University among top 100 granted patents

Washington University in St. Louis again was ranked among the top 100 universities worldwide granted U.S. patents in 2019, according to a report compiled by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

‘Extinction crisis even worse than realized’

“This new study shows that the extinction crisis is even worse than realized,” said Jonathan Losos, the William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor and professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and director of the Living Earth Collaborative.

Silicon ‘neurons’ may add a new dimension to computer processors

Research from the McKelvey School of Engineering shows that energy constraints on a system, coupled with an intrinsic property of systems, push silicon neurons to create a dynamic, at-a-distance communication that is more robust and efficient than traditional computer processors. And it may teach us something about biological brains.

Disappearance of sports inflicts pain on entire economy

crowded Busch Stadium
The U.S. sports blackout because of the pandemic has left at least a $12 billion crater in the national economy. And even if stadiums and arenas light up anew soon, they won’t look the same. A sports business expert from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis doesn’t expect the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball to welcome fans if/when they return in 2020, for example.

How to build better highways in plants

Anindya Ganguly
The Dixit lab at Washington University in St. Louis, which in a study published in 2018 found molecular brakemen that keep the Arabidopsis Fragile Fiber 1 (FRA1) motor protein in check, uncovered in continuing research that FRA1 cinches its track in place through cellulose synthase-microtubule uncoupling proteins.

Bose receives NSF grant to study the conversion of electricity and carbon dioxide to sustainable biofuels

Arpita Bose, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, received a $1,029,281 grant from the National Science Foundation to better understand the molecular underpinnings of the process in which photoautotrophic microbes convert electricity and carbon dioxide to sustainable biofuels. The research aims to address fundamental gaps in knowledge surrounding extracellular electron uptake (EEU), or what Bose […]