For more than 17 years, PIK Professor Michael Platt and his collaborators have followed a free-ranging colony of rhesus macaques in the Puerto Rican Island of Cayo Santiago who, in 2017, experienced the devastation of Hurricane Maria. The team showed that the macaques who invested in relationships had higher survival rates, findings that can provide insights into human social behavior and health in the face of environmental change.
(Image: Courtesy of Lauren J. Brent)
Hurricane changed ‘rules of the game’ in monkey society
PIK Professor Michael Platt and collaborators from the University of Exeter find Hurricane Maria transformed a monkey society by changing the pros and cons of their interpersonal relations.
Section of seminoma tissue, a type of testicular cancer, showing strong expression of proteins/RNAs (TFAP2C, green; BICD1, red) that are typically present in pre-migratory/migratory primordial germ cells, precursors of sperm.
(Image: Courtesy of Kotaro Sasaki)
Kotaro Sasaki and his team unveil the genetics of testicular cancer
Researchers from Penn Vet develop the first in vitro seminoma model, shedding light on chromosomal anomalies and signaling pathways.
This image visualizes the Milky Way and its surrounding “halo” of stars. Most stars in the Milky Way lie in the disc (like the Sun, for example), but stars from past collisions end up in the halo, a large “cloud” of stars that extends outwards in all directions. These halo stars have been enhanced in this image, but in reality would be very dim compared to the disc. The halo appears messy and “wrinkly” here, a sign that a merger has occurred relatively recently.
(Image: Halo stars: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, T Donlon et al. 2024; Background Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds: Stefan Payne-Wardenaar)
Researchers upend theory about the formation of the Milky Way Galaxy
New findings by Robyn Sanderson and collaborators suggest galaxy’s last major collision was billions of years later than previously thought.
China Byrns used high-magnification confocal microscopy to visualize senescent glia (red) in Drosophila brains as part of a multidisciplinary approach to define the origin and effects of senescent cells in brain aging.
(Image: Courtesy of Riya Anand)
Fruitful insights on the brain
Research led by China Byrns of the lab of Nancy M. Bonini in the School of Arts & Sciences have uncovered new details about the role of zombie-like cells in brain aging, using the fruit fly as a model.
Hajishengallis, an expert in the immune mechanisms behind the gum disease periodontitis, worked with an international team to show that the innate immune system--typically thought to lack immune memory--can in fact be trained to "remember" past threats.
New insights on cellular clones and inflammation in bones
Research led by George Hajishengallis of Penn Dental sheds light on an aging-related condition that drives inflammation in older populations.
Penn Integrates Knowledge professor Michael Platt holds appointments in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences, the Department of Neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine, and the Marketing Department in the Wharton School.
More than two hearts beat as one
PIK Professor Michael Platt and collaborators studied how physiologic measures like cardiac synchrony can guide decision making in groups. Their study found that heart rate synchrony was a much better predictor than standard questionnaire-based surveys.
Long lines at check-in, frustrated passengers stranded at airports, and the chaotic cancellation of flights due to unexpected storms or technical outages are becoming increasingly commonplace. Now,Megan Ryerson of the Weitzman School of Design is part of a NASA-supported multidisciplinary team working to mitigate many of the deleterious effects of airport delays.
(Image: iStock / phive2015)
University-led research project seeks to streamline air travel
Megan Ryerson of the Weitzman School of Design is part of a collaborative NASA-funded research team taming the turbulence of airport delays.
In a recent paper, PIK Professor Michael Platt and the Perelman School of Medicine’s Peter Sterling posit that the underlying mechanism of the looming concern of human fertility declines is the epidemic of despair.
(Image: iStock / TanyaJoy)
Addressing declining fertility
In a Q&A with Penn Today, Michael Platt talks about the socioeconomic and emotional factors leading to plummeting fertility rates.
