Symposium looks at developing biofuel research
Global warming, oil's role in national security and bolstering rural economies are all pressing issues today, and developing biofuels in a sustainable way is essential for the U.S. economy, noted researchers, Dec. 14. (Dec. 20, 2007)

Cornell researchers prove how plants transport sugars
Using genetic engineering techniques, Cornell researchers have proven a long-standing theory of how many plants ship sugars from their leaves to flowers, roots, fruits and other parts of their structure. (Dec. 20, 2007)

Major study concludes that global warming is killing off coral
If world leaders do not immediately engage in a race against time to save the Earth's coral reefs, these vital ecosystems will not survive the global warming and acidification predicted for later this century. (Dec. 13, 2007)

Researchers seek clues to how tuberculosis infects cells
Cornell researchers are using advanced genetic techniques to better understand the relationship between the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and the human immune system defense cells that engulf them. (Dec. 12, 2007)

Studies show disparities in vascular disease diagnosis, treatment
Women and Hispanics are less likely to be diagnosed with or treated for vascular disease, a leading cause of debilitation and death among the elderly, according to two Weill Cornell studies. (Dec. 5, 2007)

Embryonic cells implanted into damaged hearts prevent arrhythmias
When Cornell researchers and others transplanted living embryonic heart cells into cardiac tissue of mice that had suffered heart attacks, the mice became resistant to cardiac arrhythmias, thereby avoiding one of the most dangerous and fatal consequences of heart attacks. (Dec. 5, 2007)

Cornell researchers use sperm biomechanics to power nano-robots
Researchers at Cornell are working to use the same energy that drives sperm to power nanoscale robots or to deliver chemo drugs or antibiotics, for example, to targeted sites within the body. (Dec. 3, 2007)

CU researcher develops realistic cancer growth models
Claudia Fischbach-Teschl's lab creates realistic experimental tumor models, which may lead to better drug therapies or even a cure. (Nov. 27, 2007)

New BTI study unravels how plants respond to light
Researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research on Cornell's campus report a breakthrough in understanding how plants perceive and respond to light. (Nov. 27, 2007)

Evolutionary comparison finds new human genes
Using supercomputers to compare the human genome with those of other mammals, researchers at Cornell have discovered some 300 previously unidentified human genes. (Nov. 15, 2007)

Love for chocolate is at least 3,000 years old, anthropologists say
The human love affair with chocolate is at least 3,000 years old, according to new evidence from the Ulua Valley region of Honduras. But the first people to appreciate the cacao tree were probably after a fermented drink. (Nov. 14, 2007)

Researchers uncover clues to horse herpes and neurological disorders
Cornell microbiologists show that change in just one amino acid in a horse herpes virus can make all the difference between triggering a cold or a life-threatening neurological disorder. (Nov. 6, 2007)

International team compares 12 fruit fly genomes
Cornell researchers have played a major role in an international scientific team that has compared the complete set of genes of 12 closely related fruit fly species. As well as having implications for human health, the analysis paves the way for better understanding the evolution of each species. (Nov. 7, 2007)

President Bush outlines strategy for bird conservation
President Bush has announced a new national strategy to preserve key habitats for migratory birds. In formulating the new policies, Bush drew upon recommendations from a report spearheaded by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (Nov. 5, 2007)

Cornell microbiologist elected member of AAAS
Cornell molecular microbiologist David G. Russell was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science this year. (Nov. 1, 2007)

Researchers' discovery may lead to hypertension treatment
Researchers at Cornell and the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research have identified a hormone from human urine that opens the door to developing novel medications to control sodium levels and treat hypertension. (Oct. 31, 2007)

New projects include apple, biofuel and invasive species research
The USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service will fund 94 new programs this year, including projects that teach youths to cook to promote healthy eating. (Oct. 30, 2007)

Researchers explore power of plants to clean up soils
Researchers from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are exploring the potential of plants to clean up polluted soils. (Oct. 30, 2007)

CU researchers discover natural herbicide released by grass
Certain varieties of common fescue lawn grass come equipped with their own natural broad-spectrum herbicide that inhibits the growth of weeds and other plants around them. (Oct. 22, 2007)

CU helps Zambian farmers reap profits so they won't poach
In an effort to improve lives and save African wildlife, Cornell researchers are helping farmers in Zambia develop such products as peanut butter and tofu under the It's Wild! brand name. (Oct. 16, 2007)

