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The latest news from the UW

July 25, 2011

Materials scientist John Cahn awarded international Kyoto Prize

John Cahn, a UW affiliate professor in the departments of physics and materials science & engineering, has won an international Kyoto Prize, sometimes described as Japan’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize. Cahn is recognized for his work describing and predicting the behavior of mixtures of materials.

Battle of the bugs: Pseudomonas breaches cell walls of rival bacteria without hurting itself

Microbiologists have uncovered a sneaky trick by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa to oust rivals. It deploys a toxin delivery machine to breach cell walls of competitors without hurting itself. Its means of attack helps it survive in the outside environment and may even help it cause infection.

Gene therapy delivered once to blood vessel wall protects against atherosclerosis in rabbit studies

A one-dose method for delivering gene therapy into an arterial wall in rabbits effectively protects the artery from developing atherosclerosis despite ongoing high blood cholesterol. In the future, researchers hope to test whether this gene-delivery method works in heart bypass grafts.

UW will lead $18.5 million effort to create mind-machine interface

The National Science Foundation today announced an $18.5 million grant to establish an Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering based at the UW. The interdisciplinary center will combine neuroscience and robotics to develop new rehabilitation technologies.

Newsmakers

Marsha Linehan on anonymity in recovery; Leslie Walker-Harding on adolescents and drugs; James Leverenz on medications for elderly Parkinsons patients; 1983 research by Arthur Rangno is cited, and Paul Hill cites Monty Python.

Wood products part of winning carbon-emissions equation, researchers say

Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to grow, so forests have long been proposed as a way to offset climate change. But rather than just letting the forest sit there for a hundred or more years, the amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere could be quadrupled in 100 years by harvesting regularly and using the wood in place of fossil-fuel intensive steel and concrete.

Atomic structure discovered for a sodium channel that generates electrical signals in living cells

Sodium channels are pores in the membranes of excitable cells – such as brain nerve cells or beating heart cells – that emit electrical signals. Researchers have obtained a high-resolution crystal structure showing all the atoms of this complex protein molecule and how they relate in three-dimensions.

July 12, 2011

Wireless power could cut cord for patients with implanted heart pumps

A new system to send electricity over short distances has been shown to reliably power a mechanical heart pump. The system could free patients from being tethered to a battery or external power source, lowering their chance of infection and improving their quality of life.