Ellen Kuhl named director of Stanford Bio-X
March 29, 2024 - Stanford News
Kuhl aims to continue Bio-X’s legacy of facilitating multidisciplinary fundamental research and innovation.
Stanford Bio-X affiliated faculty members and fellows are generating scientific advances that expand our understanding of how the body works and will ultimately improve human health. These news stories and press releases describe some of those breakthroughs.
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Y chromosome genes from Neanderthals likely extinct in modern men
April 7, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Bio-X affiliate Carlos Bustamante finds that the Neanderthal counterpart of the human Y chromosome, or male sex chromosome, appears to have died out. Why this happened is up for debate. -
Populations of early human settlers grew like an 'invasive species'
April 5, 2016 - Stanford Report
Bio-X affiliate Elizabeth Hadly finds that when humans colonized South America, their populations grew like a typical invasive species – an initial explosive growth rapidly reached the environment's carrying capacity. -
And one for the road: Why a single shot may not (always) be enough to stave off shingles
April 4, 2016 - Stanford Medicine Scope
A new study led by Bio-X affiliate Jorg Goronzy provides evidence as to why a single shot is insufficient for roughly half of those vaccinated for shingles. -
$10 million grant funds infection-focused center
April 1, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
The new center, directed by Bio-X affiliate Markus Covert with Bio-X affiliates KC Huang and Denise Monack as co-investigators, will explore intracellular and intercellular processes by which salmonella bacteria infect immune cells. -
Stanford’s Ronald Levy offers peek at future of cancer therapy
April 1, 2016 - Stanford Medicine Scope
Bio-X affiliate Ronald Levy and his colleagues wondered what would happen if they combined immunotherapy and targeted therapies as an alternative to chemotherapy. -
Decoy drug could prevent cancer's spread
March 31, 2016 - Stanford News
Bio-X affiliate Jennifer Cochran and Amato Giaccia, initially supported by a Bio-X Seed Grant, find that creating a molecular snapshot of the way proteins interact could help development of new cancer drugs. -
Extracting miniature diamonds from crude
March 31, 2016 - Stanford News
Bio-X affiliates Nicholas Melosh, Jelena Vuckovic, and Steven Chu find that precisely flawed nanodiamonds could produce next-generation tools for imaging and communications. -
Improved 'liquid biopsy' technique enhances detection of tumor DNA
March 28, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
A new way to quiet background “noise” in blood samples allows researchers under Bio-X affiliates Maximilian Diehn, Ash Alizadeh, Robert West, and Billy Loo to sequence minute quantities of tumor DNA from cancers to improve diagnosis and treatment. -
Resurrected drug effective against two human viruses in a lab dish
March 28, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Bio-X affiliates Chaitan Khosla, Jeffrey Glenn, Jan Carette, and Michael Bassik found that a discarded drug helps human cells in a lab dish fight off two different viruses. This might also help fight the viruses that cause Ebola, dengue and Zika, among others. -
Unmasked: molecular mechanism of rheumatoid arthritis revealed
March 28, 2016 - Stanford Medicine Scope
Bio-X affiliate Connie Weyand and her colleagues have figured out what sparks the aberrant activation of the immune cells driving the angry inflammation and tissue damage that mark rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease. -
Harnessing big data to better understand what happens when we mix drugs
March 25, 2016 - Stanford Engineering
Bio-X affiliate Russ Altman mines patient data to discover unreported side effects of drugs, and paves a path to future medical breakthroughs. -
Prenatal steroids reduce risk of brain bleeding in preemies
March 24, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Steroid treatments intended to mature premature infants’ lungs before birth also protect them against brain hemorrhages after they are born, according to a California-wide study by Bio-X affiliate Henry Lee. -
Genetic research now integrated into MyHeart Counts app
March 24, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
A phone app developed under Bio-X affiliate Euan Ashley to study heart disease risk and help ordinary people manage that risk has teamed up with 23andMe to add a genetics option. -
Protecting Coral Reefs with Bubbles
March 23, 2016 - Stanford Earth Matters
Bubbles could help protect coral reefs, oyster farms, and other coastal ecosystems from increasing ocean acidification, according to new research by Bio-X affiliate Rob Dunbar. -
Scientists pinpoint brain circuit for risk preference in rats
March 23, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Bio-X affiliates Karl Deisseroth and Brian Knutson found that when rats were trained to choose between high- and low-risk options while a circuit in their brains was monitored and manipulated, a specific signal in that circuit determined their choice. -
Insights into human tears could lead to more comfortable contacts
March 22, 2016 - Stanford Report
Chemical engineers under Bio-X affiliate Gerald Fuller have discovered mechanical properties of the tear film on the eye's surface that can be used to manufacture contact lenses that more closely mimic the eye. -
Can bioengineering transform cells into drug factories?
