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Researchers can engineer cells to express new genes and produce specific proteins, giving the cells new parts to work with. But, it's much harder to provide cells with instructions on how to organize and use those new parts. Now, new tools from University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers offer an innovative way around this problem.

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists has developed the first 3D-printed brain tissue that can grow and function like typical brain tissue. It's an achievement with important implications for scientists studying the brain and working on treatments for a broad range of neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Cleft lip and palate are the most common craniofacial birth defects in humans, affecting more than 175,000 newborns around the world each year. Yet despite decades of research, it's still not known what causes most cases or what can be done to prevent them. But a recent study from the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) has uncovered new information about orofacial development in mice that researchers believe could one day help reduce the risk of these birth defects in humans.

A team of astronomers have discovered a planet closer and younger than any other Earth-sized world yet identified. It's a remarkably hot world whose proximity to our own planet and to a star like our sun mark it as a unique opportunity to study how planets evolve. The new planet was described in a new study published this week by The Astronomical Journal.

Like mail carriers who manage to deliver their parcels through snow, rain, heat and gloom, a critical group of mammalian proteins helps cells function properly even under less-than-ideal conditions. Using state-of-the-art cell imaging and genome editing technology, University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists have begun to unravel how this collection of proteins performs its essential service.

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have used a spray coating technology to produce a new workhorse material that can withstand the harsh conditions inside a fusion reactor. The advance, detailed in a paper published recently in the journal Physica Scripta , could enable more efficient compact fusion reactors that are easier to repair and maintain.

Although widely considered a blunder of public policy, the alcohol prohibition laws of early 20th century America may have led to increased longevity for those born in places where alcohol was banned, according to new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The study - recently published in the journal Economics and Human Biology and co-authored by Jason Fletcher of UW's La Follette School of Public Affairs - is the first to research the long-term effects of Prohibition Era on longevity, adding to the understanding of the longer-term costs of alcohol exposure during pregnancy.

A new study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has uncovered evidence that persistent racial and socioeconomic disparities in Americans' risk of developing colorectal cancer could in part be related to differences in the occurrence of Type 2 diabetes. The study also suggests that routine cancer screenings could help cut those disparities.

Nineteen million years ago, during a time known as the early Miocene, massive ice sheets in Antarctica rapidly and repeatedly grew and receded. The Miocene is widely considered a potential analog for Earth's climate in the coming century, should humanity remain on its current carbon emissions trajectory.

The effectiveness of mRNA vaccines in reducing disease severity and hospitalization from COVID-19 is well established. Now, new research from the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine advances our understanding of how these vaccines protect the lungs following breakthrough infections from emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

When you type a password or credit card number into a website, you expect that your sensitive data will be protected by a system designed to keep it secure. That's not always the case, according to a group of digital security researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They found that some popular websites are vulnerable to browser extensions that can extract user data like passwords, credit card information and social security numbers from HTML code.

A new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that chemotherapy may not be reaching its full potential, in part because researchers and doctors have long misunderstood how some of the most common cancer drugs actually ward off tumors. For decades, researchers have believed that a class of drugs called microtubule poisons treat cancerous tumors by halting mitosis, or the division of cells.

Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, may be unfolding in brain cells even before birth, despite typically going undiagnosed until age 3 or later. A new study published today in the journal Neuron by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed that FMRP, a protein deficient in individuals with fragile X syndrome, has a role in the function of mitochondria, part of a cell that produces energy, during prenatal development.

Once thought to be the trash can of the cell, a little bubble of cellular stuff called the midbody remnant is actually packing working genetic material with the power to change the fate of other cells - including turning them into cancer. It's a surprise to many people, according to Ahna Skop, a University of Wisconsin­-Madison genetics professor, that when one cell divides into two, a process called mitosis, the result is not just the two daughter cells.

Life on a faraway planet - if it's out there - might not look anything like life on Earth. But there are only so many chemical ingredients in the universe's pantry, and only so many ways to mix them. A team led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has exploited those limitations to write a cookbook of hundreds of chemical recipes with the potential to give rise to life.

The world needs greener ways to make chemicals. In a new study, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers demonstrate one potential path toward this goal by adapting hydrogen fuel cell technologies. These technologies are already used to power some electric vehicles, laptops and cell phones. "The chemical industry is a massive energy consumer, and there is a big push to decarbonize the industry," says Shannon Stahl , a professor in the UW-Madison Department of Chemistry who guided much of the research.

As the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic first began to spread around the planet, it brought along a new vocabulary. Unfamiliar phrases like "flatten the curve," "COVID pod" and "essential worker" infected regular conversation. But another - "do your own research" -  was already well-known to Sedona Chinn , who studies misinformation and health communications.

Northern muriquis, which live in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, are one of the most endangered species of monkey in the world. Choosing good mates and rearing thriving offspring are key to the species' long-term survival. To better understand what goes on in the mating lives of muriquis, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison turned to the monkeys' poop to help gain insight into how the primates choose their mates.

Thanks to machine learning algorithms, short pieces of DNA floating in the bloodstream of cancer patients can help doctors diagnose specific types of cancer and choose the most effective treatment for a patient. The new analysis technique, created by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers published recently in Annals of Oncology , is compatible with "liquid biopsy" testing equipment already approved in the United States and in use in cancer clinics.

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have recently revealed that the effectiveness of common antibiotics could depend on the neighborhood where you live. Here are the details. An innovative look at an old problem : Led by postdoctoral fellow Laurel Legenza , researchers at UW-Madison's School of Pharmacy and State Cartographer's Office worked with colleagues from three Wisconsin health systems to combine antibiotic resistance data from different locations throughout the state to gauge the effectiveness of a pair of common antibiotic treatments for Escherichia coli infections.