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Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice with liver disease

  • Written by Mo Ebrahimkhani, Associate Professor of Pathology and Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh
imageA cross section of lab-grown human liver tissue. The green shows the network of blood vessels.Velazquez et al. Cell Systems , CC BY-SA

Takeaways

  • Scientists have made progress growing human liver in the lab.

  • The challenge has been to direct stems cells to grow into a mature, functioning adult organ.

  • This study shows that stem cells can be programmed,...

Read more: Genetic engineering transformed stem cells into working mini-livers that extended the life of mice...

We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes

  • Written by Seth M. Weinberg, Associate Professor in the Departments of Oral Biology, Human Genetics, and Anthropology. Co-Director of the Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, University of Pittsburgh
imageUsing 3-D facial images researchers have identified changes in the DNA that contribute to variation in facial features. Julie D. White, CC BY-SA

Takeaways

  • A new study reveals more than 130 regions in human DNA play a role in sculpting facial features.

  • The nose is the facial feature most influenced by your genes.

  • Understanding the link between specific...

Read more: We scanned the DNA of 8,000 people to see how facial features are controlled by genes

From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19 pandemic

  • Written by Karen Lloyd, Associate Professor of Microbiology, University of Tennessee
imageMissing a field season can be devastating if your research subject is melting away.Karen Lloyd, CC BY-ND

What do you do when COVID-19 safety protocols and travel restrictions mean you can’t do your research? That’s what these three scientists have had to figure out this year, as the global pandemic has kept them from their fieldwork.

A...

Read more: From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19...

Substack isn't a new model for journalism – it’s a very old one

  • Written by Michael J. Socolow, Associate Professor, Communication and Journalism, University of Maine
imageAuthor Andrew Sullivan has gone from blogging to writing for mainstream publications to blogging again, this time on Substack.T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images

If you haven’t heard of Substack – you probably will soon.

Since 2017, the platform has provided aspiring web pundits with a one-stop service for distributing their work and...

Read more: Substack isn't a new model for journalism – it’s a very old one

New electoral districts are coming – an old approach can show if they're fair

  • Written by Jon X. Eguia, Professor of Economics, Michigan State University
imageDrawing congressional district boundaries can be complicated.AP Photo/Gerry Broome

When the results of the 2020 U.S. Census are released, states will use the figures to draw new electoral district maps for the U.S. House of Representatives and for state legislatures. This process has been controversial since the very early days of the nation...

Read more: New electoral districts are coming – an old approach can show if they're fair

Racism at the county level associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths

  • Written by George B. Cunningham, Professor of Sport Management and Sr. Assistant Provost for Graduate and Professional Studies, Texas A&M University
imageSevonna Brown of Black Women's Blueprint, a mutual aid group, with her son in Brooklyn, New York. Mutual aid groups have been formed across New York City to address the economic plight caused by COVID-19. Stephanie Keith via Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all people, but not necessarily in the same way.

Scientists have shown that...

Read more: Racism at the county level associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths

How sensors monitor and measure our bodies and the world around us

  • Written by Nicole McFarlane, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Tennessee
imageInfrared sensors make it possible to measure a person's body temperature without touching the person's body.AP Photo/LM Otero

Sensors are all around. They are in automatic doors, at cash registers, in doctors’ offices and hospitals. They are used inside the body and outside.

Sensors detect aspects of the physical world – matter, energy,...

Read more: How sensors monitor and measure our bodies and the world around us

Donors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad

  • Written by Andrew Heiss, Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management, Georgia State University
imageHungarian protesters hold glowing cellphones aloft at a 2017 protest against tough laws targeting foreign-backed nonprofit organizations and universities. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

U.S. donors become more generous toward nonprofit organizations after learning that those...

Read more: Donors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad

Brazil's president rejects COVID-19 vaccine, undermining a century of progress toward universal inoculation

  • Written by Pedro Cantisano, Assistant Professor of History, University of Nebraska Omaha
imageEver since a 1904 revolt against the smallpox vaccine, Brazil has run extremely successful vaccination programs.Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The world is eagerly awaiting the release of several COVID-19 vaccines, but Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is not.

imageBrazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.Andressa Anholete/Getty...

Read more: Brazil's president rejects COVID-19 vaccine, undermining a century of progress toward universal...