March 21, 2016 - Stanford Engineering
An interdisciplinary research team under Bio-X affiliates Paul Wender, Christina Smolke, and Elizabeth Sattely shows how we just might be able to grow more plentiful and better medicines in the lab. -
The body's biggest defender may one day be smaller than you think
March 18, 2016 - Stanford Engineering
A group of researchers under Bio-X affiliates Sam Gambhir, Shan Wang, and Jianghong Rao shows how nanomedicine is changing the path of cancer diagnosis and treatment. -
Stanford scientists develop new technique for imaging cells and tissues under the skin
March 18, 2016 - Stanford Report
Partially supported by a Bio-X IIP Seed Grant, a team under Bio-X affiliate Adam de la Zerda, including Bio-X Bowes Fellow Orly Liba, developed the first technique for viewing cells and tissues in three dimensions under the skin. The work could improve diagnosis and treatment for some forms of cancer and blindness. -
Stanford scientists identify genetic switch for female sexual behavior
March 18, 2016 - Stanford Report
By studying the complex mating routine of African cichlid fish, a team of scientists under Bio-X affiliates Russell Fernald and Philippe Mourrain has keyed in on a single brain receptor in female fish that determines whether they successfully reproduce. -
Misleading p-values showing up more often in biomedical journal articles
March 15, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Bio-X affiliate John Ioannidis finds in a review of p-values in the biomedical literature from 1990 to 2015 that these widely misunderstood statistics are being used increasingly, instead of better metrics of effect size or uncertainty. -
Q&A: Stanford water expert on lessons of Flint, Michigan, crisis
March 11, 2016 - Stanford Report
The lead in Flint, Michigan's water was due to a failure of government responsibility and a lack of water systems knowledge, says Bio-X affiliate Richard Luthy, but the health crisis can provide strategies for improving the nation's water infrastructure. -
The powerhouse behind Stanford’s global cancer effort
March 11, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Bio-X affiliate Ami Bhatt is mobilizing Stanford experts to fight the growing threat of cancer in the developing world. -
Protein increases signals that protect cancer cells
March 10, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Researchers under Bio-X affiliates Dean Felsher and Irv Weissman, including 2014 USRP participant Rachel Do, have identified a link between the expression of a cancer-related gene and cell-surface molecules that protect tumors from the immune system. -
Stanford scientists make renewable plastic from carbon dioxide and plants
March 9, 2016 - Stanford Report
The new technology developed under Bio-X affiliate Matthew Kanan could provide a green alternative to petroleum-based plastic bottles and other polyester products. -
New insights into HIV's evolution may improve pharmaceutical testing
March 4, 2016 - Stanford Report
Stanford scientists under Bio-X affiliates Dmitri Petrov, Robert Shafer, and Susan Holmes, including Bio-X Travel Award recipient Alison Feder, found that effective treatment caused the HIV virus to evolve differently than less effective treatments. -
Curiosity leads to discovering the workings of a novel mode of insect flight
March 2, 2016 - Stanford Report
A chance observation of a water lily beetle inspired researchers under Bio-X affiliate Manu Prakash, including Travel Award recipient Haripriya Mukundarajan, to investigate the mysterious and sophisticated mode of flight it employs while flying over water. -
Vitamin D deficiency contributes to spread of breast cancer in mice
March 2, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Researchers under Bio-X affiliates Brian Feldman and Megan Albertelli have found evidence that vitamin D suppresses the expression of a gene known to accelerate the growth of breast cancer. -
Glucose-guzzling immune cells may drive coronary artery disease
February 29, 2016 - Stanford Medicine News Center
Researchers under Bio-X affiliates Cornelia Weyand and Jorg Goronzy find that excessive glucose uptake by inflammatory immune cells called macrophages may be behind coronary artery disease. -
Stanford engineers use rust to build a solar-powered battery
February 25, 2016 - Stanford Report
Bio-X affiliate Nick Melosh finds that heating simple metal oxides, like rust, could become the foundation for a solar technology that would make and store electricity by separating the hydrogen and oxygen atoms that make up water.