New book helps landowners with ponds
"The Pond Guidebook," a new Cornell Cooperative Extension booklet, is full of advice for pond owners in the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. (Oct. 9, 2007)

Researchers create system to build transplant tissue
Cornell engineers say they developed a microvascular system that can nourish growing tissues, a step that may one day allow laboratories to grow synthetically engineered tissues for transplants. (Oct. 5, 2007)

Agent that triggers immune response in plants is uncovered
Researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research on the Cornell campus have identified how plants signal that they have been attacked in order to trigger a plantwide resistance. (Oct. 4, 2007)

Researchers help develop pest-resistant eggplant for South Asia
Cornell researchers and Sathguru Management Consultants have led an international consortium through the first phase of developing a pest-resistant eggplant, which is expected to be the first genetically engineered food crop in South Asia. (Sept. 19, 2007)

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University vice chancellor visits Cornell
India's manufacturing and service sectors are experiencing very high growth rates, but agriculture is stagnating, said C. Ramasamy, vice chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, while visiting campus Sept. 13. (Sept. 19, 2007)

CU supports University of Ghana to train African plant breeders
In a new venture in Africa, Cornell will support a new doctoral program at the University of Ghana to train African plant breeders to tackle issues related to crops vital to Africans' diet. (Sept. 19, 2007)

Why some species 'explosively diversify' -- and why some don't
Researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have found evidence that the 'drying up' of Australia over the past 20 million years triggered an explosive diversification of skinks. (Sept. 19, 2007)

Weill Cornell in clinical trial using stem cells to repair hearts
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical is participating in Phase II clinical trials that use patients' own stem cells to repair hearts damaged by severe coronary artery disease. (Sept. 17, 2007)

Brain injured patient improves with deep brain stimulation
A man with a severe head injury who spent more than five years in a minimally conscious state is now communicating and recovering his ability to move after his brain was stimulated with pulses of electric current. (Sept. 13, 2007)

Calling all bird-watchers: Scientists need your help
To see the effects of global climate change, scientists in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch say they need new and veteran participants alike to help count birds. (Sept. 12, 2007)

CCMR gets $2.9M for training grad students in nanoscale science
The Cornell Center for Materials Research is administering a new $2.9 million Cornell graduate student training program, funded by the NSF's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program. (Sept. 11, 2007)

IGERT fellows to design biodevices using flexible electronics
Growing interest in using flexible electronics for next-generation biomedical devices has prompted the creation of a new graduate student research program at Cornell, funded by the National Science Foundation. (Sept. 11, 2007)

New Shoals Marine Lab course looks at sustainability issues
This past June, faculty at Shoals Marine Lab launched a two-week intensive course that showed how solving sustainability problems requires an interdisciplinary approach. (Sept. 6, 2007)

Three faculty members receive NYSTAR research grants
The New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation has awarded grants of about $750,000 each to Matthew DeLisa, Dan Luo and Johannes Gehrke, to pursue high-tech research with commercial potential. (Aug. 30, 2007)

Researchers report on how neurotransmitters travel between cells
In studying how neurotransmitters travel between cells, Cornell researchers have discovered that an electrical current thought to be present during that process does not, in fact, exist. (Aug. 29, 2007)

Cornell team creates math model for circadian rhythm
Cornell researchers hypothesize that the accepted model of circadian rhythmicity may be missing a key link, based on a mathematical model of what happens during the sleeping/waking cycle in fruit flies. (Aug. 27, 2007)

CU researcher engineers sorghum that grows in poisonous soils
Aluminum toxicity in acidic soils limits crop production in as much as half the world's arable land. Now, Cornell researchers have cloned a novel aluminum-tolerant gene in sorghum and expect to have genetically engineered aluminum-tolerant sorghum lines by next year. (Aug. 27, 2007)

Today's white rice is mutation spread by early farmers
Researchers at Cornell and elsewhere have determined that 97.9 percent of all white rice comes from a mutation in a single gene and that early farmers favored, bred and spread white rice around the world. (Aug. 16, 2007)

