Newsroom Stories

Frozen sperm taken by biopsy from testicles in men with no sperm in their semen is as effective as fresh sperm taken by biopsy in helping couples conceive through in vitro fertilization (IVF), according to a School of Medicine study. Pictured is a section of human testicular tissue and sperm cells viewed through a microscope.

The American public looks to the federal government to successfully respond to and solve our “wicked” problems. A new book co-edited by Jackson Nickerson, PhD, professor of strategy at Olin Business School, suggests government leaders must be better collaborators. The book is Tackling Wicked Government Problems: A Practical Guide for Developing Enterprise Leaders.

Burning biomass for cooking and heating, a common practice of rural people in developing countries, has been linked to an increase in cardiovascular problems.

A research career development program in obstetrics and gynecology is moving to the School of Medicine from University of California-San Francisco. The Reproductive Scientist Development Program will support the salaries and training of 15 MD or MD/PhD fellows who want to become physician scientists in obstetrics and gynecology. Pictured is Kelle Moley, MD, recipient of the grant that funds the program.

In June, a rover named Zoe set out into the Atacama Desert on the west coast of South America to test a suite of instruments intended for future missions to Mars under Mars-like conditions. One of the instruments aboard Zoe was a Raman spectrometer designed by a team led by Alian Wang of Washington University in St. Louis. A fragile lab instrument that was ruggidized to survive the desert, the Raman spectrometer is expected to fly on the 2020 Mars mission.

A boost in the speed of brain scans is unveiling new insights into how brain regions work with each other in cooperative groups called networks. Shown is the study’s senior researcher, Maurizio Corbetta, MD.

As co-founder of the UNICEF Innovation Unit, Erica Kochi — one of Time magazine’s 100 “World’s Most Influential People” — leverages design and technology to solve some of the world’s most intractable problems. On Thursday, Aug. 29, Kochi will launch the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts fall Public Lecture Series with a free talk in Steinberg Hall.

Administrative law expert Ronald M. Levin, JD, recently was invited to testify before Congress on concerns about the proposed Regulatory Accountability Act. Levin, the William R. Orthwein Distinguished Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, has taught and written about administrative law for more than 30 years. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee endorsed the legislation on July 24, sending it to the full House.

Obese women who use donor eggs to become pregnant through in vitro fertilization are just as likely to become pregnant as normal weight women, according to a new report. Pictured is the study’s first author, Emily Jungheim, MD, left, observing as Mary Bade uses assisted reproductive technology to inject a single sperm into an egg.

Some social amoebae farm the bacteria they eat. Now a collaboration of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis and Harvard University has taken a closer look at one lineage, or clone, of  D. discoideum farmer. This farmer carries not one but two strains of bacteria. One strain is the “seed corn” for a crop of edible bacteria, and the other strain is a weapon that produces defensive chemicals. The edible bacteria, the scientists found, evolved from the toxic one.