In his daytime job as part of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Animal Sciences faculty, Peter Sutovsky studies mammalian spermatogenesis, fertilization and pre-implantation embryonic development. In his off-hours, he helps detectives solve criminal cases. The associate professor is a member of a joint venture between the University of Missouri and the Paternity Testing Corp. (PTC) that seeks to revolutionize forensic work relating to rape cases.
Research ⋅ Page 28
Chasing Thundersnow
MU researchers release weather balloons during winter storms
Everyone is familiar with storm chasers who follow tornadoes during the summer months. One University of Missouri researcher and a team of students will be doing much the same thing this winter in search of a rare weather phenomenon called thundersnow. The research could make the prediction of such severe snowfall events more accurate.
A very special grape
MU researchers use Norton grape to understand innate immune systems of grapevines against fungal pathogens
When it comes to wine, the Norton grape has its admirers. But qualities other than taste are bringing Missouri’s state grape to the attention of science. University of Missouri researchers, together with scientists at Missouri State University and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, are investigating the genes that make Norton grapes resistant to fungal pathogens that can plague other varieties of wine grapes.
MU faculty earn funding through the Missouri Life Sciences Research Trust Fund
Seven Missouri researchers recently received funding through the Missouri Life Sciences Research Trust Fund. Six of the researchers are from the University of Missouri—of these, three are from the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. The grants total $5,525,785.
Taking a bite out of cattle feed costs
MU Southwest Center researchers identify genetics that make a more efficient cow
Escalating feed and fertilizer prices have eroded profitability in the beef industry nationwide. With over 54,000 beef operations and the second largest beef herd in the U.S., Missouri stands to lose a lot. Researchers at University of Missouri’s Southwest Center near Mt. Vernon, Mo., have found how many pounds a cow gains per pound of feed consumed varies between animals.
A promising new way to grow rice
A research program succeeds in spite of a passing hurricane
Despite being battered by the remnants of Hurricane Ike, an experiment to grow rice under center-pivot sprinkler irrigation yielded as much or more of the grain as conventional methods. This new technique may allow farmers to produce the crop in areas where it cannot be grown now, helping produce more food for a hungry world.
Friendly bacteria help with healthy soy diet
First soy bar to add probiotics eases common intestinal problems
Soy is considered a healthy addition to a diet, but sometimes it is not easy on the stomach. Now, a University of Missouri researcher believes she has the answer: freeze-dried probiotic microcapsules.
Up, up and away for science
Atmospheric science students use weather balloons to better understand non-summer thunderstorms
In a research and educational project to understand how non-summer thunderstorms are triggered by a process called elevated convection, Patrick Market, associate professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, will lie in wait for these cold and warm fronts to roll across Columbia, Mo.
Pigs, with a similar respiratory makeup to humans, are the new research models in fighting cystic fibrosis
A New Model
Cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the U.S., has been a difficult disease to study as there are no effective animal models that mimic the human condition. That changed recently because University of Missouri and University of Iowa researchers can now produce pigs born with CF that have the exact symptoms of a newborn human with the disease.
MU chef kicks things up a notch aboard ship
Life aboard a U.S. Navy ship can be grueling with deployments of up to eight months at sea. A great meal can help make life better for the sailors.Greg Chase, a 2007 graduate from the MU Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) program and former sous chef for the Walt Disney World Resort Polynesian Resort in Orlando, stepped in to support.