Category Science & Technology

Statement from Chancellor John Wiley on Assembly Bill 499

September 28, 2005

The failure of the Wisconsin State Senate to amend Assembly Bill 499, which effectively criminalizes a promising area of biomedical research, sends a frightening message to Wisconsin's research community. Scientists in many fields view this with alarm.

New program in neuroscience and public policy offered

September 13, 2005

Modern neuroscience is advancing understanding of the brain and behavior at a pace that few could have imagined even five years ago. The resulting knowledge is transforming our understanding of brain function in health and disease, with profound implications for society. Recognizing this, two UW–Madison faculty now have created a new dual-degree graduate program in Neuroscience and Public Policy to train students how to apply this knowledge to problems in public policy.

The World’s Tiniest Badger?

September 6, 2005

NanoBucky, created in the research lab of UW–Madison chemistry professor Robert Hamers, is composed of tiny carbon nanofiber “hairs,”each just 75 nanometers in diamete

A single gene controls a key difference between maize and its wild ancestor

August 31, 2005

One of the greatest agricultural and evolutionary puzzles is the origin of maize - and part of the answer may lie in a plot of corn on the western edge of Madison, where a hybrid crop gives new life to ancient genetic material. A UW–Madison genetics team has demonstrated that a single gene, called tga1, controls kernel casing in maize — evidence that modest alterations in single genes can cause dramatic changes in the way traits are expressed.

Study examines public attitudes on nanotechnology

August 30, 2005

Scientists have a rare opportunity to define public discourse over nanotechnology, if they provide citizens with easily digestible information about the emerging technology, a UW–Madison journalism professor says.

Study: Brain structures contribute to asthma attack severity

August 29, 2005

The mere mention of a stressful word like "wheeze" can activate two brain regions in asthmatics during an attack, and this brain activity may be associated with more severe asthma symptoms, according to a study by UW–Madison researchers and collaborators.

Gender hormones may lend to social disorder therapies

August 24, 2005

Researchers at UW–Madison have made the surprising finding that estrogen-and even dopamine, a neurotransmitter-also play critical roles in the development of aggressive social play behaviors. The work may one day help diagnose new autism cases and potentially pave the way for new hormone-based therapeutic approaches that counteract the social difficulties of autism.

New treatment may curb IV-based infections

August 10, 2005

Inserted through the skin and into a vein, long-term intravascular devices such as IV catheters deliver to patients a range of life-saving medications, nutrition and fluids, among other uses. But these life-saving devices also can provide a furtive pipeline for germs from the external world to gain access to the bloodstream of patients. A new finding at UW–Madison may help solve this medical conundrum.

Scientists zero in on drugs’ sweet spots

August 8, 2005

Employing a simple new technique to manipulate the sugars that power many front-line drugs, a team of Wisconsin scientists has enhanced the anti-cancer properties of a digitalis, a drug commonly used to treat heart disease.

Center for Integrated Ag Systems Selected as a Pesticide Reduction Champion

August 4, 2005

The UW–Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems has been selected by the EPA as a Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Champion for 2005. This designation honors CIAS for its efforts to reduce pesticide risk through sustainable agricultural practices such as Integrated Pest Management and organic farming. CIAS also received this national honor in 2003.

Engineers chart semiconductors on the scale of atoms

August 1, 2005

Spanning fewer than a thousand atoms, the electronic devices on semiconductor chips have become so miniscule they defy most efforts to characterize them. Now for the first time, engineers have demonstrated a way to image these vanishingly small devices by mapping them atom by atom.

Scientists to mimic nature for newest cancer drugs

July 20, 2005

The natural world has been medicine's most effective arsenal, providing life-saving antibiotics and our most potent anti-cancer drugs. Now, with help from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a consortium of UW–Madison scientists will embark on a five-year program of drug discovery by copying and improving nature's designs to develop new medicines to treat colon, breast, cervical and pancreatic cancer.

Scientists probe CWD’s spread through soils

July 11, 2005

Scientists at UW–Madison and around the country will report new findings during the Second International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium here on July 12-14. The symposium comes at a time when the known range of CWD seems to be swelling from its relatively small, endemic home in parts of Wyoming and Colorado toward the east, where deer populations are denser.

Huntington’s cure in flies lays groundwork for new treatment approaches

July 11, 2005

Boosting levels of two critical proteins that normally shut down during Huntington's disease, researchers at UW–Madison and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have cured fruit flies of the genetic, neurodegenerative condition.

Forestry project will map likely habitat of endangered butterfly

July 7, 2005

A grant from the University of Wisconsin–Madison Graduate School's Technology Transfer Program will fund a project that uses computer mapping and statistical modeling to identify likely habitat of the endangered Karner blue butterfly. The project could help Wisconsin land managers save thousands of dollars on field surveys required to protect the rare insect.

UW-Madison scientists receive $20 million award for protein study

July 6, 2005

Researchers at the Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics, based at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, have received a $20 million award to fund Phase II of the Protein Structure Initiative over the next five years.

Study shows eutrophic lakes may not recover for a millennium

June 13, 2005

Although it has taken just 60 years for humans to put many freshwater lakes on the eutrophication fast track, a new study shows their recovery may take a thousand years under the best of circumstances.

Scientists streamline method for making key virus

June 13, 2005

By devising a novel way to package the genome of a common human tumor virus - the virus that causes common warts, genital warts and that is implicated in prevalent cancers - scientists have paved the way for making the pathogen far more accessible to biomedical science.

Making a better cheddar

June 9, 2005

Whether it's a stretchy mozzarella or an easy-to-slice Swiss, cheesemakers aim to provide consumers with high quality, consistent products. To this end, they often try to improve texture and flavor by controlling for factors like acidity and the breakdown of milk proteins by enzymes. However, the key to better Cheddar may lie in undissolved calcium salts, according to a report by UW–Madison cheese scientists published recently in the International Dairy Journal.

Green diesel: New process makes fuel from plants

June 2, 2005

College of Engineering researchers have discovered a new way to make a diesel-like liquid fuel from carbohydrates commonly found in plants. "It's a very efficient process," says researcher George Huber. "The fuel produced contains 90 percent of the energy found in the carbohydrate and hydrogen feed. If you look at a carbohydrate source such as corn, our new process has the potential to create twice the energy as is created in using corn to make ethanol."