Building better vaccines for the elderly
Meredith Jackrel, in Arts & Sciences, studies protein misfolding and how it leads to disease. She is collaborating with Jai Rudra at the McKelvey School of Engineering to develop amyloid-inspired vaccine technologies specifically tailored for seniors. The approach could be relevant to COVID-19 as the elderly are particularly susceptible to its severe complications.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative names two WashU groups Frontiers of Imaging grantees
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced two research groups led by Washington University in St. Louis faculty were named Frontiers of Imaging grantees.
Catalano named mineralogical society fellow
Jeff Catalano, professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, was elected a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America. The honor recognizes Catalano’s outstanding contributions to the advancement of the fields of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry and petrology.
What Would Nature Do?
A Guide for Our Uncertain Times
Exploring the lessons that life on Earth can teach us about coping with complexity, What Would Nature Do? offers timely options for civilization to reorganize for a safe and prosperous future.
New tech can get oxygen, fuel from Mars’ salty water
A new electrolysis system that makes use of briny water could provide astronauts on Mars with life-supporting oxygen and fuel for the ride home, according to engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, who developed the system.
In fire-prone West, plants need their pollinators — and vice versa
A new study from the northern Rockies explores the role of fire in the finely tuned dance between plants and their pollinators. The research from biologists including Jonathan Myers in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis is published Nov. 25 in the Journal of Ecology.
Inside the black box of iron oxide formation
Young-Shin Jun, an engineer at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed a new use for a high-energy X-ray technique that has allowed her the first glimpse at the formation of iron hydroxides on a quartz surface. The implications are sweeping.
AAAS names 7 Washington University faculty as 2020 fellows
Seven faculty members at Washington University in St. Louis are among 489 new fellows selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society.
Stronger memories can help us make sense of future changes
Jeffrey Zacks’s latest research turns on its head some popular beliefs about memory, showing that a failed prediction isn’t simply a failure, but also a cue which can help people update their understanding — as long as they realize their prediction was wrong.
Secrets of the ‘lost crops’ revealed where bison roam
Research from Washington University in St. Louis helps flesh out the origin story for the so-called “lost crops” of the Midwest and Northeast. These plants that may have fed as many Indigenous people as maize, but until the 1930s had been lost to history. Natalie Mueller, assistant professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, shares evidence that bison were “co-creators” — along with Indigenous peoples — of landscapes of disturbance that gave rise to greater diversity and more agricultural opportunities.
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