Newsroom Stories

A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis has found surprisingly tough enzymes in a bacterium that “just says no to acid.” Acid resistance is a valued trait for both pills and human pathogens. The bacterium Acetobacter aceti makes unusually acid-resistant enzymes in spades, which could make the organism a source for new enzyme products and new directions in protein chemistry.

Joan Luby helps identify depression in children with “interview puppets.”Although all children are sad sometimes, preschoolers tend to be inherently joyful. But Joan Luby, director of the Early Emotional Development Program at the School of Medicine, has found that, like adults, very young children can experience depression. Her research team has developed a checklist to help clinicians identify young children at risk for developing the disease.

BundersonWhy do the challenges and tasks taken on by the teams on the popular reality shows “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” so often result in failure or disaster? Perhaps these short-term work groups are assigning responsibilities based on superficial assumptions of expertise. A recent study by J. Stuart Bunderson, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, shows that work groups perform better when they rely on valid cues, such as education and experience, rather than superficial characteristics such as race and gender.

One in three college students is depressed.The numbers are startling. National studies have shown that one in three college students is depressed and one in four contemplates suicide. Why are young people so much more anxious and stressed than previous generations? What can be done to solve this problem? Alan Glass, M.D., director of Student Health and Counseling at Washington University in St. Louis, says recognizing the signs of depression and suicidal tendencies and keeping the lines of communication open are key to diverting a tragedy.

Washing hands can cut the risk of coming down with the flu.October saw long lines at flu vaccine locations as many people waited hours hoping for a shot. As health officials scramble to find doses of vaccine for those at high risk, a Washington University emergency medicine specialist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis says most of us may have to rely on hand washing and common sense if we want to stay healthy this winter.

To operate a nuclear power plant like Three Mile Island, hundreds of highly trained employees must work in concert to generate power from safe fission, all the while containing dangerous nuclear wastes. On the other hand, it’s been known for 30 years that Mother Nature once did nuclear chain reactions by her lonesome. Now, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have analyzed the isotopic structure of noble gases produced in fission in a sample from the only known natural nuclear chain reaction site in the world in Gabon, Wes Africa, and have found how she does the trick.

Washington University in St. Louis has licensed a system developed by Washington University engineers that is meant to detect counterfeit credit cards by reading a unique magnetic “fingerprint” on the stripes of credit cards and other objects that carry magnetic information. The system — called Magneprint — was invented by Ronald Indeck, Ph.D., Das Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at Washington University.

PET scans: normal (top 2 rows) and Alzheimer’s.After decades of searching, scientists finally may have identified a way to study Alzheimer’s disease changes in living human brains. Researchers at Washington University’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) have begun studies of an imaging agent developed at the University of Pittsburgh that could potentially detect amyloid plaques with a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, enabling earlier detection of the disease and improved testing of new treatments.

Is this a “cup” or a “mug?”No matter how hard we try to change our behaviors, it’s the old ways that tend to win out over time, especially in situations where we’re rushed, stressed or overworked, suggests a new study of human memory from Washington University in St. Louis. The findings are bad news for people struggling to change harmful behaviors, such as smoking or overeating, and good news for people who establish healthy lifestyles at an early age. Even when we consciously try to put new good intentions into place, those previously learned habits remain stronger in more automatic, unconscious forms of memory.

At issue in the Kelo v. City of New London case before the Supreme Court is a redevelopment project in the downtown and waterfront areas of this economically distressed Connecticut city. Private property must be taken by condemnation in eminent domain and turned over to the developer to carry out the project. “In Kelo v. City of New London, the Supreme Court has taken a major case that will test the ability of municipalities to carry out redevelopment projects to improve their downtowns and city neighborhoods,” says Daniel Mandelker, the Howard A. Stamper Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis and one of the country’s leading scholars and teachers in land use law. Mandelker believes the Connecticut court properly upheld the use of eminent domain in this case, but that abuses can occur in other cases where there is no clear redevelopment objective.