Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences

06/04/2026

"Regulation of Plant Development," a new book edited by Hong Ma, professor of biology and Huck Chair in Plant Reproductive Development and Evolution, is the first on its topic in over 30 years.

Read a Q&A with him about the new work here:

Hong Ma, professor of biology and Huck Chair in Plant Reproductive Development and Evolution, is the co-editor of a new book, Regulation of Plant Development, recently published by Springer Nature. The book presents a synthesis of recent advances in plant vegetative growth and diverse aspects of rep...

06/03/2026

The Center for RNA Molecular Biology hosted its third annual Symposium last month, bringing together graduate students, postdocs, and faculty from multiple departments for research talks, poster presentations, and a keynote speaker.

Co-directors Philip Bevilacqua and Paul Babitzke did a Q&A session with Penn State News about the event: https://www.psu.edu/news/eberly-college-science/story/third-center-rna-molecular-biology-symposium-brings-together

Photos of the day are available on the Huck Institutes Flickr page: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCVKqM

In this Q&A, Paul Babitzke, Don Bryant Chair in Microbial Physiology, and Philip Bevilacqua, distinguished professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology, shared about the history of the Center for RNA Molecular Biology and the importance of its annual symposium.

06/02/2026

The National Science Foundation (NSF) National Synthesis Center for Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Sciences (NCEMS) at Penn State has awarded four researchers from across the world for their efforts in building machine learning-based approaches to streamlining publicly available datasets for reuse. The researchers — two individuals and one team of two — won a competition hosted by the center and designed to showcase data harmonization solutions.

“Harmonizing the Data of your Data,” was launched by NCEMS as part of the center’s larger aim to leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science to harmonize publicly available datasets and gain new insights into molecular and cellular biology.

Working groups at NCEMS were tasked with a challenge to streamline public databases that stored spectrometry, proteomics data — measurements of proteins, their content and abundance — as well as the associated metadata, or specific details that provide context about the stored data.

Full story:

The U.S. National Science Foundation National Synthesis Center for Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Sciences (NCEMS) at Penn State has awarded four researchers from across the world for their efforts in a competition to build machine learning-based approaches for streamlining publicly availab...

06/01/2026

Quinn Burnett, a fourth-year food science student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, was recognized for her research on how sourdough starter microbiomes affect the digestibility of breads at the IPA World Congress + Probiota 2026 conference earlier this year in Dublin.

Her abstract, titled “Distinct sourdough microbiomes alter FODMAPs of final breads,” was selected as the top-rated student-led research submission at the international conference, which brings together more than 500 leading scientists and industry professionals in the probiotics and microbiome space. Bennett is a member of the One Health Microbiome Center and works in the lab of Josephine Wee, associate professor of food science.

Quinn Burnett, a fourth-year food science student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, was recognized for her research on how sourdough starter microbiomes affect the digestibility of breads at the IPA World Congress + Probiota 2026 conference.

05/29/2026

Many soybean farmers use seeds treated with fungicides to ward off disease, but the profits from these increased yields might not offset the cost of the treatment in most cases, according to a study published in Scientific Reports by researchers at Penn State.

The researchers analyzed how seed treatments affect yield and profitability in soybean farms in the Midwest and found that yield gains were modest and often did not offset the added cost of the treatment. Additionally, financial benefit was likely only when seed treatment costs were low and soybean prices were high.

Paul Esker, professor of epidemiology and of field crop pathology in the College of Agricultural Sciences and lead author on the study, said the findings suggest that growers may want to carefully evaluate the use of fungicide seed treatments on their farms.

Full Story:

Many soybean farmers use seeds treated with fungicides to ward off disease, but the profits from these increased yields might not offset the cost of the treatment in most cases, according to a study done by researchers at Penn State.

05/28/2026

The annual Life Sciences Symposium is one of the highlights of the Huck's academic calendar. This year's edition—its 10th anniversary—was a resounding success, with invited speakers, expert panels, practical workshops, graduate student posters from across the university, and a visit from the Nittany Lion himself.

See our Flickr album for a full visual recap of the day: https://bit.ly/4dOKCkO

05/27/2026

A vital tool for healthcare practitioners, electroencephalography (EEG) systems measure electrical activity in the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp, but getting reliable readings can be surprisingly difficult. Hair interferes with contact between the electrodes and skin, and the gels used to improve those connections often dry out over time, weakening signal quality.

Researchers at Penn State have developed a reusable material designed to solve both problems at once. The material is a thermoreversible semiconducting ionic biogel, meaning it becomes liquid when gently heated so it can move through hair and reach the scalp, then returns to a stable gel as it cools, keeping its conducting and semiconducting character. The researchers said the technology could improve wearable brain-monitoring systems and eventually help create more natural touch experiences in virtual reality, prosthetic limbs and other human-computer interfaces.

Electroencephalography (EEG) systems measure electrical brain activity through electrodes placed on the scalp, but getting reliable readings can be surprisingly difficult as hair interferes with contact between the electrodes and skin, and the gels used to improve those connections often dry out ove...

05/26/2026

Q&A: Ebola outbreak and public health emergency

The World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency due to an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The outbreak, which has already killed more than 100 people, took longer to identify as the virus species is different than the species typically responsible for Ebola outbreaks. There is no vaccine for this species of Ebolavirus, but researchers are testing the effectiveness of a vaccine for a different species of the virus.

Associate Professor of Biology Nita Bharti, a virus expert and a member of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, and postdoctoral researcher Kelsee Baranowski did a Q&A with Penn State News about Ebola and this most recent outbreak:

In this Q&A, Nita Bharti, associate professor of biology at Penn State, and postdoctoral scholar Kelsee Baranowski discuss what Ebola is, how it affects people and why this outbreak matters to people around the world.

05/22/2026

A five-year, $3.2m NIH grant to a team from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin—including Huck faculty Janine Kwapis and Istvan Albert—will support inquiry into the neural mechanisms underlying post-traumatic stress disorder. Around 7% of Americans experience PTSD at some point in their life.

“Fear is an important aspect of survival, but an exaggerated response, such as with PTSD and other anxiety disorders, can cause harm if it interferes with normal functioning,” said Kwapis, Paul Berg Early Career Professor in the Biological Sciences in the Penn State Eberly College of Science and leader of the research team. “We want to know what’s happening during a traumatic event that persistently changes how our brain functions and how that differs between men and women.”

A team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been awarded a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health to explore the regulatory mechanisms in the brain that produce a biological fear memory...

05/21/2026

Last week's One Health Microbiome Symposium had everything from poster sessions and panel talks to bread sniffing and rhino p**p. Check out our full Flickr album for more than 200 photos from the two-day event:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/huckinstitutes/albums/72177720333754327