Researchers Discover Master Metabolism Regulator with Links to Obesity, Heart Disease, and Malnutrition
Normal mice fed a diet deficient in leucine do not accumulate fat in their liver (left panel) whereas mutant mice that lack the GCN2 enzyme develop a massive accumulation of fat (severe hepatic steatosis), as seen in the right panel (red droplets). Credit: Douglas Cavener lab, Penn State
Microprinting Technique for Patterning Single Molecules
credit: Paul Weiss lab, Penn State Microcontact Insertion Printing Left: Single molecules are inserted into a preexisting layer in microscopic regions that are defined by a patterned elastomeric stamp. Right: Complex and overlapping chemical patterns can be fabricated employing multiple stamping steps. (scanning electron micrograph, field of view 90 µm x 90 µm)
Top High-Energy Astronomy Prize Awarded
Top High-Energy Astronomy Prize Awarded
Seven or Eight Dwarf Galaxies Discovered Orbiting the Milky Way
Researchers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II) announced the discovery of eight new dwarf galaxies, seven of them satellites orbiting the Milky Way.
Astronomers Discover New Kind of Black-Hole Explosion
Hubble Space Telescope image of the host galaxy of the "hybrid gamma-ray burst" GRB 060614 (centered in the small box).
Taking Nanolithography Beyond Semiconductors
A new technique of chemical patterning developed at Penn State combines conventional lithography with molecular self-assembly for the creation of multifunctional surfaces.
New Technique Studies How Plastic Solar Cells Turn Sunlight into Electricity
A plot of the wavelength of emitted infrared light vs. the time delay of the light emission provides information about the path of an electron within a plastic solar cell. This information about how the cell makes an electric current from light will lead to improvements in the efficiency and usable lifetime of solar cells.
Research Yields New Insights into the Cause of Diabetes
The insulin-secreting beta cells (green) normally exhibit a perinuclear cap of proinsulin (orange in top panel) whereas proinsulin is spread throughout the cytoplasm (orange in bottom panel) in many beta-cells of PERK-deficient mice, which are diabetic because of insufficient secretion of insulin.
Twin Star Explosions Fascinate Astronomers
Credit: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler
Dragonfly's Metabolic Disease Provides Clues about Human Obesity
Penn State researchers studied the dragonfly, Libellula pulchella, and discovered that a supposedly harmless parasite triggers metabolic disorders similar to those found in humans afflicted with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Credit: Ruud Schilder
Subscribe to Research