A new study by a University of Wisconsin-Madison team of researchers looking at wolves on an island in Lake Superior is helping shed light on the role that certain species play in helping shape an entire ecosystem.
Category: Research
How Wisconsin is creating the future of precision medicine
Every patient is a unique individual. They have their own genetics, their own exposures to the environment that they have been in,” said Dr. Muhammed Murtazais, associate director of the Center for Human Genomics and Precision Medicineat the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “And, so, precision medicine is this approach that could we actually learn more about each individual patient, so that each patient gets the right drug at the right time.
UW-Madison says it found a new way to fight cancer
Thanks to a recent study from the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, UW said Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy can be improved by altering the conditions the T-cells are grown in. Researchers at the WID accomplished this through “metabolic priming.”
Gene therapy firm shows why UW-Madison deserves state funding — Sally Gleason
As a Wisconsin resident, I am proud of the role played by UW-Madison in gene therapy and its future potential. Unfortunately, our Legislature fails to appreciate the university’s scientific contributions to humanity when it comes to funding.
Wisconsin lands $49 million in funding for medical sciences
The Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub Consortium members include the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), the University of Wisconsin System Administration, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, GE HealthCare, Rockwell Automation, Exact Sciences Corporation, BioForward Wisconsin, Employ Milwaukee, Accuray, Plexus, WRTP Big Step, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Madison Area Technical College, the Madison Regional Economic Partnership (MadREP), and Milwaukee7.
Legislation aimed at helping children in poverty, Using ecstasy to treat PTSD, Traveling Shakespeare theater
UW-Madison researchers on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, including MDMA. Madison was the only Midwest site for phase 3 trials of a psychedelic-assisted therapy treatment for Post-traumatic stress disorder. We learn about the potential for these substances in improving mental health.
Study tracks how wolf reintroduction at Isle Royale affected foxes, martens
The reintroduction of wolves has only had temporary effects on other small carnivores at Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Professor Randy Goldsmith on new technique to unlock a molecule’s “unprecedented detail”
UW-Madison scientists have developed a new technique for identifying and analyzing a single molecule.
The new development, published in the May edition of the journal Nature, is the most sensitive way of identifying single molecules yet. With a variety of applications in a wide variety of scientific fields, it offers a future of “new microscopic perspective of unprecedented detail.”
UW-Madison engineers invent soil sensors to help farmers
The University said the sensors detect nitrate in soil types that are common in Wisconsin, allowing farmers to make better informed soil nutrient management decisions and reap economic benefits. The sensors can also be used as an agricultural tool to monitor nitrate leaching.
Pollution from Ohio train derailment reached 110 million Americans | Grist
“Everybody expected a local contamination issue,” said David Gay, coordinator of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and lead author of the new study. “But I think what most people don’t understand about this fire is how big it was and how wide-ranging the implications are.”
Obesity drug used in Mounjaro and Zepbound may help treat dangerous sleep apnea
Dr. Paul Peppard, a sleep medicine researcher at the University of Wisconsin who was not involved in the study, said losing weight has long been recommended as a way to reduce the severity of sleep apnoea by expanding lung capacity, reducing fat in the airways and improving oxygen usage.
Overturning Roe Didn’t Just Cut Off Access. It Sabotaged Science, Too.
During a 2023 workshop held by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, University of Wisconsin reproductive health researcher Jenny Higgins reported that fake individuals, or “bots,” had submitted about 3,000 responses to one of her surveys one weekend. Her team then had to spend hours on data quality checks and hire a data scientist to “weed out” ineligible participants.
A UW-Madison study mapped millions of acres of abandoned U.S. farmland. Here’s why it matters.
A team of scientists from the UW-led Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center mapped millions of acres of abandoned farmland across the U.S. over several decades in a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Knowing where this abandoned land is could help people evaluate it for different uses, including climate solutions, the team theorized.
Thousands in Wisconsin could benefit from new immigration rules
That’s particularly true in the state’s dairy farms, which are routinely staffed by undocumented immigrants, according to a 2023 report from the UW-Madison School for Workers. This has created new coalitions advocating on immigration issues in the state.
UW-Madison scientists research “no-melt” ice cream
Wouldn’t it be great if ice cream didn’t melt in your hand? UW-Madison scientists want to make that a reality.
