How the Tip of Florida Became a Tropical-Fruit Paradise
The Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, Florida—or TREC, as it’s known to local farmers—is nearly as far south and east as you can go in the United States before you hit saltwater. Perched on a narrow strip of land between the peat marsh of the Everglades and the mangrove forest of Biscayne Bay, […]
Coronavirus Consultant
John Lednicky, Ph.D., is a research professor, microbiologist and molecular biologist at UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions and the Emerging Pathogens Institute where he studies an array of disease-causing microorganisms. He has spent decades investigating coronaviruses that affect people, bats, birds, cats, cows, dogs, ferrets, mice, and even pigs. But some of this work […]
Dr. Hendrik Luesch Wins Doctoral Dissertation Mentoring Award
Hendrik Luesch, Ph.D., a professor and chair of medicinal chemistry and the Debbie and Sylvia DeSantis Chair in Natural Products Drug Discovery and Development, was named the 2019-20 Doctoral Dissertation Mentoring award winner for the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. The award recognizes excellence, innovation, and effectiveness in mentoring doctoral students throughout their dissertation […]
Cannabix Technologies Makes Significant Breakthrough in FAIMS Technology Development
UF startup Cannabix Technologies Inc., developer of marijuana breathalyzer devices for law enforcement and the workplace, reports that significant technological development has been achieved with its FAIMS- (field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry) marijuana breathalyzer prototype. Cannabix scientists have been characterizing the device for several months to increase resolving power and sensitivity. The company is […]
How NASA Is Using Synthetic DNA in Its Search for Alien Life
In the coming decades, new rovers will roam the sands of Mars. An orbiter will sample the seas of Jupiter’s moon Europa. A drone will grace the skies of Saturn’s moon Titan. Mission planners dream of equipping these mechanical scouts with instruments capable of scouring the unknown environments for signs of life, but the technology […]
UF Scientists Are Trying to Prevent the Next “Coronavirus” in Florida
University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers, Kwang Cheol Jeong, Ph.D., and Samantha Wisely, Ph.D., are looking at the zoonotic potential of feral swine. These animals carry the pathogen that causes brucellosis, the most frequent wildlife disease that infects humans. If they also carry disease that can spread to domestic pigs or […]
How Bird Flocks With Multiple Species Behave Like K-Pop Groups
Birds of a feather don’t always flock together: Peer into a forest canopy, and you will likely spot multiple bird species flying and feeding together, a phenomenon most spectacular in the Amazon where 50 species may travel as a unit. But are birds in these mixed flocks cooperating with one another or competing? A new […]
Gut Microbiota Could Be a Biomarker for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
New research from the University of Florida College of Medicine has revealed that certain characteristics in a patient’s gut microbiota could serve as a biomarker for pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). Analysis of stool samples from 30 patients with and without a history of cardiopulmonary disease, revealed specific alterations in the gut microbiota of PAH patients […]
How Childhood Cancer Research Is Advancing
Cancer doesn’t discriminate when it comes to who it affects and sometimes even otherwise healthy children can be diagnosed with the disease. Dr. Duane Mitchell, director of UF’s Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy at the University of Florida and the co-director of the ReMission Alliance Against Brain Tumors, is among one […]
UF Health Opens New Center to Help Those With Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
University of Florida Health cut the ribbon on its new Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment, a multidisciplinary, collaborative facility that will provide specialized care and resources to children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families. “In and around the Gainesville community, parents have had barriers to obtaining diagnoses, assessments and appropriate treatments for their […]