Newsroom Stories

This morning, more than 2,900 Washington University in St. Louis undergraduate, graduate and professional students will enter Brookings Quadrangle as degree candidates and leave as graduates after Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton confers their degrees.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and colleagues have discovered the gene that produces the brilliant red color in male birds that is so attractive to females. The study is published online May 19 in Current Biology.

Deanna Barch, a leading researcher on the role of cognition, emotion and brain function in illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression; Irving Boime, a developmental biologist; and Timothy Ley, MD, an expert in cancer genomics and leukemia, will be honored by Washington University in St. Louis, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has announced.

Medical professionals have long known that the buildup of plaque in arteries can cause them to narrow and harden, potentially leading to a whole host of health problems — including heart attack, heart disease and stroke. While high blood pressure and artery stiffness are often associated with plaque buildup, new research from engineers at Washington University in St. Louis shows they are not the direct causes. Their findings suggest a new culprit: elastic fibers in the arterial wall.

The odd-looking mountains on Jupiter’s innermost moon, Io, are made by a tectonic process unique to Io (and maybe the early Earth), suggests a numerical experiment by two scientists, including Washington University’s Bill McKinnon.

Mark Taylor, dean of Warwick Business School and professor of international finance at the University of Warwick, UK, has been appointed dean of the John M. Olin Business School, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

On May 16, the U.S. Supreme Court sent the Zubick vs. Burwell case, a challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement for employers, back to the lower courts for further examination, leaving women employees and students at workplaces around the country in limbo, says Elizabeth Sepper, associate professor of law and expert on health law.

A recent Supreme Court case that was expected to limit privacy laws actually has the potential to expand them, according to an expert on privacy law at Washington University in St. Louis.

St. Louis’ hazy summers can sometimes be too hot to handle for people with respiratory issues; increased ozone levels can make the air tough to breathe. A team of engineers at Washington University collaborated on a study of St. Louis’ late-summer air quality. They found that naturally occurring compounds processed in the night sky can have a big impact on ozone levels the next day.

Today, new rules go into effect that allow anyone to invest in a startup and receive shares of that startup. Previously, the Securities and Exchange Commission required investors backing private companies to have a certain amount of net worth. A Washington University in St. Louis faculty member says the measures will expand the entrepreneurial playing field, to a point.