Virus that causes COVID-19 can find alternate route

The virus that causes COVID-19 normally gets inside cells by attaching to a protein called ACE2. School of Medicine scientists have found that a single mutation confers the ability to enter cells through another route, which may threaten vaccines’ and therapeutics’ effectiveness.

Pandemic increased screen time, decreased activity

The stay-at-home orders during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to a decrease in children’s physical activity and in increase in screen time, find two new studies from the Brown School.

A meteorite witness to the solar system’s birth

Researchers in the lab of Ryan Ogliore in Arts & Sciences examine a 4.6 billion-year-old rock to better understand the solar system’s beginning and a modern mystery.

Two Bears sign with Major League Baseball teams

Washington University Bears Caleb Durbin and Ryan Loutos woke up July 13 with high hopes and nervous jitters. By the end of the day, both would score deals with Major League Baseball teams.

Siteman Cancer Center advances proton therapy care

Siteman Cancer Center is advancing proton therapy care for patients by adding the latest technology to its S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center. Pencil beam scanning will be added to Siteman’s original proton therapy unit on the Medical Campus.

Research Wire

A multidisciplinary team led by McKelvey School of Engineering researchers will probe the dynamic brain cell mechanisms on which artificial intelligence is based with a nearly $4 million grant from the U.S. Army.

Notables

Four Arts & Sciences undergraduate students have been selected for the Expanding Diversity in Economics Summer Institute inaugural cohort, hosted by the University of Chicago.

Notables

Catherine Lang, professor of physical therapy at the School of Medicine, has been appointed to serve on a national child health council for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).