The Atlantic: The driving force behind ocean circulation and our taste for cod

  • Written by Suzanne OConnell, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University
imageFishing boats coming into Le Guilvinec, Brittany, France, at the end of the day.Photoneye/Shutterstock

“Did the Atlantic close and then reopen?” That was the question posed in a 1966 paper by the Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson.

The answer? Yes, over millions of years. And it was the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, starting...

Read more: The Atlantic: The driving force behind ocean circulation and our taste for cod

More Articles ...

  1. Why Biden will find it hard to undo Trump's costly 'America first' trade policy
  2. Intimate partner violence has increased during pandemic, emerging evidence suggests
  3. How do archaeologists know where to dig?
  4. I'm an astronomer and I think aliens may be out there – but UFO sightings aren't persuasive
  5. How Hanukkah came to be an annual White House celebration
  6. This DIY contact tracing app helps people exposed to COVID-19 remember who they met
  7. Wisconsin's not so white anymore – and in some rapidly diversifying cities like Kenosha there's fear and unrest
  8. As the pandemic rages, the US could use a little bit more 'samfundssind'
  9. How COVID-19 vaccines will get from the factory to your local pharmacy
  10. How to fight Holocaust denial in social media – with the evidence of what really happened
  11. Trump plan to revive the gallows, electric chair, gas chamber and firing squad recalls a troubled history
  12. What are emergency use authorizations, and do they guarantee that a vaccine or drug is safe?
  13. How TikTok is upending workplace social media policies – and giving us rebel nurses and dancing cops
  14. In a year of Black Lives Matter protests, Dutch wrestle (again) with the tradition of Black Pete
  15. Tiny treetop flowers foster incredible beetle biodiversity
  16. How a flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 – by infecting horses
  17. What makes the world's biggest surfable waves?
  18. The chattering classes got the 'Hillbilly Elegy' book wrong – and they're getting the movie wrong, too
  19. Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 will have side effects – that's a good thing
  20. How a troop drawdown in Afghanistan signals American weakness and could send Afghan allies into the Taliban's arms
  21. A better way for billionaires who want to make massive donations to benefit society
  22. Cicely was young, Black and enslaved – her death during an epidemic in 1714 has lessons that resonate in today's pandemic
  23. Tribes mount organized responses to COVID-19, in contrast to state and federal governments
  24. AI makes huge progress predicting how proteins fold – one of biology's greatest challenges – promising rapid drug development
  25. The morality of canceling student debt
  26. Global disabilities map visualizes the strength and power of millions of athletes around the world
  27. Socialism is a trigger word on social media – but real discussion is going on amid the screaming
  28. Your brain's built-in biases insulate your beliefs from contradictory facts
  29. Peru's democracy faces greatest trial since Fujimori dictatorship after two presidents are ousted in one week
  30. Rapid COVID-19 tests can be useful – but there are far too few to put a dent in the pandemic
  31. Reckoning with slavery: What a revolt's archives tell us about who owns the past
  32. James Baker's masterful legal strategies won George W. Bush a contested election – unlike Rudy Giuliani's string of losses
  33. NCAA amateurism appears immune to COVID-19 – despite tide in public support for paying athletes having turned
  34. Fences have big effects on land and wildlife around the world that are rarely measured
  35. Nonprofits are struggling to do more with less money, but donors and volunteers can help: 5 questions answered
  36. Why waiters give Black customers poor service
  37. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was a record-breaker, and it's raising more concerns about climate change
  38. How Taiwan uses Buddhist literature for environmental education
  39. Parler is bringing together mainstream conservatives, anti-Semites and white supremacists as the social media platform attracts millions of Trump supporters
  40. 57 años después del asesinato de Kennedy, las pistas en México se agotan
  41. 'Constructive arguing' can help keep the peace at your Thanksgiving table
  42. This type of sexual harassment on campus often goes overlooked
  43. Homeless patients with COVID-19 often go back to life on the streets after hospital care, but there's a better way
  44. Will there be a monument to the COVID-19 pandemic?
  45. Janet Yellen and Kamala Harris keep shattering glass ceilings – but global elite boys club remains
  46. Poland's anti-abortion push highlights pandemic risks to democracy
  47. California vetoed ethnic studies requirements for public high school students, but the movement grows
  48. It's not just ABCs – preschool parents worry their kids are missing out on critical social skills during the pandemic
  49. Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper than Pfizer's and Moderna's and doesn't require supercold temperature
  50. Testing sewage can give school districts, campuses and businesses a heads-up on the spread of COVID-19