Category Science & Technology
UW Board of Regents approves Healthstar research facility
Construction of a $133.9 million Interdisciplinary Research Complex, which will replace outdated research facilities and unify the University of Wisconsin–Madison Medical School on the west campus, won approval Friday (Nov. 5) from the UW System Board of Regents. Read More
Horticulturist goes in search of a sweeter onion
The future looks rosy for the pungent bulb, says Michael Havey of the Department of Horticulture. Read More
Gene from 1918 virus proves key to virulent influenza
Using a gene resurrected from the virus that caused the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, recorded history's most lethal outbreak of infectious disease, scientists have found that a single gene may have been responsible for the devastating virulence of the virus. Read More
New program simplifies growers’ access to potato varieties
With guidance from Wisconsin's potato growers, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) has launched a streamlined licensing program for seed potato farmers who wish to cultivate and sell varieties developed by the potato-breeding program at UW–Madison. Read More
Discovery may halt progression of Alzheimer’s
In a finding that may cause a dramatic shift in the way scientists and researchers search for a therapy for Alzheimer's disease, a team of researchers led by Jeff Johnson, an associate professor at the School of Pharmacy, has discovered that increased expression of a protein called transthyretin in the brain appears to halt the progression of the disease. The findings appear in the current issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Read More
Licenses for new HyRed cranberry now available
Licenses to produce and sell fruit from UW–Madison's HyRed cranberry - the first publicly developed cranberry variety in more than three decades - are now being offered through the university's patent and licensing organization. Read More
UW part of national pathogen bioinformatics center
In an effort to speed up research on disease-causing pathogens, including ones that could be used as biological weapons, scientists at UW–Madison will team with an information technology (IT) company, SRA International, Inc., to build an online, publicly accessible library of data on these infectious agents and their genomes. Read More
Technology could enhance accuracy of breast biopsy
A new technology developed by a research group headed by Nimmi Ramanujam, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UW–Madison, will be a "third eye" during breast biopsies and can increase the chance for an accurate clinical diagnosis of breast cancer. Read More
Study: Cancer drug Erbitux nearly doubles survival
Patients with head and neck cancer appear to survive nearly twice as long after receiving a new drug known as Erbitux (scientific name: cetuximab) in conjunction with radiation therapy compared with patients treated solely with radiation therapy. Read More
Researchers report major advance in gene therapy technique
A group of researchers from the Medical School, the Waisman Center and Mirus Bio Corporation reports a critical advance relating to one of the most fundamental and challenging problems of gene therapy: how to safely and effectively get therapeutic DNA inside cells. Read More
UW-Madison scientists find a key to cell division
A cellular structure discovered 125 years ago and dismissed by many biologists as "cellular garbage" has been found to play a key role in the process of cytokinesis, or cell division, one of the most ancient and important of all biological phenomena. Read More
Cranberry breeding program may soon bear fruit for growers
A cranberry variety developed by UW–Madison scientists with the help of local cranberry growers is now poised to give those same growers a competitive edge. Read More
First graduates boon to Wisconsin biotechnology
Two years ago, 10 students working as scientists, business managers and lawyers came together with a single goal: to become leaders in this state's burgeoning biotechnology industry. On Saturday, May 15, they will graduate as the first alumni of the master of science in biotechnology program at UW–Madison. Read More
Chemists find a new chink in TB’s armor
The family of bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy are notoriously sturdy. And although the diseases they cause have been held in check for the past 50 years by antibiotics, some strains are becoming increasingly resistant to existing therapy. Now, however, a new chink has been found in the cellular armor that makes these infectious diseases difficult to treat. Read More
Facility provides researchers powerful tool
Researchers can rapidly test tens of thousands of small, organic chemical compounds for their ability to alter biological processes at the Keck-UW Comprehensive Cancer Center Small Molecule Screening Facility, one of a handful of university facilities of its kind in North America. Read More
Study: Mimicking viruses may provide new way to defeat them
Viruses, often able to outsmart many of the drugs designed to defeat them, may have met their match, according to new research from UW–Madison. Read More
Despite confinement, crop genes can spread fast to wild
With the slim chance that farmers will stop planting crops containing genes from other organisms, researchers have started to develop strategies that trap these foreign genes, reducing the risk that they'll spread to wild relatives. But an investigation by scientists from UW–Madison and the University of Minnesota-St. Paul shows that these containment strategies can quickly fail. Read More
Studies offer new insight into HIV vaccine development
Discovery may help researchers design vaccines that exploit the notorious mutability of HIV by training the immune system to attack the virus where it's most vulnerable. Read More
‘Bat saliva’ drug offers hope for acute stroke treatment
The use of a synthetic drug derived from the saliva of vampire bats appears to extend the time window for treatment of acute ischemic strokes from the current three to nine hours after symptoms first appear, according to the results of a new international study. Read More
Geneticist to share grant to study corn genome
The National Science Foundation has awarded $10 million to a team of researchers headed by geneticist John Doebley to study the molecular and functional diversity of the maize (corn) genome. Read More