McKelvey School of Engineering

These before (left) and after images show the effects of fumagillin-laden nanoparticles in a rabbit aorta.In laboratory tests, one very low dose of a drug was enough to show an effect on notoriously tenacious artery-clogging plaques. But it wasn’t so much the drug itself as how it was delivered. Fumagillin — a drug that can inhibit the growth of new blood vessels that feed atherosclerotic plaques — was sent directly to the base of plaques by microscopically small spheres called nanoparticles.

The answer to a 50-year-old question has been found by scientists at the School of Medicine. The question: Is it possible to accurately measure the intrinsic filling function of the heart?

Temperature is rising as St. Louis tackles the ramifications of a flu epidemic.St. Louis is one of the few cities trying to stay ahead of the pandemic curve, thanks to workshops being conducted this spring and summer that bring together area institutions and businesses in round table formats. The Business Community and Pandemic Flu Roundtable is sponsored by the Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Center for the Application of Information Technology (CAIT) and the University’s School of Medicine. CAIT is St. Louis’ center for IT training, professional development, and executive interaction for more than 25 years. More than 100 business and institutional attendees are learning to address everything from potential vaccines and medications to sick leave policy and protective gear. More…

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoKaren L. Wooley and lab members examine polymer samples.A chemist at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a remarkable nanostructured material that can repel pests, sweeten the air, and some day might even be used as a timed drug delivery system — as a nasal spray, for instance. Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., Washington University James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, has taken the same materials that she developed more than four years ago as marine “antifouling” coatings that inhibit marine organisms such as barnacles from attaching to the hull of ships to now capture fragrance molecules and release them at room temperature. More…

Steven G. Krantz, Ph.D., professor of mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis, illuminates mathematicians’ very human brilliance in his book, Mathematical Apocrypha Redux, his sequel to his successful, original Mathematical Apocrypha, published in 2002, both by the Mathematical Association of America. The book is a collection of anecdotes about famous mathematicians and their frivolity, wisdom and situations, revealing more vulnerable, human versions of the remote and often eccentric savants. More…

Washington University in St. Louis will host a symposium May 30-31 to bring together people interested in developing new enterprises in Missouri based on research discoveries.

Robert Morley & Ed Richter investigated static electricity buildup from sliding down a plastic slide, which can temporarily silence the world to cochlear implantees.

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoMemory Elvin-Lewis in the Goldfarb Greenhouse inspects a kava plant. Elvin-Lewis has written a chapter in a new book that is critical of the unregulated U.S. herbal trade.Ginsengs, echinaceas, and ephedras, oh my! These herbs sound innocuous enough, however, according to Memory Elvin-Lewis, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and ethnobotany in biomedicine in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Americans are unaware of the dangers inherent in these herbal supplements. More…

Courtesy image/WUSTL PhotoFor some deaf children, a plastic slide is a more formidable foe than the school wedgie-giver. Static electricity buildup from sliding down a plastic slide — instant summertime fun for those with normal hearing — can temporarily silence the world to cochlear implantees. Two electrical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis tested static electricity buildup — which can zap a cochlear implant — on sliding children to quantify the sparks. Thanks to some publicity and increased awareness, their research has inspired the St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Department to consider the problem, and an anti-static coating company to try to solve it. More…

Olga Pontes & Craig PikaardThe protein HDA6 shows up as a red stain in this Arabidopsis leaf cell nucleus.A team of researchers, including biologists at Washington University in St. Louis, has discovered the key role one protein plays in a major turn-off — in this case, the turning off of thousands of nearly identical genes in a hybrid plant. Studying the phenomenon of nucleolar dominance, in which one parental set of ribosomal genes in a hybrid is silenced, Craig Pikaard, Ph.D., Washington University professor of biology in Arts & Sciences and colleagues have identified the protein HDA6 as an important player in the silencing. More…