Category: Research

Only 137 jobs, many of them held by students, were created or saved at the University of Wisconsin System thanks to $5.2 million in federal stimulus money.The universityâ??s audit, released Thursday, used a government formula to calculate the number of jobs based the number of hours worked on projects paid for with stimulus money. It did not say how many were new jobs or what the exact positions were.

The Johns Hopkins University led the nation in research and development spending in fiscal year 2008, according to a new National Science Foundation report, and most other area institutions maintained their national R&D rankings in a down economy.

Hopkins has ranked as the top research university on the survey since 1979. The school reported $1.7 billion in R&D spending in fiscal 2008. The institutions ranked second through fifth – University of California, San Francisco; University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of Michigan and UCLA – all reported spending in the $800 million-$900 million range.

Campuses in the University of Wisconsin System have been awarded roughly $83 million in federal stimulus funds for 263 projects, according to figures released by the UW System today.

This summer was one of the coolest on record. Despite recent trends, Dan Vimont, an atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison , believes much warmer conditions are ahead.Based on Vimontâ??s research, he expects Wisconsinâ??s climate to warm between 4 and 9 degrees by mid century.

A professor at the University of Wisconsin is studying endangered African monkeys, to better understand the spread of viruses, such as HIV/AIDS.

In an article released this week in the Journal of Virology, UW professor Tony Goldberg outlines his goal of tracking virus evolution across millions of years. Goldberg has studied the endangered Ugandan red colobus which only lives in the Kibale National Park in western Uganda.

The modern climate change debate can draw ardent environmentalists and vociferous skeptics alike. Fifty years ago today, though, man finally got a better look at how the Earth retains and emits heat.

University of Wisconsin officials recently unveiled a plan to restructure the graduate school after significant growth in the institutionâ??s research and graduate education programs.

While Provost Paul DeLuca Jr.â??s plan awaits reports and recommendations from two university committees, the proposed changes have come under fire from faculty and staff.

Traffic safety experts have long known that traveling rural roads can be more hazardous because of wildlife, geography and other conditions. Now a study indicates even when those factors are controlled, alcohol impairment for those driving in Wisconsin’s countryside appears to be a greater cause of fatalities than in urban areas.

Zachary Baesman is a medical student at UW-Madison. He analyzed motor vehicle fatalities in all Wisconsin’s 72 counties over an eight year period.

The dean of UW-Madisonâ??s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences has been appointed to a senior position in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to university officials.

Molly Jahn will serve as deputy undersecretary of research, education and economics, where she will be responsible for leading three units within the USDA.

Jahn will begin her new duties Nov. 9. UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin has granted her a one-year leave of absence from her duties as dean.

Noted: An ongoing experiment at the University of Wisconsin on rhesus monkeys, which began in 1989, portends similar results: compared with normal-weight primates on a regular calorie regimen, the monkeys on restricted diets are healthier and more vigorous and seem destined (at least at the moment) for a longer life.

University of Wisconsin-Madison officials are lashing out at new recommendations from an influential federal panel that could dramatically weaken patent protection for the university’s genetic research.

Among other things, the panel recommended essentially exempting genetic tests for cancer and other diseases from patent protection – meaning that anyone could use genetic diagnostic research from UW-Madison or any university without obtaining licenses.

Former Vice President Al Gore was the keynote speaker at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference Friday.

He spoke for an hour on climate change and the possibility the world will do something to stop it. “I choose to be very optimistic about the prospects.”

Former Vice President Al Gore shared his optimism about the “shifting momentum” of the climate change debate with about 500 environmental journalists Friday in Madison.

“We’re very close to that political tipping point,” Gore said at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference at the Madison Concourse Hotel. “Never before in human history has a single generation been asked to make such difficult and consequential decisions.”

Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard has concluded that the UW-Madison is breaking the law every time it kills sheep through experiments involving decompression, just as local activists have charged (Watchdog, 8/28/09). The bad news, from their point of view, is that heâ??s not going to do anything about it.

Noted: At least one major oil company has dabbled in the field. In 2008, Royal Dutch Shell invested an undisclosed amount in Virent Energy Systems, a company based in Madison, Wisconsin. The collaboration aims to improve Virentâ??s processes to take sugars generated from cellulosic waste and catalytically react them with water to produce fuel molecules. “Itâ??s a premium high-octane [petrol] weâ??re generating,” says Randy Cortright, the companyâ??s founder and chief technical officer, who co-invented the technology with chemical engineer James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The University of Minnesota is one of 18 research groups to participate in a $170 million study of stem and progenitor cells, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute announced Wednesday.

Five professors from the Universityâ??s Lillehei Heart Institute and the Stem Cell Institute will participate in the study, and will work closely with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their â??hubâ? will study the signals and regulating factors that direct stem cells to heart and blood cells and blood vessels.

UW-Madison researchers violated state law when 26 sheep died in experiments on decompression sickness, but Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard wonâ??t prosecute the university because the infraction is relatively minor, he wrote in an opinion.

Intel said Monday it had settled a patent lawsuit with a research foundation that accused it of using a patented technology in its processor designs without permission.The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation alleged that Intel used in many of its chips an invention of a circuit that executes instructions faster to boost performance. WARF is a private organization that patents and licenses inventions for the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s patenting arm has settled its infringement lawsuit against computer chip maker Intel Corp. involving technology used in a popular computer processor.The case was expected to go to trial Monday, but both sides notified the court Friday they had agreed to a settlement. Details were not released.

As football fans and players prepare for Saturdayâ??s showdown between Wisconsinâ??s Badgers and Minnesotaâ??s Gophers at the new TCF Bank Stadium, itâ??s obvious to those close to this industry that the biotech rivalry between the two states is just as spirited. And that Minnesota is the underdog.