Dr. Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar on addiction and imprisonment
UW Health Behavioral Health and Recovery Clinic addiction medicine physician Dr. Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar examines how incarceration impacts people struggling with mental health and substance abuse.
Eradication of insect pests and invasive plants
UW-Madison entomologist PJ Liesch is back. We talk with him about what’s hampering the spread of spongy moths in Wisconsin. We also talk about how climate change is aiding the spread of joro spiders to northern regions. Then, two WDNR invasive species specialists share success stories from across the state.
Fathers suffer from postpartum depression, too, UW-Madison professor’s research shows
University of Wisconsin-Madison social work professor Tova Walsh is glad more people are paying attention to postpartum depression in moms. She said that’s a big improvement.
How Multi-Omics Is Empowering The Discovery Of Cancer Biomarkers
A 2023 study from a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison demonstrated the promise of fragmentomics. Researchers used machine learning to identify patterns in fragments of circulating tumor DNA, which is genetic material that cancerous tumors shed into the bloodstream as they grow. The researchers trained an algorithm to not only detect cancer in blood samples but also to identify the specific type of cancer present.
East Palestine train derailment polluted 16 states, study says
When it began to rain in various places, the pollutants were pushed from the air and deposited on the ground. The National Atmospheric Deposition Program, at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, collects these ground depositions weekly across 260 sites across North America. David Gay, who serves as coordinator of the program, routinely analyzes the data to monitor air pollutants. “If you have a lot of pollution in the atmosphere, you get a lot of wet deposition pollution at the ground,” Gay said.
Chemicals from East Palestine derailment spread to 16 US states, data shows
Researchers expected to find some evidence of the burn 50 miles from the site, and the high levels of contamination in the samples across the vast range that it was spread was “very surprising” said David Gay, a University of Wisconsin researcher and lead author.
US Supreme Court ruling on abortion pills, The murky market for legal weed products, How pagans celebrate summer solstice
With a wave of new hemp-derived THC alternatives hitting the market in Wisconsin, we check in with a cannabis historian about what these products are and how they’re shaping policy discussions around marijuana in the state. Interview with Lucas Richert, professor in the School of Pharmacy at UW-Madison.
UW-Madison researcher develops ice cream that doesn’t melt
In the UW-Madison basement-level lab, the answer was largely predestined. One scoop was regular ice cream, not unlike what visitors could buy upstairs at the Babcock Dairy store. The other was a concoction of UW-Madison Ph.D. researcher Cameron Wicks, in which an addition of polyphenols — compounds naturally occurring in plants such as blueberries and green tea leaves — helps ice cream keep its shape by counteracting melting ice crystals.
Scorpion, moths, beetles: Wisconsin bugs skitter into spotlight
UW-Madison Extension Entomologist PJ Liesch spends much of his time identifying and confirming insect sightings. This spring has brought him a number of unusual observations, including a scorpion.
UW-Madison to strengthen first OB-GYN rural track program in the US
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $750,000 to the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Thursday, directed toward the establishment of new residency programs in rural communities.
Supermassive Black Hole’s ‘Wind’ Shapes Surrounding Galaxy
A team of astronomers, including from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Arizona, analyzed years of observations of a quasar—bright cores of a galaxy thought to be powered by a supermassive black hole—to find unexpected changes in the gases surrounding a black hole.
Supermassive Black Hole’s ‘Wind’ Shapes Surrounding Galaxy
A team of astronomers, including from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Arizona, analyzed years of observations of a quasar—bright cores of a galaxy thought to be powered by a supermassive black hole—to find unexpected changes in the gases surrounding a black hole.
Tackling child care challenges: How Milwaukee Succeeds is making a difference
More than 40% of mothers in Wisconsin report having to cut back on work hours, or quit their jobs entirely, due to the high cost of early childhood education, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison research quoted by Vincent Lyles, the executive director of Milwaukee Succeeds .
USDA, UW–Madison break ground on new dairy research facility
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Wisconsin–Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Jun. 10 in Prairie du Sac for the construction of a world-class dairy research facility that will expand the two organizations’ long-standing partnership to tackle key issues affecting dairy farms across the country.
UW-Madison and USDA break ground for new dairy research facility in Prairie du Sac
UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new dairy research facility in Prairie du Sac on Monday.
