Science & Technology

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Washington University is developing a machine-learning-based early warning system to predict cancer patients’ deterioration and improve patient outcomes.

The lab of Fuzhong Zhang at the McKelvey School of Engineering has used synthetic biology to bring together the best of spider silk and mussel foot protein in a biocompatible adhesive.

Kevin D. McKeegan, a scientist whose analyses of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials from space has improved understanding of the processes and chronology of the early solar system, will deliver a free public talk in November as part of the Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lecture, sponsored by the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences.

A team of researchers led by Hong Chen has developed a noninvasive diagnostic method that may one day replace tissue biopsies with a simple blood test.

Tae Seok Moon, associate professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering, has engineered bacteria that can detect specific molecules in the gut.

Strange ‘eggshell planets’ are among the rich variety of exoplanets possible, according to a study from Washington University in St. Louis. These rocky worlds have an ultra-thin outer brittle layer and little to no topography. Such worlds are unlikely to have plate tectonics, raising questions as to their habitability. The research led by planetary geologist Paul Byrne in Arts & Sciences offers concrete ways that other scientists could identify such eggshell planets.

Computer scientist Chenyang Lu at the McKelvey School of Engineering has been building bridges with doctors to improve patients’ health outcomes using engineering.

Ismael Seáñez, assistant professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering, has been selected as a K12 scholar in a program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

James H. Buckley, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, received a $700,292 award from the National Science Foundation to upgrade a ground-based telescope array for gamma-ray astronomy.

Each fall, the leaves of almost half of North America’s species of trees and shrubs turn red. Biologist Susanne S. Renner at Washington University in St. Louis helps explain why the North American fall is so red, compared with Europe, and also what changes to fall foliage we can expect under climate change.