advanced education, graduate students experience depression and anxiety at six times the rate of the general population.
Even in their dark isolation from the atmosphere above, caves can hold a rich archive of local climate conditions and how they’ve shifted over the eons. Formed over tens of thousands of years, speleothems — rock formations unique to caves better known as stalagmites and stalactites — hold secrets to the ancient environments from which they formed.
Retinal cells grown from stem cells can reach out and connect with neighbors, according to a new study, completing a “handshake” that may show the cells are ready for trials in humans with degenerative eye disorders.Over a decade ago, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison developed a way to grow organized clusters of cells, called organoids, that resemble the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
One-hundred fifty years ago, Charles Darwin speculated that life likely originated in a warm little pond. There, Darwin supposed, chemical reactions and the odd lightning strike might have led to chains of amino acids that, over time, became more and more complex until the beginnings of life emerged.Ever since, researchers have investigated this type of pre-life or “prebiotic” chemistry, trying to figure out the chemical pathways that could have led from a pool filled with simple amino acids to bacteria, redwood trees and people.
In the lake-rich regions of the world, algae blooms are a growing problem. Not only are the floating green scums a nuisance for anyone hoping to enjoy the water, they can turn toxic and threaten public health.The main driver behind these blooms is phosphorus, an element used widely in agriculture to fertilize crops, that can run from the land and into lakes — especially during heavy rains.
Cocaine disrupts the balance of microbes in the guts of mice, part of a cycle of waxing and waning neurochemicals that can enhance the drug’s effects in the brain. But the same chemicals may also be harnessed to prevent addiction, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.Cocaine increases levels of a hormone called norepinephrine in users’ intestines, triggering an explosion of growth of proteobacteria, a family of microbes that includes the common and sometimes harmful bacterium E.
While the physical differences between humans and non-human primates are quite distinct, a new study reveals their brains may be remarkably similar. And yet, the smallest changes may make big differences in developmental and psychiatric disorders.
Despite improvements by meatpackers to keep their supply chains free of cattle grazed on protected or illegally deforested lands, many slaughterhouses in Brazil — the world's top beef exporter — continue to purchase illegally pastured animals on a large scale. A new study published Oct. 18 in the journal Conservation Letters underscores the depth of the problem.
MADISON — For the first time, researchers can get a high-resolution view of single blood stem cells thanks to a little help from microscopy and zebrafish.Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of California San Diego have developed a method for scientists to track a single blood stem cell in a live organism and then describe the ultrastructure, or architecture, of that same cell using electron microscopy.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison's Cell-Inspired Personalized Therapeutic (CIPT) Lab has developed a powerful immunity-boosting postoperative treatment that could transform the odds for patients with glioblastoma.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have described the way an enzyme and proteins interact to maintain the protective caps, called telomeres, at the end of chromosomes, a new insight into how a human cell preserves the integrity of its DNA through repeated cell division. DNA replication is essential for perpetuating life as we know it, but many of the complexities of the process — how myriad biomolecules get where they need to go and interact over a series of intricately orchestrated steps — remain mysterious.
Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds has isolated the changes in pain-related brain activity that follow mindfulness training — pointing a way toward more targeted and precise pain treatment.
Some copepods, diminutive crustaceans with an outsized place in the aquatic food web, can evolve fast enough to survive in the face of rapid climate change, according to new research that addresses a longstanding question in the field of genetics. Barely more than a millimeter long, the copepod Eurytemora affinis paddles its way through the coastal waters of oceans and estuaries around the world in large numbers — mostly getting eaten by juvenile fish, like salmon, herring and anchovy.
Two of the most common genetic changes that cause cells to become cancerous, which were previously thought to be separate and regulated by different cellular signals, are working in concert, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. To date, researchers have focused on finding drugs that block one or the other to treat cancer.
In new work, scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison identified a way to release the brakes on plants’ production of aromatic amino acids by changing, or mutating, one set of genes. The genetic change also caused the plants to absorb 30% more carbon dioxide than normal, without any ill effect on the plants.
Sepsis, the body’s overreaction to an infection, affects more than 1.5 million people and kills at least 270,000 every year in the U.S. alone. The standard treatment of antibiotics and fluids is not effective for many patients, and those who survive face a higher risk of death. In new research, the lab of Shaoqin “Sarah” Gong at the University of Wisconsin–Madison reported a new nanoparticle-based treatment that delivers anti-inflammatory molecules and antibiotics.
• A university-industry collaboration has successfully run a quantum algorithm on a type of quantum computer known as a cold atom quantum computer for the first time. The achievement by the team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin¬–Madison, ColdQuanta and Riverlane brings quantum computing one step closer to being used in real-world applications.
New, highly detailed and rigorous maps of bird biodiversity could help protect rare or threatened species. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison developed the maps at a fine-enough resolution to help conservation managers focus their efforts where they are most likely to help birds — in individual counties or forests, rather than across whole states or regions.
Most simulations of our climate’s future may be overly sensitive to Arctic ice melt as a cause of abrupt changes in ocean circulation, according to new research led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Climate scientists count the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (or AMOC) among the biggest tipping points on the way to a planetary climate disaster.
