Science & Technology

School of Medicine faculty member Elliot L. Elson, PhD, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The organization was formed in 1780 to cultivate the arts and sciences and to recognize individuals who have made prominent contributions to their disciplines and to society.

John Exton, MD, PhD, the author of “Crucible of Science” — a book about the history of a unique laboratory at Washington University and of Carl and Gerty Cori, the biochemists who established it — will make opening remarks at the Carl and Gerty Cori Lecture on May 8.

Paul Shaw, PhD, a researcher at the School of Medicine, has used what he learns in fruit flies to look for markers of sleep loss in humans. But now he has reversed the process in a new paper, taking what he finds in humans back to the flies and identifying a human gene that is more active after sleep deprivation.

A consortium of researchers led by the School of Medicine has identified virtually all of the major mutations that drive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a fast-growing blood cancer in adults that often is difficult to treat. The dark lines in the image pictured show all of the major mutations for AML that occurred in one patient with the disease.

Chenyang Lu, PhD, professor of computer science & engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, and colleagues, have developed a unique system they call a Wireless Cyber-Physical Simulator, which can help bridges and other structures survive natural disasters.

A low-cost medical device targeted at improving world health has taken home the top prize in Washington University School of Engineering & Applied Science’s inaugural Discovery Competition. Sparo Labs took the largest prize of $25,000. The company’s plan stems from an award-winning project to develop a low-cost, pocket-sized spirometer, which measures lung function.

Members of the WU Racing Team revealed the 2013 race car April 25 in the Danforth University Center. The team and car will travel to Michigan International Speedway next month to participate in the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers competition.

This year the Spector Prize has been awarded to two students, Megan Kelly and Jennifer Stevens.The prize, given by the Department of Biology in memory of a 1938 WUSTL graduate, recognizes outstanding undergraduate achievement in research. Kelly did research on the chemical signals used by malaria parasites and Stevens on evolutionary trade-offs in weakly electric fish.

Scientists working at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered two tiny grains of silica (SiO2; the most common constituent of sand) in meteorites that fell to earth in Antarctica. Because of their isotopic composition these two grains are thought to be pure samples from a massive star that exploded before the birth of the solar system, perhaps the supernova whose explosion is thought to have triggered the collapse of a giant molecular cloud, giving birth to the Sun.

Eleven Washington University research teams will share $2.7 million in new grants from the Children’s Discovery Institute, a research collaboration between St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.