Arts & Sciences

Photo courtesy USDASchaal rice one.Biologists from Washington University in St. Louis and their collaborators from Taiwan have examined the DNA sequence family tree of rice varieties and have determined that the crop was domesticated independently at least twice in various Asian locales. Jason Londo, Washington University in Arts & Sciences biology doctoral candidate, and his adviser, Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., Washington University Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences, ran genetic tests of more than 300 types of rice, including both wild and domesticated, and found genetic markers that reveal the two major rice types grown today were first grown by humans in India and Myanmar and Thailand (Oryza sativa indica) and in areas in southern China (Oryza sativa japonica). More…

Photo courtesy NASAAmid a bevy of international space exploration missions to the Moon, the Washington University Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences and ShanDong University at WeiHai (SDU at WH) in Mainland China have agreed to cooperate on scientific research and joint training of students in the two institutions. The agreement comes less than a year away from the planned launch of Chang’E-1, the Chinese lunar probe project, in April, 2007. The goals of China’s Chang’E-1 project are first to place a satellite into orbit around the Moon in 2007; then to land an unmanned vehicle on the Moon by 2010; and to collect samples of lunar soil with an unmanned vehicle by 2020. The spacecraft carries five instruments to image and measure different features of the Moon. Within two years, three additional missions from the United States, India and Japan will generate a furious flurry of data that will keep space scientists enthralled for the better part of the next decade. The Japanese Selene mission is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2007, the Indian Chandrayaan-1 in late 2007 or early 2008, and the United States’ Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for October 2008. More…

Olga Pontes is Going FISHin’.Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have made an important breakthrough in understanding a pathway plant cells take to silence unwanted or extra genes using short bits of RNA. Basically, they have made it possible to see where, and how, the events in the pathway unfold within the cell, and seeing is believing, as the old saying goes. Craig Pikaard, Ph.D., Washington University professor of biology in Arts & Sciences and his collaborators have described the roles that eight proteins in Arabidopsis plants play in a pathway that brings about DNA methylation, an epigenetic function that involves a chemical modification of cytosine, one of the four chemical subunits of DNA. More…

The McDonnell International Scholars Academy is welcoming highly select graduate and professional students from 12 of Asia’s leading universities this fall.

Albert Pujols took part in laboratory tests similar to those conducted on Ruth in 1921.

The event regularly serves as the unofficial kickoff to St. Louis’ professional dance season.

Kellie Wells, Ph.D., and Kerri Webster, both writers-in-residence in the Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will launch the fall Writing Program Reading Series at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7.

Social Thought & Analysis, an interdisciplinary degree program in Arts & Sciences, has moved to American Culture Studies, according to Henry L. “Roddy” Roediger III, Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and dean of academic planning in Arts & Sciences.

The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will open its 2006-07 concert season at 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, with a performance by the Washington University Chamber Orchestra. The program will focus on the music of two contrasting historical periods — the 18th-century Baroque and the early 20th century — through the work of composers representing the breadth of Europe.

Social Thought & Analysis (STA), an interdisciplinary degree program in Arts & Sciences, has moved to American Culture Studies, according to Henry L. “Roddy” Roediger III, Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and dean of academic planning in Arts & Sciences.