Page 2 - Interdisciplinary Graduate Program News Today

Credit: NASA Scientists have long thought that there was a direct connection between the rise in atmospheric oxygen, which started with the Great Oxygenation Event 2.5 billion years ago, and the rise of large, complex multicellular organisms. That theory, the "Oxygen Control Hypothesis," suggests that the size of these early multicellular organisms was limited by the depth to which oxygen could diffuse into their bodies. The hypothesis makes a simple prediction that has been highly influential...

4 faculty named inaugural Hubbard-Walder honorees 4 faculty named inaugural Hubbard-Walder honorees By: Jack Rossi  |  2021.04.28  |  09:24 am Four University of Iowa faculty members—Gail Bishop, Ray Fagenbaum, Cinda Coggins-Mosher, and Amy Strathman—were named winners of the inaugural Hubbard-Walder Award for Excellence in Teaching. The new award is presented to UI faculty who have participated in a variety of university teaching (undergraduate, graduate or professional, classroo...

Biologists unravel pathway for cancer cells to become immortal By: Richard C. Lewis  |  2021.03.03  |  11:07 am Cancer cells have been described as immortal because, unlike normal cells, they don’t age and die, but instead can continue to multiply without end. In most cases, cancer cells become immortal by invoking a genetic mutation that can trigger the production of an enzyme, known as telomerase, which prevents telomeres from shortening. Telomeres are important because they preven...

Researchers identify new strategy to protect offspring from prenatal stress New research from the University of Iowa and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center demonstrates that offspring can be protected from the effects of prenatal stress by administering a neuroprotective compound during pregnancy. Working in a mouse model, Rachel Schroeder, a student in the UI Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, drew a connection between the work of her two mentors, Hanna Stevens, MD,...