Newsroom Stories

More than a decade of searching for factors that make the common parasite Toxoplasma gondii dangerous to humans has pinned 90 percent of the blame on just one of the parasite’s approximately 6,000 genes.

Scientists have identified the first biochemical marker linked to sleep loss, an enzyme in saliva known as amylase, which increases in activity when sleep deprivation is prolonged. Researchers hope to make amylase the first of a panel of biomarkers that will aid diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders and may one day help assess the risk of falling asleep at the wheel of a car or in other dangerous contexts.

Peanut butter is energy rich food, and it doesn’t spoil. That’s exactly why WUSM pediatrician Mark Manary chose it to nourish hungry children in Malawi. Manary’s nonprofit organization, Project Peanut Butter, was approved by the World Health Organization in 2005, but he continues to search for better ways to feed a starving nation.

This is the final issue of the Record this calendar year. The Record will resume publication Jan. 18, 2007. We wish everyone happy holidays!

This is the last official Record Monday of the calendar year. We will resume regular publication on Jan. 22, 2007. In the event of urgent announcements or breaking news, the electronic Record may be e-mailed periodically during the break. The Record staff wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

Jeffrey Marlow is among the 43 young Americans to receive a 2007 Marshall Scholarship, which provides full support for two or three years of study at any British university toward a second bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree. Marlow, a senior in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, is WUSTL’s first Marshall Scholar since 1993.

WUSTL continues to analyze various strategies to lessen the impact of the Interstate 64/Highway 40 reconstruction project on students, employees and patients.

Photo by Mary ButkusEmil R. Unanue, M.D. (left), and Michael W. Sherraden, Ph.D., receive Faculty Achievement Awards Dec. 2 at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center.

Jeffrey Marlow is among the 43 young Americans to receive a 2007 Marshall Scholarship, which provides full support for two or three years of study at any British university toward a second bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree. Marlow, a senior in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, is WUSTL’s first Marshall Scholar since 1993.

A great deal of research connects nutrition with cancer risk. Overweight people are at higher risk of developing post-menopausal breast cancer, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer and a certain type of esophageal cancer. Now preliminary findings from researchers at the School of Medicine suggest that eating less protein may help protect against certain cancers that are not directly associated with obesity.