Mustering a milder mustard
Biologists in Arts & Sciences have mapped the crystal structure of a key protein that makes the metabolites responsible for the bitter taste in cruciferous plants like mustard and broccoli. The results could be used along with ongoing breeding strategies to manipulate crop plants for nutritional and taste benefits.
Characterizing the ‘arrow of time’ in open quantum systems
Even in the strange world of open quantum systems, the arrow of time points steadily forward — most of the time. A video details new experiments conducted at Washington University in St. Louis that compare the forward and reverse trajectories of superconducting circuits called qubits, and find that they largely tend to follow the second law of thermodynamics. The research is published July 9 in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Bison overlooked in domestication of grain crops
As ecosystem engineers, bison have been hiding in plain sight for the past 40 years, since archaeologists first discovered that several native plants were domesticated in eastern North America. New research by Natalie Mueller, assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, explains the connection, published July 8 in Nature Plants.
Water drives explosive eruptions; here’s why magmas are wetter than we thought
New research from Washington University in St. Louis provides compelling evidence that magmas may be wetter than once thought. The work led by experimental geochemists including Michael J. Krawczynski in Arts & Sciences is published in the July 2 issue of the journal American Mineralogist.
Chemist Wencewicz receives teacher-scholar award
Tim Wencewicz, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, has been recognized with a 2019 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. He will use the funding for his research to help develop new antibiotics, to combat antibiotic resistance and to improve the university’s organic chemistry curriculum.
The fractal brain, from a single neuron’s perspective
Physicists studying the brain at Washington University in St. Louis have shown how measuring signals from a single neuron may be as good as capturing information from many neurons at once using big, expensive arrays of electrodes. The new work continues the discussion about how the brain seems to function in a “critical” state. The research was reported in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Structuring sweetness: What makes Stevia so sweet?
New research by biologists in Arts & Sciences reveals the molecular machinery behind the high-intensity sweetness of the stevia plant. The results could be used to engineer new non-caloric products without the aftertaste that many associate with the sweetener marketed as Stevia.
A closer look at the most distant object ever explored
William B. McKinnon, professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, is a co-investigator on the NASA New Horizons team that published the first comprehensive profile of Ultima Thule in the May 17 issue of the journal Science.
A tale of two skeeters
A native mosquito in Missouri has fewer parasites when it shares its waters with an interloper, according to new research from biologists at Tyson Research Center, the environmental field station for Washington University in St. Louis.
Mather wins Harrison D. Stalker Award
Rory Mather has been awarded the 2019 Harrison D. Stalker Award from the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences. The award is given annually to a graduating biology major whose undergraduate career combines outstanding scientific scholarship with significant contributions in the arts and humanities.
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