Carbone Cancer Center aims to make research more accessible
The UW Carbone Cancer Center is starting a research program for college students underrepresented in oncology this summer. The program — Science Careers in Oncology Research with Equity, or SCORE — is a 10-week program for college students to learn and participate in cancer research in a lab setting, working closely with professionals in the field as well as their peers.
UW-Madison researchers map abandoned cropland to help combat climate change
For the first time, a research team with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center has created a map, called the GLBRC Atlas that shows abandoned croplands, where they are, how long they’ve been abandoned, and more.
Madison City Council backs layout of North-South BRT line
Since 2017, at least 35 pedestrians and cyclists have suffered minor and serious injuries from being struck by vehicles on Park Street, according to UW-Madison’s Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory.
How It’s Made: Wisconsin Dairy Products
June is Dairy Month in Wisconsin! Learn how your favorite Wisconsin dairy products – from cheese curds to ice cream – are made with these episodes from PBS Wisconsin.
Wisconsin scientist: Plants respond to biting insects faster than you might think
Simon Gilroy, a University of Wisconsin-Madison botany professor, is among a handful of scientists uncovering how plants respond to the world. But Gilroy hesitates to use the word “intelligence” when talking about them.
“One of the things that we do as humans is we anthropomorphize all the time. Inanimate objects, we attribute them human characteristics. And it’s just built into our DNA of how we interact with the world … so that must be how everything else operates,” Gilroy told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” recently. “That can sometimes totally get in the way.”
UW-Madison professor traces the ways women are pushed to serve as a social safety net
Jessica Calarco, a sociologist and associate professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, says writing her book “Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net” was a “labor of fury” and a “labor of love.”
Ancient crystals reveal the earliest evidence of fresh water, scientists say
John Valley, a professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, agreed that the conditions for life could have existed on Earth so long ago. Valley wasn’t involved in the new research but was among the first scientists to use zircons to show that Earth had ancient oceans and cooler temperatures more than 4 billion years ago, challenging the view that Hadean Earth was a hellish orb with fiery seas of magma.
Why Bird Flu Is Causing Eye Infections in Dairy Workers
“Given the amount of virus detected in milk from H5N1 virus-infected cows, I am concerned about its spillover to humans, poultry and other animals,”says Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of virology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine.
Proposed ‘alcohol density’ rule could stop new Madison liquor licenses by schools, parks and more
Dane County has some of the highest levels of excessive drinking in Wisconsin and has a higher level of traffic deaths involving alcohol than the rest of the state and the country, according to the UW-Madison Population Health Institute. Across the state, alcohol-induced deaths have tripled since 1999, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Project seeks to define presence of PFAS in deep aquifer on French Island
A project on French Island near La Crosse aims to define the movement of PFAS in groundwater and to determine whether a deep aquifer could serve as a source of safe drinking water for residents with contaminated wells.
On Monday, a team of partners will drill to create three wells at depths ranging from 85 to 400 feet within the town of Campbell on French Island. Researchers with the University of Wisconsin-Madison will collect samples of sediment and rock beneath the surface.
Cicada records help scientists study long-term health impact of pesticide exposure
Jason Fletcher, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said during the early 20th century, producers of tree crops like apples commonly used the chemicals when preparing for an emergence.
“Because cicadas are known, when they’re coming and where they’re going to be in general terms, certainly in the past, farmers tried to protect their crops by dousing everything with pesticide,” he said.
Smith: Centennial of nation’s first wilderness area highlights Aldo Leopold’s legacy
We Wisconsinites who value the natural world and outdoor recreation hold Aldo Leopold in especially high esteem.
Not only was Leopold a pioneering ecologist, forester and author who profoundly influenced the modern conservation movement, but he spent much of his adult life in the Badger State as a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and cultivator of his family’s “shack” on an old farm near Baraboo along the Wisconsin River.
Can smartphone use actually make you happier? UW-Madison study suggests it can
The study, conducted by UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health researchers, was funded in part through a partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook. The company, according to UW-Madison, played no role in the study’s design, analysis or reporting.
Dairy cows cut the cheese, UW-Madison researchers cut the emissions
There’s a farm in the little town of Arlington, 20 miles north of Madison, that looks and smells like any other Wisconsin dairy operation. Its 550 cows are milked twice daily, once before dawn and again in the afternoon, like they are at thousands of dairy farms across the state.
