A $750,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. announced Sept. 6 establishes the Forward BIO Initiative, a collaborative effort to make Wisconsin a recognized center of excellence for biomanufacturing. The new initiative “leverages one of our key long-term strengths at UW, which is working at the crossroads where multiple disciplines connect,” UW–Madison Chancellor Rebecca …

When a stimulus descends upon a cell, it sets off a flurry of activity. Sensors on the surface take in information and relay it inside to other proteins, which perform computations and transmit their findings. The cell makes a decision and responds to the stimulus. Megan McClean wants to figure out how it all works—and then …

In the treatment of cancer, chemotherapy is a cleaver, not a scalpel. By attacking rapidly dividing cells, chemotherapy effectively fights tumors, but it also ravages healthy cells in the gut, bone marrow, the scalp and other organs, leading to severe side effects. These toxic chemicals save lives, but at a great cost to patient well-being. …

Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, and high levels of fats such as triglycerides or cholesterol in the blood are cited as just one of several risk factors. Millions of lipid panels — blood tests that look at cholesterol and triglyceride levels — are performed in clinics each year. Two …

Mike Sussman, longtime director of the UW–Madison Biotechnology Center and BTP trainer, has announced that he is stepping down from that position to serve as director of the Genome Center of Wisconsin, located within the Biotechnology Center. “With DNA analysis now permeating all aspects of research, our economy and our lives, aggressive attention to changes in the technology …

Three University of Wisconsin–Madison Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) faculty trainers have been honored with Vilas professorships. The professorships, totaling 40 this year, honor extraordinary members of the UW–Madison faculty with awards supported by the estate of professor, U.S. senator, and UW Regent William F. Vilas (1840-1908). Vilas Research Professorship Samuel Gellman, Ralph F. Hirschmann Professor …

Your next bite of local bread or gulp of Madison beer might just have a little piece of Sheboygan in it. Sheboygan yeast, anyway. That yeast will have traveled on collection swabs, been scrutinized in research laboratories at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, pored over in food science classrooms and finally harnessed in the brewhouses and …

The soil supporting a field of crops teems with life. Untold numbers of bacteria and fungi strive for space and food. Most are harmless. Many are vital to creating healthy soil. But farmers worry about a handful of species that cause devastating crop diseases, and they often turn to chemical pesticides to keep those pathogens …

In order to spread their destruction, ovarian cancer cells must break free from their tumor home, travel through the fluid in the peritoneal cavity and attach to the outside of the abdominal organs—surfaces that are, by necessity, not sticky. Despite these challenges, most patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed after metastasis has begun, resulting in …

Numerous University of Wisconsin–Madison Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) faculty trainers are on recently awarded UW2020 Round 4 projects. The goal of UW2020 is to stimulate and support cutting edge, highly innovative, and groundbreaking research at UW–Madison and the acquisition of shared instruments or equipment that will open new avenues for innovative and significant research. The …