New research shows that in long-lived animals, renewed but thin myelin sheaths are enough to restore impaired nervous systems and can do so for years after the onset of disease.
Science & Technology
Marmoset babies get a boost from attentive fathers
A researcher expects better human dads have similar good effects on their kids, and she wonders whether — for both the marmoset and the people — good fathers produce offspring who grow up to make good parents.
With deer season on horizon, lab ramps up for CWD testing
Chronic wasting diesease (CWD), an infectious neurological disease, has been found in both wild and captive deer in at least 24 Wisconsin counties, mostly in the southern half of the state.
Zika infections unlikely to be passed by kissing, casual contact
UW-Madison researchers have found in a study of monkeys that casual contact through saliva is not enough for the virus to move between hosts.
Plants under attack can turn hungry caterpillars into cannibals
A researcher found a tomato plant can make itself taste so horrible that a caterpillar, which would typically munch on its leaves, might eat another caterpillar instead.
Old bones lead to new strategy for drug delivery
An engineering team has developed a new way to seed biomedical devices with agents that promote tissue growth and healing.
Study shows stem cells fiercely abide by innate developmental timing
Scientists from the Morgridge Institute for Research and UW-Madison are studying whether stem cell differentiation rates can be accelerated in the lab and made available to patients faster.
From mice, clues to microbiome’s influence on metabolic disease
The microorganisms that reside in the gut work in tandem with the genes of a host organism to regulate insulin secretion, a key variable in the onset of diabetes.
UW scientists find key cues to regulate bone-building cells
The prospect of regenerating bone lost to cancer or trauma is a step closer to the clinic.
Former UW geneticist, Nobel laureate Smithies dies
Much of the work for which Oliver Smithies shared the Nobel Prize was performed at UW-Madison, where he was a professor from 1960 to 1988.