An overabundance of a common DNA repair protein can mimic the effects of a mutation in the BRCA gene — a genetic flaw linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer — even in tumors that test negative for it, according to a new study led by Penn State College of Medicine researchers. The finding raises the possibility of more personalized cancer treatment for patients whose tumors don't carry the genetic mutations doctors typically screen for.

DNA repair protein gene gone rogue may unlock new cancer treatments | Penn State University

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An overabundance of a common DNA repair protein can mimic the effects of a mutation in the BRCA gene — a genetic flaw linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer — even in tumors that test negative for it, according to a new study led by Penn State College of Medicine researchers. The finding raises the possibility of more personalized cancer treatment for patients whose tumors don't carry the genetic mutations doctors typically screen for.

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Research

DNA repair protein gene gone rogue may unlock new cancer treatments

Scranton

Michael Abdalla retired from Penn State Scranton in 2005, after a 38-year career as an assistant professor teaching math, physics and engineering. Recently, one of his former students, Joe Clifford, now also retired, honored his mentor by establishing a scholarship in his name as a way of honoring the man he says helped him prepare for his professional career and life.

Scranton alumnus honors a beloved professor with a scholarship in his name | Penn State University

Michael Abdalla retired from Penn State Scranton in 2005, after a 38-year career as an assistant professor teaching math, physics and engineering. Recently, one of his former students, Joe Clifford, now also retired, honored his mentor by establishing a scholarship in his name as a way of honoring the man he says helped him prepare for his professional career and life.

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Scranton alumnus honors a beloved professor with a scholarship in his name

Harrisburg

Penn State Harrisburg alum Jessica Sheets preserves insights of military leaders through her work as an&nbsp;oral historian at the U.S. Marine Corps History Division at Quantico, Virginia.

Harrisburg alum helps preserve Marine Corps history | Penn State University

Penn State Harrisburg alum Jessica Sheets preserves insights of military leaders through her work as an oral historian at the U.S. Marine Corps History Division at Quantico, Virginia.

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Harrisburg alum helps preserve Marine Corps history 

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Adopting, advancing and adapting to AI

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Around Campus

More research news

Costas Maranas, Robert V. &amp; Gloria H. Waltemeyer Chair and Donald B. Broughton Professor of Chemical Engineering at Penn State,&nbsp;is developing computer models and algorithms to help scientists better understand, analyze and redesign biological organisms, including plants. In this Q&amp;A, Maranas discussed how recent breakthroughs in modeling, artificial intelligence and systems biology are accelerating their work, helping plant scientists better understand and repurpose plants into fuel, plastics and more.

Q&A: Are plants the key to solving energy and food crises worldwide? | Penn State University

Costas Maranas, Robert V. & Gloria H. Waltemeyer Chair and Donald B. Broughton Professor of Chemical Engineering at Penn State, is developing computer models and algorithms to help scientists better understand, analyze and redesign biological organisms, including plants. In this Q&A, Maranas discussed how recent breakthroughs in modeling, artificial intelligence and systems biology are accelerating their work, helping plant scientists better understand and repurpose plants into fuel, plastics and more.

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Q&A: Are plants the key to solving energy and food crises worldwide?

Eberly College of Science

The fastest wind from near a supermassive black hole ever measured at ultraviolet wavelengths has been discovered inside the constellation Pegasus, using data from a large-scale astronomical project designed to map a fraction of the sky in unprecedented detail.&nbsp;

Fastest ultraviolet wind detected from black hole in the constellation Pegasus | Penn State University

The fastest wind from near a supermassive black hole ever measured at ultraviolet wavelengths has been discovered inside the constellation Pegasus, using data from a large-scale astronomical project designed to map a fraction of the sky in unprecedented detail. 

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Fastest ultraviolet wind detected from black hole in the constellation Pegasus

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) has released all of its immense, information-rich database to the public.

Massive cosmic dataset made open to scientists, novices and AI | Penn State University

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) has released all of its immense, information-rich database to the public.

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Featured Research

A new study, led by a team from Penn State College of Medicine, found that when teenagers go to sleep and when they wake up may be the driving force behind what teenagers eat and how much they move. Teens who went to sleep later and woke up later were more likely to consume more calories, snack more and be less physically active — especially when in school compared to on break from school.

Study: Teens' sleep patterns affect their diet, exercise

A thick layer of haze around the ultra-low-density planet Kepler-51d likely obscures not only the strange planet’s composition, but also its origin, according to a new study. A team led by Penn State researchers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a deeper look at the “super-puff” planet that defies planetary formation models.

