Biology

WSU researchers see popular herbicide affecting health across generations

By Eric Sorensen, WSU News PULLMAN, Wash. – First, the good news. Washington State University researchers have found that a rat exposed to a popular herbicide while in the womb developed no diseases and showed no apparent health effects aside from lower weight.

Monarch butterflies disappearing from western North America

By Eric Sorensen, WSU News VANCOUVER, Wash. – Monarch butterfly populations from western North America have declined far more dramatically than was previously known and face a greater risk of extinction than eastern monarchs, according to a new study in the journal Biological Conservation.

Algae cultivation technique could advance biofuels

By Tina Hilding, Voiland College of Engineering PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University researchers have developed a way to grow algae more efficiently — in days instead of weeks — and make the algae more viable for several industries, including biofuels.

Health of amphibians in oil sand fields area assessed

By Will Ferguson, WSU College of Arts and Science The impact of pollutants from the world’s largest oil sand field on the health of amphibians marks the focus of a team of research biologists from Washington State University and Canada.

WSU receives NIH grant to study heart problems at molecular level

By Tina Hilding, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University researchers have received a $1.57 million National Institutes of Health grant to understand the molecular-scale mechanisms that cause cardiomyopathy, or heart muscle disease.

WSU researchers deliver first “nanotherapeutics” to tumor

By Eric Sorensen, WSU News SPOKANE, Wash. – For the first time, WSU researchers have demonstrated a way to deliver a drug to a tumor by attaching it to a blood cell. The innovation could let doctors target tumors with anticancer drugs that might otherwise damage healthy tissues.

Toxic effects of mercury persists for generations

PULLMAN, Wash. – Zebrafish exposed to very low levels of methylmercury as embryos not only passed on toxic effects of the chemical exposure to their offspring, but also to the third generation, according to a study that investigated both epigenetic changes – chemical modifications to the DNA – and abnormal neuro-behavior associated with exposure.

Africa to Leeds to WSU: Grad student pursues infectious diseases solutions

By Cheryl Reed, director of communication, WSU Graduate School PULLMAN, Wash. – Recent news reports have focused public attention on the alarming threat of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in U.S. hospitals. But the threat is truly global.