Dogs started receiving a vaccine against cancer this week in a clinical trial at UW-Madison. If the vaccine works in dogs, it may not only provide a new strategy for addressing a critical canine health concern, it might also work in people.
UW News
Orthopedic injury therapy in rodents may soon be headed to the clinic
The research team is now working to obtain FDA approval for a first human clinical trial to treat devastating injuries in musculoskeletal tissues.
Primate studies supported 40-year-old PCB ban
When the Environmental Protection Agency banned polychlorinated biphenyls — industrial compounds once used widely in coolants and electrical insulators — in April of 1979, they were relying on the results of studies in animals that linked PCBs to dire health consequences including cancer, problems with conception, disruption of the nutrients in maternal milk and reduced cognitive abilities in offspring. Much of that work was done studying monkeys at the Wisconsin National Primate Center, and UW–Madison findings informed reference levels for PCB contamination that still guide cleanup at sites around the United States.
Hibernating Squirrels and the Government Shutdown
Hannah Carey’s lab studies how hibernating squirrels slow their metabolisms to fall into their seasonal torpor — and then speed it back up to go about their squirrel lives during the warm months. Her work could help humans extreme in extreme conditions. But the trick to studying hibernation is that happens when it happens, and disrupting scheduled research for an unscheduled government shutdown — as Carey, a comparative bioscience professor, explains in Scientific American — could cost taxpayers the fruits of the science they’re funding.
Implantable device aids weight loss
New battery-free, easily implantable weight-loss devices developed by engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison could offer a promising new weapon for battling the bulge.
Ritalin drives greater connection between brain areas key to memory, attention
New research is a first step toward understanding the way Ritalin affects the organization of the pathways that build brain networks used in attention and learning.
It’s not a shock: Better bandage promotes powerful healing
The bandage developed by UW-Madison engineers leverages energy generated from a patient’s own body motions to apply gentle electrical pulses at the site of an injury.
Five questions with Su-Chun Zhang, forger of brain cells
In light of the 20th anniversary of James Thomson’s derivation of human embryonic stem cells, we had some questions for one of the founders of stem cell neuroscience.
Discovery opens new opportunities to slow or reverse MS
Nerve cells stripped of their insulation can no longer carry vital information, leading to the numbness, weakness and vision problems often associated with multiple sclerosis. A new study shows an overlooked source may be able to replace that lost insulation.
Venom shape untangles scorpion family tree
It’s the first time that the shape of molecules has been used in place of anatomy to organize evolutionary relationships, suggesting new ways to disentangle the many complicated family trees found throughout nature.