Uncertainty of rainfall breeds cooperation in birds, study finds
For the first time, Cornell researchers have linked a specific aspect of the environment to the evolution of cooperative breeding in numerous bird species: unpredictable rainfall. Their findings on African starlings appear in the Aug. 21 issue of Current Biology. (Aug. 16, 2007)

Garden Mosaics wins international recognition
Garden Mosaics, an interactive urban natural resources extension project available on DVD, has been recognized in the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment competition. (Aug. 13, 2007)

Cornell scientists link E. coli bacteria to Crohn's disease
A team of Cornell scientists has discovered that intestinal inflammation in patients with Crohn's disease may be associated with a novel group of E. coli bacteria with genes similar to bacteria that cause diseases ranging from salmonella to cholera and even bubonic plague. (Aug. 10, 2007)

Side-to-side shaking of nanoresonators throws off impurities
Cornell researchers have demonstrated a new way to make nanoscale resonators vibrate 'in the plane' -- that is, side to side -- and have shown that this can improve biodetection by shaking off extraneous stuff that isn't supposed to be detected. (Aug. 6, 2007)

CU researchers discover fruit fly gene from 'out of nowhere'
Scientists thought that most new genes were formed from existing genes, but Cornell researchers have discovered a gene in some fruit flies that appears to be unrelated to other genes in any known genome. (July 23, 2007)

Genetic diversity in honeybee colonies boosts productivity
Honeybee queens tend to be promiscuous to produce genetically diverse colonies, report two Cornell researchers in the July 20 issue of Science. Such colonies are far more productive and hardy than genetically uniform colonies produced by monogamous queens, they report. (July 19, 2007)

Study explains how pathogens evolve to escape detection
In the evolutionary battle in which plants are trying to beef up their defenses against pathogens, a bacterium has been found that infects tomatoes by injecting a special protein into the plant's cells to undermine the plant's defense system. (July 18, 2007)

Changing climate will challenge NE agriculture, CU expert warns
Farmers will grapple with new and aggressive crop pests, summer heat stress and water problems that could strain family farms to the limit, warns David Wolfe, a Cornell expert on the effects of climate change on agriculture. (July 11, 2007)

CU researchers discover evidence of very recent human adaptation
A study of genome sequences in African-Americans, European-Americans and Chinese suggests that natural selection has caused as much as 10 percent of the human genome to change in some populations in the last 15,000 to 100,000 years. (July 11, 2007)

CU researchers solve mystery of how DNA strands separate
The research, published in the current issue of the journal Cell, examined the role of an enzyme called a helicase that plays a major role in separating DNA strands so that replication of a single strand can occur. (July 2, 2007)

Antibodies could defend against Alzheimer's, researchers show
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have identified naturally occurring antibodies that may help defend against Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. (June 22, 2007)

CU study reveals why superb starling females cheat
While humans stray from their mates for any number of reasons, superb starling females appear to stray for the sake of their chicks, according to recent Cornell research. (June 19, 2007)

Electric fish conduct electric duets in aquatic courtship
Cornell's Carl D. Hopkins and a former undergraduate student have discovered that African electric fish couples not only use specific electrical signals to court but also engage in a sort of dueling 'electric duet.' (June 19, 2007)

Helping chlorine-eating bacteria clean up toxic waste
By combining lab experiments with computer modeling, Cornell researchers hope to learn how bacteria that break down pollutants do their job and then make them more effective in cleaning up toxic waste. (June 14, 2007)

Discovery in orange cauliflower may lead to more nutritious crops
While orange cauliflower may seem unappealing to some, it has distinct nutritional advantages. Cornell researchers have identified the genetic mutation behind the unusual hue, which may lead to more nutritious staple crops, including maize, potato, rice, sorghum and wheat. (June 1, 2007)

An apple peel a day might keep cancer at bay, study finds
Cornell researchers have identified a dozen compounds in apple peel that either inhibit or kill cancer cells in laboratory cultures. Three of the compounds have not previously been described in the literature. (May 30, 2007)

Researchers make progress in the search for Alzheimer's treatment
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College are making progress toward understanding how immune-based therapies can treat Alzheimer's disease by studying how antibodies penetrate brain cells to reduce levels of amyloid plaques. (May 30, 2007)

Jet lag: It's all about chemical reactions in cells
New research by Cornell and Dartmouth researchers explains the biological mechanism behind how circadian clocks sense light through a process that transfers energy from light to chemical reactions in cells. (May 18, 2007)

