Category: Research

Student athletes have coaches for advice, fans for support, Bucky Badger for laughs and a custom-made protein drink at the University of Wisconsin.

The old slogan â??Guinness is Good For Youâ? may actually be true, according to new medical research that suggests the stout may help prevent heart attacks.

University researchers in the US claim that drinking a pint of the black stuff each day may be as effective in preventing heart attacks as an aspirin because it can reduce heart clots.

Trials at the University of Wisconsin used dogs with narrowed arteries similar to those in people with heart disease to compare effects of drinking stout with those of drinking lager.

A California company has agreed to deposit its federally approved stem cell lines in the national stem cell bank in Madison, the bank said Friday.

Novocell, a leading stem cell engineering company in San Diego, deposited the lines this month, according to the WiCell Research Institute, which runs the bank.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has been a strong voice in the patent reform debate. As the first research institution to isolate and proliferate human embryonic stem cells, the University of Wisconsin-Madison clearly has a strong interest in protecting and holding patents that will lead to further development of scientific breakthroughs and discoveries.

CONOVER, Wis. — Four years after they invaded the Gile Flowage, spiny water fleas have shown up in Vilas County’s Stormy Lake.

The exotic invaders hadn’t been found in any other Wisconsin inland lake until their discovery last week.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Trout Lake station found the water fleas while monitoring the Vilas County lake for other types of zooplankton. The tiny animals are important because they form the basis of food chains in lakes.

Madison – When University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist James Thomson staked his claim in 1998 as the first researcher to isolate and grow human embryonic stem cells, he set on fire an emerging area of science that many believe has potential to cure some of the world’s most difficult diseases.

Backed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Thompson also set in motion a patent skirmish that heated up last year when two groups asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to examine the validity of WARF’s three key embryonic stem cell patents.

After years of concern about Wisconsin’s brain drain, now there’s evidence of a “boomerang” effect.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that although Wisconsin suffers a slight loss overall of college-educated residents, the drain is mostly among graduates in their 20s. In fact, the state has net gains among college grads in their 30s and 40s.

“That’s a heartening development,” said John Karl Scholz, an economist and co-author of a working paper on the research. “If it continues, that’s clearly a source of strength for the state, because clearly college-educated people in their thirties and forties are likely to be putting deeper roots in the community, and that’s a good thing. The trend is good.”

Colin Scanes, the new vice chancellor for research and economic development and dean of the graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was recruited from a similar post at Mississippi State University to reinforce UWM’s commitment to research and high-tech job creation.

Imagine your child is entering kindergarten. You take her to get her shots: Polio, flu . . . and obesity?

According to new research published in the International Journal of Obesity (yes, they have a whole academic journal focusing just on issues of fat people), a virus could potentially be one reason some people are extremely fat.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison found that mice and chickens started packing on the pounds when they were infected with a human virus with the sexy name of adenovirus-36.

Three studies published by a University of Wisconsin (UW) geneticist who resigned last year amid accusations of fraud have been replicated, according to her former collaborators.

The researcher, Elizabeth Goodwin, was investigated by the university last year after her students accused her of misusing data on a grant application. The investigation also raised questions about data in three of Goodwin’s papers, which the investigators could not verify. Since then, however, the papers’ other authors and the editors of the journals in which they were published have confirmed that the results are scientifically valid. The investigation was turned over to the Office of Research Integrity at the NIH, but the ORI has not issued a final ruling.

New research shows that erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis may increase production of oxytocin, a reproductive hormone released during orgasm.

That news comes from scientists at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. They tested sildenafil (Viagra’s active ingredient), vardenafil (Levitra’s active ingredient), and a related chemical called T-1032 in lab tests on rats.

Anti-impotence drugs can turn men into more loving partners, new research suggests.

As well as its original aim of improving sexual performance, Viagra boosts levels of a “cuddle chemical” in the brain that increases a man’s love for his partner.

WASHINGTON — Impotence drugs such as Viagra may do more than help men physically have sex — they may also boost levels of a hormone linked with feelings of love, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

Viagra, known generically as sildenafil, raised levels of the hormone oxytocin in rats, a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in a report published in the Journal of Physiology.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison training program in a hot area that combines biology and computer science has been awarded another $5.2 million, five-year federal grant.

The Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine training program received the grant from the National Library of Science, said George Phillips, a UW-Madison biochemistry professor with an affiliate appointment in computer science who directs the program.

If you’ve tried loading up on fruits, vegetables and whole grains and still can’t get relief from constipation, maybe you need more than a boost of fiber.

