Obesity doesn’t reduce chance of getting pregnant with donor eggs

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.

Social amoebae travel with a posse

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.

Energy efficiency analysis goes high-tech in I-CARES project

A team of researchers, led by Arye Nehorai, PhD, the Eugene and Martha Lohman Professor of Electrical Engineering and chair of the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, has received a one-year grant from Washington University’s International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy & Sustainability (I-CARES) to take an interdisciplinary, “human-centered” approach to making buildings more energy efficient.

A chance to explore the hottest research topic in St. Louis

The International Society of Photosynthesis Research, meeting this August in St. Louis, is offering an afternoon of talks and demonstrations about the original “green” chemistry invented by bacteria and plants and its relevance to our energy future. Intended for teachers, students and the public, “Photosynthesis in our Lives” will take place from 3- 5 p.m. the afternoon of Sunday, August 11, 2013 in the Parkview room at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch.  RSVP to: http://parc.wustl.edu/outreachRSVP by August 7, 2013.

Missouri’s juvenile justice system in crisis, finds report

Missouri has been held out as a model for juvenile corrections programs, but the court system that puts young people into these programs is in crisis, finds a recent report by the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC). “Many young people in Missouri wind up having to defend themselves in our juvenile courts – and sometimes from behind bars,” says Mae C. Quinn, JD, professor of law and co-director of the Civil Justice Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis.

Three new degree programs to be offered through University College

University College, the adult, evening and continuing education division in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed three new degree programs, including a master’s in statistics that is the only one offered in the St. Louis area. The other two new  programs are a bachelor’s in communications and a bachelor’s in journalism. University College will offer the new programs this fall semester, which begins Aug. 27.

d’Avignon wins 2013 American Chemical Society Award

Washington University in St. Louis chemist D. André d’Avignon, who manages the university’s high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance facility, has been named the winner of the 2013 Saint Louis Award. The Saint Louis Award, administered by the St. Louis section of the American Chemical Society, is given to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the profession of chemistry and demonstrated the potential to further the advancement of the chemical profession.

Snyder-Warwick named secretary of medical society

Alison K. Snyder-Warwick, MD, assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, was installed in June as secretary of the Sir Charles Bell Society at the International Facial Nerve Symposium in Boston.