Despite these advancements, GWAS studies have their limitations, which scientists have tried to address with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). However, in two studies published in Nature Genetics, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison identified pervasive biases these new approaches can introduce when working with large but incomplete datasets.2,3
November 14, 2024
Research
Teenager infected with H5N1 bird flu in critical condition
Nuzzo also pointed to a recent study published in Nature, led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, an H5N1 expert at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, that showed the virus that infected the first reported dairy worker in Texas had acquired mutations that made it more severe in animals as well as allowing it to move more efficiently between them — via airborne respiration.
Is It Time to Worry About Bird Flu?
That’s not to say respiratory spread is impossible, though. Two recent studies in ferrets—one by researchers at the CDC, and one led by a researcher from the University of Wisconsin-Madison—raised that possibility. The researchers isolated the bird flu strain that sickened the first person infected in the current outbreak and tested how infectious it was among ferrets. Although it wasn’t as contagious as the seasonal flu, the bird flu virus was capable of spreading among ferrets by droplets, the researchers found.
Higher Education/System
Wisconsin legislators lay out priorities. Here’s what to know from leaders of both parties.
Habush Sinkyin said one takeaway from talking to voters on the campaign trail was that the state Legislature needs to do more to fund public schools and the University of Wisconsin System, local governments, health care and tax relief.
Campus life
TAA launches bioscience graduate worker campaign
The University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate assistant’s union, the Teaching Assistant Association, launched a campaign to improve working conditions for graduate student workers in bioscience departments including genetics and microbiology.
Letter to campus administration criticizes reassignment of GSCC director
University of Wisconsin-Madison campus community members criticized the removal of Warren Scherer as director of the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center in an open letter to campus administration.
State news
Opinion: Wisconsin legislators lay out priorities. Here’s what to know from leaders of both parties.
Written by Susan Webb Yackee, a professor of public affairs and director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison.
Health
UW Health to reinstate annual masking requirements amid rising respiratory illnesses
‘We’re in a better place than we were at the height of the pandemic, but we’re still dealing with the reality of ongoing respiratory illnesses,’ Dr. Jeffrey Pothof says.
Opinion
Opinion | UW shows incompetence, bias in protest investigation
It is difficult for me to imagine being prouder of my fellow UW students or more embarrassed by my university than I have been over the past six months.
UW Experts in the News
Outdoor writers talk deer hunting, ecologist explains phenology
Phenology is the study of the seasonal events in nature. And thanks to the famed naturalist Aldo Leopold, Wisconsin has a calendar that keeps track of bird migrations, mammal predation and the blooming of flowers. Ecologist Stan Temple joins us.
No, ‘ballot dump’ didn’t steal Wisconsin Senate race | Fact check
“The late-night addition of ballots in the city of Milwaukee is a regular and expected part of the vote counting process in Wisconsin,” Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told USA TODAY.
Researcher tests virus-based cancer treatment on her own breast cancer
“From my perspective, self experimentation is not fundamentally unethical,” said Alta Charo, a professor emerita of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “It may be unwise. It may indeed be tainted by an unrealistic set of expectations. … But I don’t see it as fundamentally unethical.”
Remedies for schools struggling to find special education teachers
This is when schools are more likely to see departures from special education teachers, said Kimber Wilkinson, a special education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. New teachers often tell her about their concerns with morale and heavy workloads once they land a role at a school.