The gel, tested in mice, releases drugs and special antibodies that simultaneously deplete immune-blocking cells called macrophages from the surgical site and activate T cells so they can attack cancer.
The antiviral therapies remdesivir, molnupiravir, and the active ingredient in Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill (nirmatrelvir), remain effective in laboratory tests against the BA.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The BA.2 variant also remains susceptible to at least some of the monoclonal antibodies used to treat COVID-19, such as Evusheld by AstraZeneca.
University of Wisconsin–Madison physicists have made one of the highest performance atomic clocks ever, they announced Feb. 16 in the journal Nature.
A new analysis, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the carbon emissions from using land to grow corn can negate or even reverse any climate advantages of corn ethanol relative to gasoline.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison have revealed the importance of a specific type of connection between brain cells that may explain ketamine’s potential as a treatment for depression.
Increasing the expression of one gene in cells that assist the brain’s neurons protects neurons in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. These findings come from a new study published Jan. 10 in Nature Communications. High activity of the gene, Nrf2, slowed cognitive and physical decline in the mice and reduced the accumulation of sticky proteins in their brains, all key markers of the disease in humans.
Small, unique antibody-like proteins known as VNARs — derived from the immune systems of sharks — can prevent the virus that causes COVID-19, its variants, and related coronaviruses from infecting human cells, according to a new study published Dec. 16. The new VNARs will not be immediately available as a treatment in people, but they can help prepare for future coronavirus outbreaks.
Damage to a part of the brain that regulates hyperactivity can contribute to both memory problems and seizures in the most common form of epilepsy, according to research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The study, published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience, may lead to earlier diagnosis of epilepsy and possibly new ways to treat epilepsy and other disorders that share symptoms, like Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury and autism spectrum disorder.
New astronomical models recreate the birth of the Magellanic Stream over the last 3.5 billion years — and researchers discovered that the stream may be five times closer to Earth than previously thought.
Alexander disease is a progressive and rare neurological disorder with no cure or standard course of treatment. But a new study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison involving a rat model of the disease offers a potential treatment for the typically fatal condition.
In a new study designed to better understand and combat these structures, Andes and his collaborators identified some of the key proteins in biofilms of the fungus Candida albicans that control both how they resist antifungal drugs and how they become dispersed throughout the body.
Over the last few decades, scientists have discovered that long-term calorie restriction provides a wealth of benefits in animals. Researchers have largely assumed that reduced food intake drove these benefits by reprogramming metabolism. But a new study finds that reduced calorie intake alone is not enough; fasting is essential for mice to derive full benefit.
New research from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others significantly alters the prevailing understanding of how marine life influences clouds and may change the way scientists predict how cloud formation responds to changes in the oceans.
Scientists have identified two subtypes of metastatic prostate cancer that respond differently to treatment, information that could one day guide physicians in treating patients with the therapies best suited to their disease.
A new decade-long study by University of Wisconsin¬–Madison researchers reveals how aspen stands change their genetic structure over the years as trees balance defending themselves from pests with growth to compete for sunlight.
Over the last 50 years, income inequality between households increased significantly, but not because people changed who they marry.
Botanists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of British Columbia have discovered a new carnivorous plant in western North America.
Researchers know that electricity can help speed up bone healing, but “zapping” fractures has never really caught on, since it requires surgically implanting and removing electrodes powered by an external source. Xudong Wang’s latest invention may make electrostimulation a much more convenient option to speed up bone healing.
About 100 additional wolves died over the winter in Wisconsin as a result of the delisting of grey wolves under the Endangered Species Act, alongside the 218 wolves killed by licensed hunters during Wisconsin’s first public wolf hunt, according to new research. A majority of these additional, uncounted deaths are due to "cryptic poaching," where poachers hide evidence of illegal killings.
MADISON – The presence of a state prison in a county was associated with 11% more COVID-19 cases through July 1, 2020, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
In a new study using variant virus recovered from one of the original travelers, researchers in the U.S. and Japan have found that vaccination with an mRNA vaccine induces antibody responses that would protect humans from infection with the gamma/P.1 variant.
Quantum computers could outperform classical computers at many tasks, but only if the errors that are an inevitable part of computational tasks are isolated rather than widespread events. Now, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have found evidence that errors are correlated across an entire superconducting quantum computing chip — highlighting a problem that must be acknowledged and addressed in the quest for fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Researchers set out to learn how extreme winter cold and heat affected 41 common bird species in eastern North America. They found that individual bird species respond differently to these weather events, and extreme winter heat may lead to longer-term changes in bird populations.
If you’re wearing gold jewelry right now, there’s a good chance it came from an illegal mining operation in the tropics and surfaced only after some rainforest was sacrificed, according to a team of University of Wisconsin researchers who studied regulatory efforts to curb some of these environmentally damaging activities.
A global survey of fossil pollen has discovered that the planet’s vegetation is changing at least as quickly today as it did when the last ice sheets retreated around 10,000 years ago.
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