School of Medicine

Scientists at the School of Medicine have become the first to successfully grow a norovirus in the lab. In humans, noroviruses are a highly contagious source of diarrhea, vomiting and other stomach upset that made headlines two years ago after a series of repeated outbreaks on cruise ships. These viruses are a major cause of human disease worldwide.

When and where a bacterium uses its DNA can be as important as what’s in the DNA, according to WUSM researchers. Scientists found significant differences in two bacterial organisms’ use of a gene linked to antibiotic resistance. The distinction alters the bacteria’s “lifestyles,” or their ability to survive in different environments.

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is a common way to detect prostate cancer in its earliest stages. The exact number of a dangerously high PSA count is constantly under debate and varies among men in different age groups. Despite its imperfections, WUSM urologic surgeon Arnold Bullock still recommends the test be taken annually by men over 50.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have identified a previously unsuspected response by mouse heart muscle cells to fasting conditions: the cells’ power generators, the mitochondria, appear to remodel and consume extra internal walls or membranes in an effort to supply energy to the rest of the cell.

H. pylori bound to stomach tissueThe bacterium that causes ulcers and contributes to stomach cancers uses a clever interaction between two genes to randomly tighten and loosen its grip on the stomach, according to a study by researchers at the School of Medicine and Umeå University in Sweden.

The former assistant professor of clinical medicine died Oct. 7.

At WUSTL, he established the voice evaluation laboratory, which combined many methods of laryngeal evaluation.

“Our current system of production just is not able to keep up with demand,” says Michael Welch, the study’s principal investigator.

A five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging will launch the Healthy Aging and Senile Dementia program into its 21st year.

P. Roy Vagelos was head of the Department of Biological Chemistry at the School of Medicine from 1966-1975.