UW-Madison nutritional sciences professor Pete Anderson grows brussels sprouts, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes in his Madison backyard every summer, but soon he’ll be harvesting his salad fixings in February.

Anderson is building two “hoop houses,” metal-and-plastic greenhouse-like structures that are gaining popularity in northern urban areas as part of the “grow local” food movement. The structures extend the growing season by several months and can be far less expensive than a greenhouse.

Until now, the fearsome reputation of Tyrannosaurus rex has been pretty solid. Seven tons. More than 40 feet long. Huge head. Powerful jaws and meat-shredding teeth.

What could possibly pose a threat to such a beast, the king of the dinosaurs?

Ewan D.S. Wolff, a vertebrate paleontologist and a veterinary student at the UW-Madison, has discovered a surprising answer. T. rex, a new study by Wolff and other researchers has shown, may have often been laid low not by deadly combat with other dinosaurs but instead by a tiny parasite.

This is how desperate the fight to keep Asian carp from invading Lake Michigan has become: Biologists are talking about turning to sandbags. University of Wisconsin Sea Grantâ??s Phil Moy said Tuesday that Lake Michigan may be just one big rainstorm away from an infestation of the super-sized jumping carp that fishery experts fear could ravage whatâ??s left of the big lakeâ??s natural food chain.

A new study says Sue, the Tyrannosaurus Rex on display at the Field Museum, may have died from a lowly parasite.

A study conducted by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison indicates and the University of Queensland, Australia, suggests that the scars on Sue’s jaw are not from a battle with another dinosaur, but from trichomonosis, a parasitic infection that still infects modern birds.

Sue, the biggest, meanest meat-eating dinosaur known to history, probably was not killed by some other monster after a battle 65 million years ago, as scientists and schoolchildren used to believe.

Instead, the Field Museum’s celebrated Tyrannosaurus rex may have died with a whimper, felled by a puny, one-celled parasite that gave her a killer sore throat. In fact, she may even have starved to death.

Did Sue the dinosaur die of a really bad sore throat?

An international team of scientists thinks so after studying holes in the jaw of the 13-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton on display at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Until now, the fearsome reputation of Tyrannosaurus rex has been pretty solid. Seven tons. More than 40 feet long. Huge head. Powerful jaws and meat-shredding teeth.

What could possibly pose a threat to such a beast, the king of the dinosaurs?

Ewan D.S. Wolff, a vertebrate paleontologist and a veterinary student at the UW-Madison, has discovered a surprising answer. T. rex, a new study by Wolff and other researchers has shown, may have often been laid low not by deadly combat with other dinosaurs but instead by a tiny parasite.

UW-Madison is part of a new Wisconsin Center of Excellence in Genomics Science, created through an $8 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Campus researchers Lloyd Smith, Joshua Coon, Audrey Gasch and James Thomson are joining scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University in the center, coordinated by the Medical College. Smith, a U-W Madison professor of chemistry, is a co-director, as is Michael Olivier of the Medical College.

A team of Wisconsin researchers will receive $8 million to develop technology that provides new ways to study genes, the National Institutes of Health will announce Monday.The funding will go to the Wisconsin Center of Excellence in Genomics Science, a collaborative effort between the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University.

Dear Editor: Thanks for Todd Finkelmeyerâ??s recent article regarding primate research in Madison. The contradicting statements made by members of the Animal Care and Use Committee were astounding.

Eric Sandgrenâ??s position that this isnâ??t some old boysâ?? network is offset by Chairman Norlin Benevengaâ??s statement that it was like your pals deciding whether you are going to do this thing or that thing. Rob Streiffer says that all the researchers here that heâ??s encountered take their responsibilities very seriously, while Sandgren acknowledges that some investigators may not think about ethics at all. Hmm.

A global team of researchers has mapped the genetic code of the worldâ??s most popular vegetable – the potato.

The Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium began work in 2006. It has 16 institutional members in Argentina, Britain, Chile, China, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Russia and the United States. Michigan State and Virginia Tech are formal members of the consortium, and some work was done at the University of Wisconsin.

The UW-Madison has responded to Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchardâ??s request for more information on allegations that it is violating state law by using sheep in sometimes fatal decompression experiments. As Isthmus reported (“The Decompression of the Sheep,” 8/28/09), state law 951.025 states, “No person may kill an animal by means of decompression.” After hearing from local animal-rights activists, Blanchard asked the UW to explain. His initial review suggested a statutory exemption for scientific research “would not apply to a violation of 951.025.” (Second item.)

Dear Editor: Thank you for bringing to light the often-neglected topic of animal research. Perhaps it will encourage the university to be more open in answering questions as to what happens behind these closed doors. If the public is to judge the merits of such research, then we are entitled to know how the studies are conducted.

One best-selling book advocating fresh, local foods is shaking up America’s Dairyland.

Students across University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus, organic grocers, scientists, and dairy farmers large and small have jumped into the debate on how food is produced and eaten. The discussions started last month when the university began giving Michael Pollan’s book, “In Defense of Food,” free to all incoming freshmen and school officials urged professors to use it in class.

“In Defense of Food” is everywhere on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus this fall, and the best-selling book is sparking a lot of debate.

Author Michael Pollan’s book urging readers to “eat food, mostly plants, not too much” is the subject of a new program in which incoming freshmen can get the book free and many professors are using it in classes. Pollan will give a lecture on Thursday at the Kohl Center.

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eaterâ??s Manifesto, is scheduled to speak Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., as part of the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s new common book program known as Go Big Read.Local farmers are reacting to Pollanâ??s scheduled appearances by organizing a show of solidarity and have invited all farmers, students, agriculture professionals and â??people who are thankful for our safe abundant food supplyâ? to attend the event and wear the color green.