“The idea that many patients have, and unfortunately their physicians, if we just keep pushing fiber until the grass grows out of their behind they’ll have been treated successfully, that’s not really true,” said Dr. Arnold Wald, a professor of medicine in gastroenterology/hepatology at the University of Wisconsin.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will today (Aug. 21) issue new rules intended to streamline the patenting process. But the change will also make it more costly and time consuming for universities and biotech companies to secure rights to their life sciences discoveries, patent experts say.

Carl E. Gulbrandsen, managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the tech transfer office of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has for the second year been named on the Hartwell Foundation’s list of top 10 biomedical research centers.

The ambitious plans of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago are clear – build a new research park and engineering campus on the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa.

Santiago and others see the campus as a key part of a plan to help transform the region economically and think it would lead to new opportunities for engineering graduates and help attract talent to the area.

How such a campus – 12 miles away from the main university – would affect the daily lives of UWM students and their education experience remains hazy. What a satellite campus would include is on the minds of engineering students, faculty and administrators and local officials.

CHICAGO — A cold-like virus may cause obesity, new experiments suggest.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison have found that mice and chickens infected with a common human virus put on much more fat than uninfected animals. They have also discovered that the same virus is more prevalent among overweight people, a strong indication that it may also cause obesity in humans.

In four experiments, the Wisconsin researchers inoculated chickens and mice with adenovirus-36, a member of a viral family that includes about 50 strains. Most adenoviruses cause colds, diarrhea or pinkeye.

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers wants to fuse the technology of modern computers and the mechanical calculators of the past to produce a machine that could survive in the harsh environments such as outer space, car engines, battlefields, and children’s toys.

Fish farmers, aquaculture officials and state fisheries experts convened recently at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The UW Madison is studying road building with recyclables. Thanks to a federal grant and a partnership with the University of New Hampshire, the Recycled Materials Resource Center will look at using foundry byproducts in road construction.

MADISON, Wis. — Solving the issue of mold in homes and other buildings is one reason a large federal grant has been awarded to a national research lab based in Madison.

Nearly $50 million in federal money is slated for the nation’s leading wood research institute — the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory near the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.

The money will be used to help expand lab research into mold and other issues related to wood, including turning forest waste into fuel.

Ready to buy your nano-Mac? You might have to wait a few years, and you might want only one if you fly into space or go to war.

(MADISON) A month ago, the University of Wisconsin-Madison got word it was no longer being considered as a site for a national bio- and agro-defense facility. University officials now know why, and say the information may help them adjust strategies to secure future research contracts.

The adage that one person ‘s trash is another person ‘s treasure is being put into practice at the Recycled Materials Resource Center at UW-Madison. The center, which has experts both at UW-Madison and the University of New Hampshire, aims to find uses for a range of materials that often get tossed into landfills by industries.

ST. LOUIS â?? When Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment last November protecting human embryonic stem cell research, it was viewed as a key endorsement of the research even in states with deep religious roots and strong antiabortion forces like this one.

But the expected expansion of stem cell research in Missouri has since run into political and financial roadblocks, putting the future of the research in doubt.

State lawmakers who opposed the constitutional amendment continue to fight it, introducing new bills that would bar some types of the research and suggesting that a ballot initiative to that end may lie ahead.

Experience has shown that even a few short discussions with a health professional can help a problem drinker. Now, a new study has found that counseling by telephone can be equally effective in curbing excessive drinking.

Writing in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, researchers suggested such counseling could be good for hard-to-reach patients. It also uses fewer resources than face-to-face meetings.

The researchers, led by Dr. Richard Brown of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, worked with almost 900 patients at 18 Wisconsin clinics, half of whom were given just pamphlets and the remainder receiving counseling.

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin is known mostly for its cheese, but now state officials want to raise grapes to the same level.

The state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has put up a $22,500 grant to find a variety of seedless, munch-able table grapes that can weather the harsh Wisconsin winters.

Some local growers have been growing grapes, but they have taken second to other fruits, WISC-TV reported.

“‘Oh, you do have grapes!’ Yeah, there’s a comment or two once in a while like that. ‘Oh, you have grapes too?'” said Lavern Forest, owner of Eplegaarden.

MADISON, Wis. â?? After scientist Jamie Thomson isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998, colleagues said he had opened the door to novel medical treatments that would transform science.

A leading journal called it one of the most important scientific achievements ever. The University of Wisconsin-Madison biologist appeared on Time Magazineâ??s cover under the headline: â??The man who brought you stem cells.â?

Wisconsin agriculture officials hope to find a sweet success with a new grant aimed at the grape industry.

State agriculture officials are expected to announce a $22,500 grant on Monday to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to develop a seedless table grape fit for Wisconsin’s cool climate.

Wisconsin already supports 30 wineries and interest in grape production is climbing, according to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.