Studying dogs

UW–Madison researchers study animals only when there is no other way to answer important questions about the biology of complex living organisms. While dogs have made up a very small proportion of animals in studies at UW–Madison, that research has addressed important health concerns. Dogs have been vital to UW–Madison studies of cancer treatment and prevention, organ transplants, vaccines and more that have benefited both human and animal patients.

All creatures great and small: Sequencing the blue whale and Etruscan shrew genomes

Size doesn’t matter when it comes to genome sequencing in the animal kingdom, as a team of researchers at the Morgridge Institute for Research recently illustrated when assembling the sequences for two new reference genomes — one from the world’s largest mammal and one from one of the smallest.

Alzheimer’s sleep research

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and University of Massachusetts Amherst are collaborating on a study of marmoset monkeys to learn about the role poor sleep plays in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, debilitating disorders that often result in deadly complications. Learn more here.