Research

Sep. 29, 2008

Pigs, with a similar respiratory makeup to humans, are the new research models in fighting cystic fibrosis

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.

June 16, 2008

Old recipes hold new promise in the fight against prostate cancer

A study by biochemistry researchers at the University of Missouri have found that this type of tomato has properties that help fight prostate cancer. They published their results in the June issue of Cancer Research.

April 29, 2008

Special Compounds

Chung-Ho Lin, research assistant professor with the MU Center for Agroforestry, has found that red cedar leaves and fruit have compounds that might help fight bacteria, fungi, agricultural pests and weeds, and malaria.

March 23, 2008

A New Friend in the Fight Against Cystic Fibrosis

For years, scientists have studied cystic fibrosis using mice in which the cystic fibrosis gene was altered. However, mice do not develop lung disease like humans with cystic fibrosis. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Iowa have taken the first step in developing a cystic fibrosis model with animals more common to humans—pigs.

Dec. 10, 2007

A Promising Plant

An international research center co-directed by William Folk, Ph.D., biochemist, in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the School of Medicine, will study the medical effectiveness of the plant commonly called Sutherlandia. A clinical study seeks to determine if the plant is safe and can benefit people in the early stages of HIV/AIDS.

Dec. 1, 2007

A Small Piece of a Big Prize

Lupo, an associate professor of atmospheric science in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resource's Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences, is a contributing author and expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that shared the prize this summer with former vice president Al Gore, Jr.

Nov. 2, 2007

Biting Discovery

"It's much, much worse than a bee or wasp sting," said Robert Sites, an entomologist in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri-Columbia. "It's actually not a sting; it's a bite. You'll be thinking about it a half hour or an hour. I was bitten in the pad of my little finger, and I felt intense pain all the way to my elbow for a good 30 minutes." Working with researchers from universities in Thailand, Slovenia and the United States, Sites discovered more than 50 new insect species over a three-year period.