News from around the lab
T cell immunity enhanced by timing of interleukin-7 therapy
That the cell nurturing growth factor interleukin-7 can help ramp up
the ability of the immune system to remember the pathogenic villains it
encounters is well known.
Read the full news article at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/14686
California company licenses WARF stem cell technology
Jan. 9, 2008
by Janet Kelly
BioTime, Inc. (OTCBB: BTIM) has signed a licensing agreement with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) for 173 patents and patent applications relating to human embryonic stem cell technology created by James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
What lies beneath: Growth of root cells remarkably dynamic, study finds
Dec. 3, 2007
by Madeline Fisher
Heart cells beat together as the heart pumps. Single-celled amoebae
pulsate as they move. But pulsing plant cells? That's precisely what
certain plant cells do as they grow, says a study publishing online
this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read the full news article at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/14505
Ebola virus disarmed by excising a single gene
by Terry Devitt
The deadly Ebola virus, an emerging public health concern in Africa and
a potential biological weapon, ranks among the most feared of exotic
pathogens.
Read the full news article at http://www.news.wisc.edu/14634
In diatom, scientists find genes that may level engineering hurdle
by Nicole Miller
Denizens of oceans, lakes and even wet soil, diatoms are unicellular algae that encase themselves in intricately patterned, glass-like shells. Curiously, these tiny phytoplankton could be harboring the next big breakthrough in computer chips.
Read the full news article at http://www.news.wisc.edu/14635
UW-Madison scientists guide human skin cells to embryonic state
Nov. 20, 2007
by Terry Devitt
In a paper to be published Nov. 22 in the online edition of the journal Science,
a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers reports the
genetic reprogramming of human skin cells to create cells
indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells.
Read the full new article at http://www.news.wisc.edu/14474
With a $900 million investment, UW-Madison steps up in research rankings
by Terry Devitt
Across all academic fields, the UW-Madison now conducts more than $900 million worth of research annually, according to new statistics released by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
AAAS honors five UW-Madison members
Oct. 26, 2007
Five University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and staff members are among the 471 scientists, engineers, educators and communicators who have been selected as fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The awards are announced in the Oct. 26 issue of Science.
A gene divided reveals details of natural selection
Oct. 10, 2007
by Terry Devitt
In a molecular tour de force, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have provided an exquisitely detailed picture of natural selection as it occurs at the genetic level.
Writing in the Oct. 11 issue of the journal Nature, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Sean B. Carroll and former UW-Madison graduate student Chris Todd Hittinger document how, over many generations, a single yeast gene divides in two and parses its responsibilities to be a more efficient denizen of its environment.
Read the full news article at http://www.news.wisc.edu/14276
Smithies’ work at UW-Madison underpinned Nobel Prize in Medicine
Smithies Photo courtesy: UNC-Chapel Hill
Dr. Oliver Smithies is a former faculty trainer in the CMB graduate program. During his time at UW, he served as the thesis advisor for CMB Alumni: Dr. Vicky Valancius-Mangel (PhD 1990) and Dr. Michael Sung (PhD 1968). Read the full news story: http://www.news.wisc.edu/14268