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Byline: Krishna Ramanujan
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Illustration of a brain against a purple and blue background

Article

Psychedelics excite cells in hippocampus to reduce anxiety

A classic psychedelic was found to activate a cell type in the brain of mice and rats that silences other neighboring neurons, providing insight into how such drugs reduce anxiety.
Blue lines branching through a black background

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Sleep resets neurons for new memories the next day

The study answers how people can keep learning new things for a lifetime without using up all of their neurons.
fly on a flower

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Chinese fruit fly genomes reveal global migrations, repeated evolution

Fruit flies, which humans have inadvertently spread around the globe, arrived in China roughly 4,000 years ago.
bright, squiggly lines of light radiate from a node

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Role of hippocampus in two functions of memory revealed

The finding has important implications for one day treating memory and learning issues found in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
A small, colorful bird on a thick branch

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When needs compete, love trumps thirst

When a lonely and thirsty male zebra finch encountered a female, his thirst waned and he instead focused his attention on her, a shift reflected in the dopamine system.
Person wearing blue gloves examines an instrument

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$9.5M to fund chronic fatigue syndrome research

The funding will enable Cornell experts from disparate fields to work together on the mysterious and debilitating condition.
Purple and green spikes radiate outward in a microscopic image of a cell

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Single gene causes stinging cell to lose its sting

“This one gene controls a switch between two alternative cell fates," said Professor Leslie Babonis.
Fruit fly against an orange surface

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Mating causes ‘jet lag’ in female fruit flies, changing behavior

A seminal fluid protein transferred from male to female fruit flies during mating changes the expression of genes related to the fly’s circadian clock, Cornell research has found.
College campus overlooking a lake under a cloudy sky

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Seed grants foster collaboration across Cornell campuses

Researchers from the College of Arts and Sciences are involved in some of 14 new Multi-Investigator Seed Grants, designed to foster multidisciplinary collaborations.
Luminescent tree-like structure with purple branches and bright green canopy: The lateral habenula in the mouse brain

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Study finds tiny brain area controls work for rewards

The discovery has implications for psychiatric disorders, particularly depression and anxiety.
Geometrical ceiling design shining with gold

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Four elected to National Academy of Sciences

Peter Lepage, the Tisch Family Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics, is among four Cornell faculty to be honored this year.
Spider, seen close-up, against dark background

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Orb-weaver spider uses web to capture sounds

A study of orb weaver spiders finds their massive webs act as auditory arrays that capture sounds, possibly giving spiders advanced warning of incoming prey or predators.
Clear tube with red and green lights inside

Article

After mating, fruit fly sperm are no longer fully male

Long considered exclusively male, a new study revealed that by four days after a sperm enters a female fruit fly, close to 20% of its proteins are female-derived.
Light blue and pink networks glow on a dark blue background

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Temperature, reproduction link holds promise for insect control

Scientists have uncovered a set of neurons in fruit flies that could provide a target for controlling mosquitos.
Stone building entrance, snow falling

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Four assistant professors win 2022 Sloan fellowships

Assistant professors Pamela Chang, Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz, Daniel Halpern-Leistner and Peter McMahon have won 2022 Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Drawing depiction of antibiotic resistant bacteria in film.

Article

Academic Integration efforts lead to $33M in grants

Bringing researchers together – not only across disciplines but across the 200-plus miles separating Ithaca from New York City – is the aim of academic integration, which promotes, builds and enhances collaborative research across Cornell’s campuses.
Image of hundreds of microscopic proteins shaped like cylinders

Article

Advanced microscopy shines light on new CRISPR-Cas system

The CRISPR-Cas system holds promise for developing an improved gene editing tool.
Two mice perched on flowers and facing each other

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Mice licking could reveal mysteries of the human brain

Cornell researchers have developed a technique for revealing how the motor cortex in the brain works.
microscopic ovals, black and white image
Mogana Das Murtey and Patchamuthu Ramasamy Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast, magnified

Article

Yeast epigenome map reveals details of gene regulation

The study is a major step toward improving understanding of development, evolution and environmental responses in higher organisms.
person in lab, using pipette

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CRISPR improves method for studying gene functions

A new paper describes a technique that helps biologists understand the roles that individual genes play.
Brain scan images held by a doctor

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Computer model reveals how cortical areas develop and evolve

Little is known about how higher cortical areas in the brain develop after the primary areas are in place. A new study by Cornell and Yale researchers, including professor emerita of psychology Barbara Finlay, uses computer modeling to show that the development and evolution of secondary visual cortical areas can be explained by the same process.
 Fruit fly on sensor

Article

Sex peptide causes female fruit fly’s gut to grow

Scientists have known that females of many species eat more to meet the demands of reproduction, and that females undergo widespread physiological and behavioral changes after mating. The mechanisms of these changes, however, are not well understood.

 skinny orange frog with huge eyes

Article

Lost frogs rediscovered with environmental DNA

Scientists have detected signs of a frog listed extinct and not seen since 1968, using an innovative technique to locate declining and missing species in two regions of Brazil.

 Small brown frog

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Exclusive group mating found for first time in Brazilian frogs

The lack of previous examples of group fidelity in frogs may be simply because the behavior is hard to observe.
 Antonie Blackler

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Antonie Blackler, pioneering biologist, dies at 88

Antonie Blackler, professor emeritus of zoology and an expert on developmental biology, died June 3 in Ithaca. He was 88.

He was known for groundbreaking fundamental work on the origin of sex cells in vertebrates. His experiments with African claw-toed frogs yielded important insights into the development and reproduction of amphibian embryos, with implications for other animals and humans.

