In the world of plant-feeding insects, who shows up first to the party determines the overall success of the gathering; yet viruses can disrupt these intricate relationships, according to researchers at Penn State.
Nutrient pollution is a major issue affecting water quality around the world: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency names it “one of America's most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems.” The Chesapeake Bay, with some 64,000 square miles of land draining into a shallow, narrow body of water just 200 miles long, is in some respects a worst-case scenario. Over the last 10 years, Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has taken a lead role in solving this problem.
Researchers showed that feeding white button mushrooms to mice changed the composition of gut microbes to produce more short chain fatty acids, specifically propionate from succinate. Previous research has shown that succinate and propionate can change the expression of genes needed to manage glucose production. A better understanding this connection between mushrooms and gut microbes in mice could one day pave the way for new diabetes treatments and prevention strategies for people.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A technology designed to improve CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in mosquitoes and other arthropods succeeds with a high degree of efficiency, while eliminating the need for difficult microinjection of genetic material, according to researchers.
Drinking water from wells in rural north central Pennsylvania had low levels of pharmaceuticals, according to a study led by Penn State researchers.
Researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences examined the use and user-friendliness of SILVAH-Oak — short for Silviculture of Allegheny Hardwoods — a decision-support tool developed by the U.S. Forest Service for making silvicultural decisions in mixed oak forests.
Poor mental health may cost businesses nearly as much as physical health problems, according to researchers. A single extra poor mental health day in a month was associated with a 1.84 percent drop in the per capita real income growth rate, resulting in $53 billion less total income each year.
Dennis Calvin, director of Penn State Extension and associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences since 2009, has assumed a new role overseeing the college's efforts to combat the invasive spotted lanternfly. His appointment, which comes with the title of associate dean and director of special programs, was effective July 1.
High bitter-taste sensitivity is associated with a significantly increased risk of cancer in older British women, according to researchers who conducted a unique study of 5,500 women whose diet, lifestyle and health has been tracked for about 20 years.
When gypsum — a source of sulfate — finds its way into low-oxygen manure-storage facilities via removal as soiled bedding, this innocuous product can turn into a deadly gas with a few moves of an agitation device, a dangerous threat that researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences believe can be counteracted with an additive.
When it comes to shopping at farmers markets, a little know-how can go a long way in keeping you and your family safe from foodborne illness, advises a food safety educator with Penn State Extension.
Climate projections indicate more warming will occur in the Northeast than other sections of the United States, and that has implications for corn crops and dairy farms in the region by 2050, researchers warn.
Penn State researchers have joined forces with the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization to release the first app, called Nuru, to help African farmers recognize fall armyworm — a new and fast-spreading crop pest in sub-Saharan Africa — so that they can take immediate steps to destroy it and curb its spread.
The spotted lanternfly is starting to sour the grape and wine industries in southeastern Pennsylvania, and research underway in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences aims to spoil the invasive pest's party.
An analysis of employment change in the state since 2001 suggests the existence of "two Pennsylvanias" during the period from 2001 to 2017, according to economists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. The newly released report shows a sharp divide between southeastern Pennsylvania, with mainly job growth, and the rest of the state, with primarily job decline.
A Pennsylvania farmer trapped in a grain bin was rescued by first responders who knew how to save him thanks to training from Penn State Extension.
Teaching Cambodian farmers — mainly women who manage small farms — ways to diversify their operations for improved nutrition and extra income is one aspect of a multidisciplinary project led by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and called "Women in Agriculture Network (WAgN): Cambodia."
The six bundles of Holstein joy born at the Penn State Dairy Barns in April of last year — the outcome of a research project to improve genetic diversity in the breed — have garnered a fan following.
Hillary Peterson is every brown marmorated stink bug's worst nightmare. The Penn State doctoral degree student does not intend to rest professionally until she and other entomologists devise a way to reduce burgeoning populations of the invasive insect, originally from Asia, which are damaging crops and aggravating people. The goal of their research is to develop biological controls to interfere with the pest's reproduction.
Penn State Extension Master Gardeners across the state are helping to restore bee populations through their Pollinator Preferences and Pollinator-Friendly Gardener Certification programs.
The food-safety practices that Americans take for granted — such as washing hands with soap, refrigerating perishables, and not cutting raw meat and vegetables on the same surface without disinfection — may not be practiced widely in other places around the world,” said Cutter, professor of food science and Penn State Extension assistant director for food safety and quality programs. She and her colleagues in the College of Agricultural Sciences want to change that.
Use of the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 could help to breed cacao trees that exhibit desirable traits such as enhanced resistance to diseases, according to Penn State plant scientists.
The Centre County 4-H Robotics Club recently brought home the gold after winning the FIRST Robotics Competition — the first Pennsylvania team to capture the title. Robotics clubs are among Penn State Extension's 4‑H science programs that provide youth the opportunity to learn about science, technology, engineering and math through fun, hands-on activities and projects.
Each May, the expression "flower power" takes on a new meaning at Penn State's Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Manheim, Lancaster County, when an 85-year-old tradition — the Penn State Flower Trials — gets under way.
Nathan Pearlman, a food science major in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, has savored his senior year, thanks, in part, to an internship with the Penn State Berkey Creamery.
Sarah Xenophon, recent Penn State alumna and watershed technician in the University's Agriculture and Environment Center, talks about the impact of her work, including facilitation of efforts to restore polluted waterways in Pennsylvania.
In this Q&A with Matthew Royer, director of the Agriculture and Environment Center at Penn State, we explore the ongoing work to improve the health of Pennsylvania's waterways, and by extension, the pollution problem in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Penn State Extension organized a recent trip to study state-of-the-art crop management in Brazil — one of the world's leading producers of soybeans — for Pennsylvania soybean growers and industry representatives.
Grape growers, orchardists, nursery operators, homeowners and others in southeastern Pennsylvania are bracing for the spring emergence of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect from Asia that appeared for the first time in the United States in Berks County nearly four years ago. Penn State Extension educators and College of Agricultural Sciences researchers are working with state and federal agriculture officials to stop the pest's spread.
An innovation that could have a huge impact on water quality problems in the United States, a system capable of removing almost all phosphorus from stored livestock manure, was developed by a team of researchers from Penn State and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.
