Author: Ken Duenke

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability will hold an open house at 4 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Wilson Hall Third Floor Atrium.

Differences in the way they use their genes cause different strains of the E. coli bacterium to take on different hues.Bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs) make more tools for stealing from their host than friendly versions of the same bacteria found in the gut, researchers at the School of Medicine and the University of Washington have found. The tools, compounds called siderophores, allow the bad bacteria to steal iron from their hosts, making it easier for the bacteria to survive and reproduce.

The inauguration of the first African-American president was a milestone in American race relations, but to most members of a minority, the judgment that the U.S. is now a post-racial society is quite premature. On February 25, at 4 p.m. in the Danforth University Center, several WUSTL students and faculty will gather to lead a conversation about race and identity. The Assembly Series event, free and open to the public, will be held in the Center’s Fun Room.

Each year in the United States, doctors start about 2 million patients on warfarin (Coumadin™), an anticoagulant drug that’s notoriously hard to administer. Now a study from the International Warfarin Pharmacogenetics Consortium (IWPC), which includes researchers from the School of Medicine, confirms that using a patient’s genetic information can make it easier to get the warfarin dose right.

105 years after a historic meeting in St. Louis, a distinguished group of international law experts from around the world will gather at the School of Law from April 12-15 to begin work on a Specialized Convention on Crimes Against Humanity as part of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute’s Crimes Against Humanity Initiative.

Photo by David KilperAt 4 p.m.Wednesday, Feb. 25, in the Danforth University Center, several WUSTL students and faculty will gather for a frank, open conversation about race and identity.

Children whose asthma improved while taking steroid drugs for several years did not see those improvements continue after stopping the drugs, new results from a comprehensive childhood asthma study show. The results come from the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP) clinical trial, in which more than 1,000 children age 5-12 were treated for mild to moderate asthma over more than four years.

To commemorate the 277th anniversary of George Washington’s birth, Washington University in St. Louis scholars will examine the legend versus the real man, and consider whether the philosophical and moral ambiguities he wrestled with during his lifetime have modern connotations.

An ambitious new study has added considerable weight to the claim that exercise can lower the risk for colon cancer. Researchers at the School of Medicine and Harvard University combined and analyzed several decades worth of data from past studies on how exercise affects colon cancer risk. They found that people who exercised the most were 24 percent less likely to develop the disease than those who exercised the least.

Photo by Joe AngelesKevin Folkl (left) laughs with his sister at the Hall of Fame Induction breakfast at the Knight Center Feb. 6. Folkl and nine other standout WUSTL athletes were honored at the breakfast and then again that night at the women’s basketball game.