 Zebrafish

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New imaging technique sheds light on adult zebrafish brain

The Cornell Neurotech team's research could have implications for the study of human brain disorders, including autism.
 Two students hold up projects in screen shots

Article

Lab instructors adapt to remote teaching

Teaching labs remotely “gave us this opportunity to really pause and think about what are our goals for the students.”
 A researcher fills tubes in a lab

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Research interrupted: Lab groups find their way together

Faculty are helping students come up with solutions – ways they can be productive remotely, read papers and write.
 Fruit flies

Article

Improved CRISPR gene drive solves problems of old tech

Gene drives use genetic engineering to create a desired mutation in a few individuals that then spreads via mating throughout a population in fewer than 10 generations.

 Panelist talk about coronavirus

Article

Panel discusses global uncertainties surrounding coronavirus

With the recent emergence of the coronavirus from China’s Hubei province, another “virus” has the potential to spread, a Cornell faculty member said Tuesday at a wide-ranging panel discussion on the outbreak.

 Antibiotic resistant bacteria in film.

Article

T-box structure in bacteria may be target for new antibiotics

New discovery offers hope as the threat of antibiotic-resistant disease germs grows.
 cancer cells

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Symposium bridges cancer research across Cornell

The second annual Intercampus Cancer Symposium, Oct. 11 at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, will highlight the wide range of cancer research taking place at Cornell’s Ithaca campus and at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.

 Adnan Shami Shah (left) and Jeremy Baskin in the lab

Article

Baskin wins young investigator award for lipid research

When chemical biologist Jeremy Baskin played piano as a child, his parents noticed something unusual: He loved to improvise.

 Tom Seeley and bees

Article

Book reveals wild honeybees’ biology, with insights for beekeepers

While human relations with honeybees date back about 4,500 years, little has been known about how bees live in the wild.

 ROTC graduates

Article

‘Stick to your values,’ general tells ROTC cadets

Tyler Barr learned about leadership under pressure while attending a summer program at officer candidate school as a midshipman in the Marine Corps ROTC program at Cornell.

He called it “by far the most difficult six weeks of our lives,” as he recounted sleeping and eating very little while being pushed to his physical limits.

Article

CRISPR-Cas3 innovation holds promise for disease cures, advancing science

A Cornell researcher and colleagues have used a new CRISPR method for the first time in human cells – a major advance in the field.
 A tree frog in the Boana fasciata species group from the western Amazon of Brazil

Article

Study: Fungal disease decimates amphibians worldwide

A fungal disease that afflicts amphibians has led to the greatest loss of biodiversity ever recorded due to a disease.
 image of a polytope shape

Article

Six assistant professors win NSF early-career awards

Two operations research and information engineers, two electrical engineers and two mathematicians from Cornell have received National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program awards. 

Over the next five years, each researcher will receive up to $500,000 “to build a firm scientific footing for solving challenges and scaling new heights for the nation, as well as serve as academic role models in research and education,” according to the NSF website.

 Aedes aegypti mosquito

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Study: Mosquitoes can hear up to 10 meters away

Mosquitoes can hear at distances that usually require eardrums, yet all they're listening with are feathery antennae with fine hairs.
 nymph

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Study reveals why tropical mountains are so biodiverse

Tropical mountain species are especially vulnerable to rapid climate change, Cornell researchers find.
 A silver fox bred for tameness at the the Institute for Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia.

Article

Silver fox study reveals genetic clues to social behavior

Geneticists identify genes that were altered in tame animals in two areas of the brain involved with learning and memory.
 Image from Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences

Article

Awards promote life sciences research and industry partnerships in NY

A project to develop topical therapies for skin diseases associated with DNA damage and another to investigate bone-binding polymers to relieve bone-on-bone pain for those with severe osteoarthritis are two of nine projects awarded 2018-19 Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) grants.

CAT is housed in Cornell’s Institute of Biotechnology.

 Fetal T cells

Article

Fetal T cells are first responders to infection in adults

Cornell researchers have discovered there is a division of labor among immune cells that fight invading pathogens in the body.

The study, published June 14 in the journal Cell, finds for the first time that fetal immune cells are present in adults and have specialized roles during infection. In fact, the first immune cells made in early life are fast-acting first responders to microbes in adulthood.

 Microbe

Article

Host-microbe institute poised to expand

As the Cornell Institute of Host-Microbe Interactions and Disease(CIHMID) wraps up its first year, the launch of its Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) proved to be a highlight, say institute leaders.

none

Article

Fish study IDs genes that regulate social behaviors

Genes in an area of the brain that is relatively similar in fish, humans and all vertebrates appear to regulate how organisms coordinate and shift their behaviors, according to a new Cornell study.

 faculty and student doing research

Article

Coalition to provide data for improving life science career choices

President Martha E. Pollack has committed the university to a new multi-institution initiative to make public data pertaining to career outcomes for life sciences doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers.

 Bees

Article

Study: Bigger honeybee colonies have quieter combs

When honeybee colonies get larger, common sense suggests it would be noisier with more bees buzzing around.

But a study recently published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiologyreports that bigger honeybee colonies actually have quieter combs than smaller ones.

 Maren Vitousek

Article

Links between social connectedness, stress and health to be studied

Maren Vitousek, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, has received a two-year, $500,000 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award to study links between stress, social connectedness, health and future performance. The DARPA Young Faculty Award program provides funding, mentoring and industry and Department of Defense contacts to awardees early in their careers.
 Thomas Seeley

Article

Five faculty members elected as 2017 AAAS fellows

Thomas Seeley's work focuses on the complex signaling systems used by honeybees to integrate colony life.
Baker hall at sunset

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Awards partner life science researchers with industries

Reducing antibiotic resistance in animals and developing a lubricating formula in joints for people suffering from arthritis are two of seven projects that received Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) annual grants.