Newsroom Stories

Natural genetic changes can put some people at high risk of certain conditions, such as breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease or high blood pressure. But in rare cases, genetic errors also can have the opposite effect, protecting individuals with these helpful genetic mistakes from developing common diseases. A new study of such “beneficial” genetic mutations, led by the School of Medicine, may provide guidance on the design of new therapies intended to reduce the risk of heart attacks.

Washington University in St. Louis faculty and staff are being encouraged to contribute to Our Washington, the employee component of Leading Together: The Campaign for Washington University.

Anthony J. Azama has been named the John M. Schael Director of Athletics at Washington University in St. Louis. Azama arrives on the Danforth Campus after spending the past two years as senior associate athletics director for external operations at Columbia University in New York.

In her Hotchner-winning drama “Son of Soil,” which debuts March 30, senior Andie Berry examines the ways tragedy and grief echo across generations.

Women who pursue in vitro fertilization (IVF) to become pregnant are more likely to give birth if they have health insurance that covers the procedure, according to new research at the School of Medicine. The key reason is financial rather than medical: The high cost for one procedure prohibits many women from seeking a second if the first attempt fails.

Studying mice with breast tumors transplanted from patients, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Baylor College of Medicine have analyzed the proteins present in these tumors. Some protein alterations can be used to identify drugs that may work against some cancers.

Long before the advent of agriculture, hunter gatherers began putting down roots in the Middle East, building more permanent homes and altering the ecological balance in ways that allowed the common house mouse to flourish, suggest new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Star-shaped cells called astrocytes, long considered boring, “support cells,” are finally coming into their own. To everyone’s surprise they even play an important role in the body’s master clock, which schedules everything from the release of hormones to the onset of sleepiness.

Is Tom Sawyer a clever entrepreneur, or did his friends paint that fence under false pretenses? U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. decides, with a little help from Washington University students, in an event celebrating the School of Law’s 150th anniversary.

Washington University in St. Louis has launched a new interactive campus map that will help users find accessible parking, where to buy coffee and other points of interest. The map, available through the university’s website, will provide up-to-the-minute information about construction zones and parking changes.