Book tells everything you wanted to know about rodent societies
Evolutionary biologist Paul Sherman is co-editor of 'Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective,' a book that focuses on the social and reproductive behavior of rodents. (May 18, 2007)

Deadly fish virus VHSV spreading throughout Great Lakes Basin
The viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus has been identified in 19 fish species in the Great Lakes Basin and is approaching epidemic proportions, says Paul Bowser, professor of aquatic animal medicine. (May 17, 2007)

Bed bugs have made a worldwide comeback
After a 50-year hiatus, bed bugs are making a worldwide comeback, showing up in fancy hotels, hospitals, college dorms, schools and homes. (May 14, 2007)

Decimation of bee colonies has various causes, CU expert says
Parasites, pathogens and pesticides are all possible suspects in the staggering decline of honeybees, said Cornell associate professor of entomology Nicholas Calderone, during a media teleconference May 10. (May 11, 2007)

Cornell establishes Center for Reproductive Genomics
The center will focus on the genetics of infertility, combining basic and clinical research in reproductive sciences on Cornell's Ithaca campus and at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. (May 9, 2007)

Prenatal toxicity linked to immune dysfunctions in later life
A Cornell researcher has found that people who had been exposed to prenatal toxins and develop later-life diseases have in common an imbalanced immune system and hyperinflammatory responses. (May 2, 2007)

Theory Center supercomputers crunch climate data for agriculture
Scientists in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are using the facilities and expertise of the Cornell Theory Center to turn reams of weather and climate data into practical advice for New York farmers. (May 1, 2007)

Researchers find plant protein that may aid biofuel production
In a breakthrough that could make the production of cellulosic ethanol less expensive, Cornell researchers have discovered a class of plant enzymes that potentially could allow plant materials to be broken down more efficiently than is possible using current technologies. (April 24, 2007)

Tracking genes for self-pollination in arabidopsis
Cornell researchers are zeroing in on genes that turn a plant's ability to self-pollinate on and off, a key to creating hybrid seed. (April 23, 2007)

Seed grants fund collaborative research with medical school
Eight research teams from Cornell's Ithaca and New York City campuses each received $50,000 toward projects that could lead to medical advances in areas from genetics to organ transplants. (April 18, 2007)

After 14 years, nine-spotted lady beetle rediscovered
Cornell researchers believe that the rediscovery of New York state's official insect, the nine-spotted lady beetle, promises a brighter future for this rare species. (April 17, 2007)

Researchers find gene mutation that causes infertility in male mice
Because this is the first time that a dominant mutation that leads specifically to infertility in a mammal has been discovered, the researchers say they can now look for similar mutations in the DNA of infertile men. (April 10, 2007)

Researchers identify gene that plays key role in size of dogs
An international team of scientists, including researchers from Cornell University, has found a mutation in a single gene that plays a key role in determining body-size differences within and among dog breeds and probably is important in determining the size of humans as well. (April 3, 2007)

Cornell works to keep drinkable water flowing to New York City
Millions of residents in the Big Apple enjoy unfiltered potable water, partly due to Cornell Cooperative Extension in Delaware County and its partners. (April 4, 2007)

Melamine found in recalled pet food samples
Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Donald Smith confirmed the presence of a pet food contaminant, melamine, at a Washington, D.C., press briefing March 30. (April 4, 2007)

Bird watchers set new record for Great Backyard Bird Count
In just four days in February, participants in the annual bird count tallied more than 11 million birds across the United States and Canada and submitted a record-breaking number of checklists. (March 30, 2007)

Scientists find melamine in recalled pet food samples
Concurrent with the announcement made by the FDA today, Cornell researchers at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center have confirmed that they also have identified melamine as a contaminant in multiple pet food samples. (March 30, 2007)

Cornell conducts tests to confirm toxins in recalled pet food
Cornell's Animal Health Diagnostic Center is conducting further tests to confirm the presence of toxins in recalled pet food and to explain the cause of fatal kidney failure in 15 cats and one dog. (March 27, 2007)

CU researcher works to develop cheap HIV/AIDS test
A Cornell researcher is working to develop a quick, simple and cheap immune-system test for people in the developing world. It could help HIV/AIDS sufferers in the poorest countries get appropriate treatment to extend their lives, possibly by as much as 10 to 15 years. (March 26, 2007)