But at this farm — the University of Wisconsin’s Agricultural Research Station — when a cow eats, gets milked and burps, a data point is created. That data collection is helping researchers at UW-Madison adapt Wisconsin’s herd to the challenges of climate change.
Hidden recession? Mental illness costs the U.S. a staggering $282 billion annually, shows new study
Mental illness isn’t just a pervasive problem in the U.S.—one in five adults experience it each year, per the nonprofit National Alliance on Mental Illness—it’s also an expensive one, costing the economy $282 billion annually. This, according to a new study by economists at Yale and Columbia universities and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Legislator-led committee to study sandhill crane management, including potential hunting season
A study conducted in December by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center found 17% of state residents would support a sandhill crane hunting season while 48% oppose the idea.
The work, funded by the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo and the UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, was the first controlled, science-based look at public support for crane hunting in the state. It polled 2,769 members of the UWSC’s WisconSays survey panel.
Adolescent smartphone use boosts mood, UW-Madison study says
The study, conducted by UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health researchers, was funded in part through a partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook. The company, according to UW-Madison, played no role in the study’s design, analysis or reporting.
Research shows benefits of smartphones for adolescents
New research from UW-Madison shows smartphone use could have benefits for young people.
Deadly domestic abuse cases show why gun violence is a top concern in Wisconsin
Written by Mariel Barnes, an assistant professor with the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Her research examines everyday forms of violence against women, gender, and the politics of the welfare state.
You can try beer, and a dessert, made with cicadas at Lake Geneva’s ‘Cicadapalooza’
Director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Insect Diagnostics Lab PJ Liesch received the first reports of Brood XIII cicadas in Wisconsin this year out of the Lake Geneva area just over a week ago. With some of the best-documented historical cicada activity in the state, Lake Geneva could very well be Wisconsin’s “bug central” this summer. Residents have already shared photos of cicadas covering tree trunks, sidewalks and other surfaces.
UW survey finds inflation, gun violence and health care top issues for Wisconsin residents
The Main Street Agenda is a project designed to focus on the issues Wisconsinites rank as most important heading into the 2024 election. The topics come from a survey of nearly 4,000 residents conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Survey Center in partnership with the La Follette School of Public Affairs.
Heroic Efforts By Hunters To Save Texas Quail May Soon Pay Off
While researching a book on ruffed grouse in the late 1980s, I discovered that scientists from the University of Wisconsin had similarly identified a parasite (Dispharynx nasuta) that they hypothesized was causing populations of the woodland gamebird to decline.
Smartphone use can actually help teenagers boost their mood
Now, Matt Minich and Megan Moreno at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have gone further, showing a positive association with smartphones. They enlisted 253 children in the US to take part in a six-day study, sending them 30 short surveys via text at random times between 9am and 9pm.
UW-Madison research finds pasteurization kills 99.99% of bird flu virus
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the state’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory used milk samples collected from infected cows on farms in New Mexico and Kansas.
Wave Watch buoys aim to improve safety for boaters in the Apostle Islands
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are partnering with the Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and the National Park Service to launch the buoys. It’s a relaunch of a program that was discontinued last year because of a lack of funding.
UW-Madison researchers look to take 3D printing out of this world, making computer components in zero gravity
Researchers with the University of Wisconsin-Madison are looking to take 3D printing out of this world, successfully manufacturing computer components in zero gravity.
Mice experienced high levels of bird flu after being given raw milk: Study
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory gave droplets of raw milk from cows that were infected to five mice. On the first day they showed signs of sickness, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Quotation of the Day: Study Bolsters Evidence Raw Milk May Be a Risk for Bird Flu in Humans
“Don’t drink raw milk — that’s the message.”Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who led a study that added to existing evidence that unpasteurized milk may bring a risk for bird flu in mammals, including humans.
Drinking raw milk containing bird flu virus may be dangerous, new study finds
The research, conducted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison, involved feeding raw milk to mice and stimulating different approaches to pasteurization, which uses heat to inactivate pathogens in milk, to see whether they could grow active virus from the heat-treated samples.
The problem with the nudge effect: it can make you buy more carrots – but it can’t make you eat them
That’s actually worse because of the waste. True. It also raises questions about whether nudging has any effect or benefit in the long run. Now, marketing academics Evan Polman from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Sam Maglio from the University of Toronto have done some research into this and written about it in the Wall Street Journal.