Pulse #48

Patrick Drew named interim director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences

Patrick Drew, associate director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, has been selected to serve as interim director of the Huck Institutes, effective July 1.

Troy Ott named dean of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences

Troy Ott, interim director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, has been named dean of the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, effective July 1.

Mark Guiltinan named director of the Penn State Plant Institute

Mark Guiltinan, professor of plant molecular biology and J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany, has been named director of the Penn State Plant Institute (PSPI).

Jordan Bisanz named Huck Early Career Chair in Host-Microbiome Interactions

Jordan Bisanz, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State, has been awarded a Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Host-Microbiome Interactions.

Graduate education training program in physiology awarded $2.75M

Our Physiological Adaptations to Stress (PAS) graduate training program received renewed funding of $2.75 million from the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

Unexpected diversity of light-sensing proteins goes beyond vision in frogs

A new study led by a Penn State biologist reveals that frogs have maintained a surprising number of nonvisual light-sensing proteins over evolutionary time. These proteins, called opsins, play a role in a variety of biological functions.

Prunes may preserve bone density and strength in older women

A yearlong randomized controlled trial found that daily prune consumption slowed bone loss connected to osteoporosis.

Research teams receive $1.1 million to study microbiomes in agriculture

Two Penn State-led research teams have received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture for projects investigating the ways microbiomes can affect disease dynamics in agriculture.

New tomato, potato family tree shows that fruit color and size evolved together

A new family tree of the plant genus Solanum, created by Penn State biologists, helps explain the striking diversity of their fruit color and size.