Newsroom Stories

Photo courtesy USDAA WUSTL biologist has advanced the understanding of plant cell walls, which are crucial to plants such as cotton, which needs the cell wall to impart elasticity in cotton fibers.Wood with altered properties and cheaper ethanol through more efficient production are two possibilities as a result of a find by a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis. Erik Nielsen, Ph.D., Washington University biologist , has made a discovery published in a recent edition of The Journal of Cell Biology that sheds new light on how some types of complex sugars in plants are directed to the construction of cell walls. More…

Photo by David Kilper / WUSTL PhotoHimadri Pakrasi explains the photobioreactor in his Rebstock Hall laboratory.The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has devoted $1.6 million to sequencing the DNA of six photosynthetic bacteria that Washington University in St. Louis biologists will examine for their potential as one of the nextgreat sources of biofuel that can run our cars and warm our houses. That’s a lot of power potential from microscopic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) that capture sunlight and then do a variety of biochemical processes. One potential process, the clean production of ethanol, is a high priority for DOE. Himadri Pakrasi, Ph.D., Washington University Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences, and Professor of Energy in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will head a team of biologists at Washington University and elsewhere in the analysis of the genomes of six related strains of Cyanothece bacteria. More…

WUSTL undergraduate students created YouTube video advertisements to help promote The Career Center’s programs.Reaching college students on their level can be a challenge. They are overwhelmed with information from e-mail, instant messaging and Web sites like Facebook and YouTube. The challenge becomes even more difficult when you are talking about something as “uncool” as career planning. But officials at The Career Center at Washington University in St. Louis have found a way. With a competition to design a Career Center video advertisement available on the popular Web site YouTube.com, the center’s staff members discovered they could draw students into the process of connecting with good career advice. More…

Did the Soviets collude to win chess championships?As allegations of cheating dominate news from the current World Chess Championships in Russia, new research from economists at Washington University in St. Louis offers strong evidence that Soviet chess masters in the Cold War era very likely engaged in collusion to gain an unfair advantage and dominate key international chess championships held from 1940 to 1964.

Photo by David Kilper / WUSTL PhotoResearchers have enabled a 14-year-old to play a two-dimensional video game using signals from his brain instead of his hands.Teenage boys and computer games go hand-in-hand. Now, a St. Louis-area teenage boy and a computer game have gone hands-off, thanks to a unique experiment conducted by a team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, and engineers at Washington University in St. Louis. The boy, a 14-year-old who suffers from epilepsy, is the first teenager to play a two-dimensional video game, Space Invaders, using only the signals from his brain to make movements. More…

The School of Medicine has begun using a unique device that completely seals drug vials, IV hookups and syringes, preventing escape of hazardous medical compounds during the mixing and administration of chemotherapy drugs.

Copyright The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Used with permission.Increased cell proliferation in the saline solution group (B) compared to the nicotine group (A)Orthopaedic surgery researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified yet another reason not to smoke. Studying rotator cuff injury in rats, the research team found exposure to nicotine delays tendon-to-bone healing, suggesting this could cause failure of rotator cuff repair following surgery in human patients. This study, the first to evaluate the effects of nicotine on rotator cuff repair, found that inflammation persisted longer in the shoulder joints of rats exposed to nicotine. The researchers also noted less cellular proliferation and decreased collagen production, indications of poor healing. More…

This illustration of the Cox-Maze procedure shows the ablation lines in the left atrium.Heart surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have helped usher in a new era in the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation. Using radiofrequency devices — rather than a scalpel — they’ve greatly shortened the surgery and made it significantly easier to perform. WUSM surgeon Ralph J. Damiano Jr. and colleagues have played a vital role in developing the devices, which deliver high-energy waves to heart tissue and very quickly create scars or ablations. More…

Ophthalmologist Lawrence Tychsen examines a patient.A pediatric ophthalmologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Children’s Hospital conducts specialized testing and vision correction (refractive) surgery, on children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and neurobehavioral disorders such as autism. To date, this is one of the only U.S. medical centers performing refractive surgery on these children and has the highest volume, operating on about 60 special-needs children a year. More…

WUSTL and Metro hope to determine the usage level of public transportation in the University community.