A rarity among arachnids, whip spiders have a sociable family life
Two species of amblypygids, or whip spiders, long thought to be purely predatory, anti-social and just plain aggressive arachnids, exhibit surprisingly warm behavior, says Cornell researcher Linda Rayor. (March 12, 2007)

CU scientist maps spinal cord nerves in zebrafish
Using a state-of-the-art technique to map neurons in the spinal cord of a larval zebrafish, Cornell scientists have found a surprising pattern of activity that regulates the speed of the fish's movement. (Feb. 27, 2007)

Climate changes, cod collapse have altered North Atlantic ecosystems
Climate change plays a role in ecosystem changes along the continental shelf waters of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, reports a Cornell oceanographer in the Feb. 23 issue of Science. (Feb. 22, 2007)

Corals that can fight global warming may one day help fragile reefs
Global warming is threatening corals, reported Cornell's Drew Harvell at the AAAS meeting Feb. 18. But some corals can fight diseases as temperatures rise and may provide clues in how to protect other fragile coral reefs, she said. (Feb. 20, 2007)

Fish extinctions alter critical nutrients in water, study shows
A Cornell study using computer simulations has teased out how extinctions of freshwater fish can affect the availability of certain nutrients that other species rely on. (Feb. 20, 2007)

Analysis shows differences in alarm calls of individual crows
Most of us would know our mother's voice on the phone from the first syllable uttered. A recent Cornell study suggests that crows also can recognize the voices of their relatives. (Feb. 16, 2007)

Frank Schroeder chases the structures of life's small molecules
Research associate Frank Schroeder has made many important discoveries in the field of chemical ecology that could lead to new drugs that fight infection, treat hypertension or help understand disease-relevant biological pathways. (Feb. 15, 2007)

Cancer treatment targets tumor blood supply in patients
An antibody called J591 specifically targets an antigen found in high amounts on both prostate tumors and on blood vessels of all solid tumors, according to a study by researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. (Feb. 14, 2007)

Cornell group travels to India to study desert water collecting
A team of graduate students helped excavate gardens that thrived 400 years ago in Rajasthan, India, hoping to glean clues for developing sustainable gardens in desert areas worldwide. (Feb. 14, 2007)

Vet College gets grant to develop fish virus diagnostic technique
Cornell researchers are fine-tuning a new technique they developed to rapidly detect a deadly fish virus that has increasingly appeared in the Great Lakes and neighboring waterways. (Feb. 14, 2007)

Wildlife conservation project will send CU researchers to Zambia
Cornell is partnering on a wildlife conservation project in Zambia that saves animals' lives by addressing a powerful threat: Poverty and hunger that force families to poach or clear-cut forests to create temporary farm fields. (Feb. 7, 2007)

Solanacae Genome Project gets $1.8 million NSF grant
Cornell and the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell have received a grant to continue leading an effort to sequence the tomato genome and to create a database of genomic sequences and information on the tomato and related plants. (Jan. 30, 2007)

Come spring, expect fewer blooms, say Cornell horticulturists
With record warmth throughout the Northeast in December and early January, expect fewer blooms on flowering trees and shrubs in the spring, say Cornell experts. (Jan. 29, 2007)

Endangered fish saved: Shortnose sturgeon rescued in Hudson River
For the first time, a fish identified as endangered has been shown to have recovered -- and in the Hudson River near New York City, report Cornell's Mark Bain and colleagues in the online publication PLoS ONE. (Jan. 24, 2007)

Alzheimer's disease is focus of several collaborative efforts
A recent gift created an interdisciplinary center at Weill Cornell Medical College to study Alzheimer's disease. Finding ways to better understand and treat the devastating illness is the subject of several efforts already under way. (Jan. 23, 2007)

Bretscher named associate director of new cell biology institute
Anthony Bretscher, Cornell professor of molecular biology and genetics, has been named associate director of the newly formed Cornell Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology (CICMB). (Jan. 10, 2007)

Avian flu virus unlikely to spread through water systems
Cornell researchers studied a virus related to the avian influenza virus to see whether a hypothetical mutated form of H5N1 could infect people through drinking and wastewater systems. (Jan. 2, 2007)