Stories

March 31, 2013

Dial D to Prevent Diabetes

University of Missouri researchers found vitamin D supplements can help obese children and teens control their blood-sugar levels, which may help them stave off Type 2 diabetes.

March 20, 2013

Copper and Menkes

A team of Biochemistry researchers at the University of Missouri has published the first scientific evidence that the gene ATP7A is essential for the dietary absorption of the critical nutrient copper. This research explains why children with Menkes disease, who are born lacking this gene, develop a severe copper deficiency.

Vintage photo of Edward Porter

March 10, 2013

Change Agent

Into a maelstrom came CAFNR's third Dean.

March 10, 2013

Easier Cancer Detection?

A more accurate and less invasive breast cancer detection tool is being developed by Susan Deutscher and Thomas Quinn, both professors of Biochemistry.

March 10, 2013

History in Wood and Oil

A bit of agriculture history can be found in the CAFNR Dean’s Offices. The two pieces of furniture and a portrait are tied to William Henry Hatch (Sept. 11, 1833 – Dec. 23, 1896), the U.S. Congressman who in 1877 wrote legislation known as the Hatch Act of 1877. This act established state agricultural experiment stations for land-grant colleges across the nation. The furniture pieces, a hutch and a close stool (a chair with a hidden chamber pot in the absence of indoor plumbing), belonged to Hatch and were donated to the College after his death. The furniture came from his Congressional office. The portrait of…

Feb. 7, 2013

Academic Co-Stars

In 1885, in a move that newspapers of the day decried as a cynical grab for Morrill Act money, University of Missouri President Samuel Laws merged Mizzou with the supposedly separate new College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts to create the Missouri Agricultural College and University. The union, which survived only a few months, triggered angry outbursts by students, heated newspaper editorials and reprisals by the state government. The hot reaction caused Laws to quickly make the College a division of MU, but that didn’t stop the furor. An angry Missouri Governor called for ag’s removal and relocation from the University.

Dec. 13, 2012

How Mizzou Got Ag

It’s taken for granted today that the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources should be part of the University of Missouri. In the days when Missouri was struggling to recover from the Civil War and had no ag college, this was no cut-and-dried proposition.

Nov. 26, 2012

This Bug’s for Mizzou

Aphis mizzou, a new member of the aphid family, has been officially described in October in Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that describes newly identified organisms.

Nov. 8, 2012

Border Ruffian Savant

If George Clinton Swallow harvested anything, it was controversy.

Nov. 8, 2012

New Experiential Lab

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), one of the world’s leading agricultural processors, has given the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) a gift of $1 million to support a dedicated laboratory space designed specifically for student experiential learning. The ADM Center for Agricultural Development, to be located in the Agricultural Engineering building on MU’s east campus, will provide space for valuable student-faculty interactions, enhanced student team learning, and capstone design projects. “We’re proud of our partnership with ADM and the investment they are making in CAFNR and our students,” said Thomas Payne,…