Overestimating population immunity contributed to US Delta variant surge
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illustration of corona virus

New research suggests the recent COVID surge may be related to overestimating how many people were immune to the virus.

Seth Bordenstein named director of the Penn State Microbiome Center
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Seth Bordenstein

Seth Bordenstein will begin as director of the Penn State Microbiome Center on Aug 1.

Does herpes simplex virus change during transmission?
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illustration of pairs of partners and herpes cell clusters that represent genetics
A new mathematical model of cellular movement
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Shape of moving cell predicted by new mathematical model

A new mathematical model describes how cells change shape during movement and that it is primarily driven by myosin contraction.

$7.5 million DoD grant supports the exploration of exotic physics in synthetic dimensions
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Mikael Rechtsman

Mikael Rechtsman, associate professor of physics at Penn State, will lead a team that has been awarded a 5-year $7.5 million DoD MURI grant.

First European farmers' heights did not meet expectations
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Drawing of a scientist working with human skeletal remains
Are egg cells in aging primates protected from mutations?
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Graphs showing increase in mutation frequency in mitochondrial DNA in aging rhesus macaques

Mutations in the mitochondrial DNA in developing egg cells increase less with age in rhesus macaques than in other tissues

​​Nearby star could help explain why our Sun didn’t have sunspots for 70 years
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11 images of the sun with sunspots Credit: NASA

A sun-like star could explain why our Sun stopped its sunspot cycles 300 years ago during the Maunder Minimum, according to Penn State.

How grasses like wheat can grow in the cold
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Artist's depiction of cold adapted grasses, with gene duplications represented by colored boxes

Relationships among a grass subfamily, including wheat and barely, reveals gene-duplication events that contributed to cold adaptation.

Studying diseases with better delivery of gene-editing tools
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Xiaojun (Lance) Lian outside
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