'Cotton candy’ planet hides its secrets beneath a massive layer of haze

Lightning formation and the conditions triggering it have long been shrouded in a cloud of mystery, but new research led by Penn State scientists is lifting the fog. Using mathematical calculations, the researchers discovered that lightning-like discharge doesn’t require a storm cloud — it could be made inside everyday material on a lab bench.

Researchers make mini-lightning in a block of plastic

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi shared her thoughts in a new blog in Forbes highlighting the importance of valuing people in the age of AI — and how universities like Penn State are preparing students for the workplaces of the future.

Why People Are The Smartest AI Investment—And What It Means For Universities

Tardigrades, commonly known as water bears, may be better suited by a new name: Tardiguardians of the Galaxy. Unlike the fictional ragtag team of unenthusiastic heroes, the microscopic animals are providing real insight into how humans could adapt extraterrestrial resources to support space exploration, as well as whether such resources could help protect against the Earthly contaminants that humans might shed. This is according to an international study co-led by Penn State Altoona Professor of Microbiology Corien Bakermans.

‘Water bears’ reveal potential for adapting, protecting Martian resources

Thunderstorms often illuminate the night sky with flashes of lightning. They also seem to make treetops glow and sparkle — although the phenomenon is pretty much invisible to the naked eye. In a study led by Penn State published Feb. 12 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists provide the first direct observations of the weak electrical discharges around trees in nature.

Scientists capture first-ever ultraviolet 'sparkles' from treetops

Penn State researchers have developed a new high-temperature polymer capacitor that can store four times more energy than conventional designs while operating at temperatures up to 482 degrees Fahrenheit. The advance could improve power systems in electric vehicles, data centers, aerospace systems and other high-heat environments where today’s capacitors quickly fail.

New plastic material could solve energy storage challenge, researchers report

A new study offers a look at how the building blocks of life might have originated in the cosmos. Penn State scientists suggest that the amino acids found on the asteroid Bennu did not require warm, liquid water to form, as previously assumed. The team analyzed tiny samples, consisting of roughly 4.6-billion-year-old rocks, delivered by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to Earth in 2023.

Radioactive space can host building blocks of life, asteroid samples reveal

Researchers at Penn State say they’ve developed a new hydrogel material inspired by octopus skin that can encode images directly into its structure. The imprinted images then disappear and reappear when the skin is exposed to subtle changes in temperature or a surrounding solvent. The result is a “4D” synthetic smart skin capable of revealing hidden images and shifting surface patterns.

Study: Octopus-inspired material could lead to better camouflage tech

How a new father behaves toward his baby can change family dynamics in a way that affects the child’s heart and metabolic health years later, according to a new study by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development.

Early dad's involvement linked to lasting child health, study finds

About half of older men suffer from sleep problems, back pain or both, according to Soomi Lee, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State. Lee recently led a study to investigate whether one precedes the other and found that back problems can predict sleep problems years later in men over 65 years old.

Study: Back pain might predict future sleep problems among men

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi was featured in a CEO Magazine interview highlighting her belief in the transformative power of higher education and her efforts to expand access, advance ethical innovation, and strengthen the university’s educational, research, and economic impact.

President of PSU is redefining the power of education to transform lives

A new study led by researchers at Penn State found melanoma case rates tracking higher in counties with higher areas of cultivated land, where the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides can be higher.

Penn State study finds higher incidence of skin cancers in Pa.’s Farm Belt

In a significant advancement for materials science, scientists have successfully created niobium sulfide metallic nanotubes with stable, predictable properties for the first time. An international team, including Penn State researchers, achieved the long-sought feat using an unexpected ingredient—common table salt. According to researchers, the discovery could pave the way for faster electronics, efficient superconducting wires, and future quantum technologies.

Study: Common salt helps create nanomaterial for high-speed electronics

Researchers at Penn State have proposed a novel design for a lithium-ion (Li) battery. It could address the long-standing performance and stability issues of standard Li batteries in extreme temperatures. The design, dubbed the All-Climate Battery (ACB), was developed to fix a core flaw in standard Li batteries.

‘All-Climate Battery’ developed at Penn State could keep EVs running in extreme heat, cold

The discovery of a possible “super-Earth” less than 20 light-years from our own planet is offering scientists new hope in the hunt for other worlds that could harbor life, according to an international team including researchers from Penn State. They dubbed the exoplanet, named GJ 251 c, a “super-Earth” as data suggest it is almost four times as massive as the Earth and likely to be rocky planet.