Virginia Tech researchers to study poplar tree as model biomass crop
... Poplar is a model biomass crop, said Eric Beers, associate professor of horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the projects principal investig...Virginia Bioinformatics Institute to develop Tomato Metabolite Database
Blacksburg, Va. A researcher at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech is developing a database and computational tools to help scientists learn more about how certain genes in tomatoes affect the crop's flavor and nutritional value....... The Tomato Metabolite Database, which is being implemented by Zhangjun Fei, a senior bioinformatics scientist in VBI's Cyberinfrastructu...Fire ants are emerging nuisance for Virginians
... "Virginia Cooperative Extension has begun a research and outreach program to train Extension agents and industry officials in southeastern Virginia about this emerging problem," said Dini...Virginia Tech's System X supercomputer provides super tool for simulation of cell division
... Biologist John Tyson, who studies the cell cycle, is a leader in applying mathematical models in molecular cell biology. However, comparing the results of a mathema...Asian Soybean Rust found in Virginia, but not a threat to current crop
... "Fortunately for our soybean producers in Virginia, this year's crop is out of danger," said David Holshouser, associate professor and Extension soybean specialist. "Once soybean seeds reach their full size in the pod, the crop will mature before rust affects a significant amount of leaf surface. Our May-planted crop is now being or is close to being harvested. Those soybeans planted after...Virginia Tech chemists create new polymers by adding DNA base pairs
... ... ... Brian Mather of Albuquerque, a chemical engineering graduate stud...Pregnant drivers, football players safer thanks to a top Virginia Tech researcher
... ... The editors of Technology Review, a publication of the Massachus...Virginia Tech student selected to meet Nobel Laureates
Nicholas S. Wigginton of Holt, Mich., a Ph.D. student in geosciences at Virginia Tech, has been nominated by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to attend a meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany, in late June....... Wigginton's research at PNNL is based in part on the discoveries of Rudolph Marcus, who received the Nobel in chemistry in 1992 for his contributions to the theory of...Virginia study urges early emphasis on science
What do you want to be when you grow up? Eighth-graders asked this question in 1988 were two to three times more likely to earn science and engineering degrees in college if their answer was a science-related career.... The National Research Council recently reported the United States is slipping in its leadership in science and technology fields and recommended "vastly improving" K-12 education...Award supports Virginia Tech research to reduce vehicle emissions, create biofuel
Blacksburg, Va. -- Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) has selected Virginia Tech researchers who are working on energy and environmental issues as two of only 25 recipients to receive the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. ...... Montasir Abbas, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, has developed and implemented successful traffic signal optimization prog...Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute sign agreement...
Blacksburg, Va., USA and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 2, 2006, The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) today signed an agreement to accelerate the development of new health products and technologies. The initial three-year agreement is intended to facilitate the development of drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other technologies that...Virginia Tech to host Biodiversity Conservation in Agriculture Symposium
Virginia Tech will host the Biodiversity Conservation in Agriculture Symposium at its Caribbean Center for Education and Research in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic, May 31 June 2. The symposium is designed to promote inclusion of biodiversity conservation objectives in agricultural development activities....... Internationally recognized experts will explain why biodiversity is important, re...Virginia Bioinformatics Institute to host international alpha-proteobacteria symposium
The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) will host an international group of scientists for a research symposium on Wednesday, April 26 to Saturday, April 29 at the VBI Conference Center on the Virginia Tech campus. The "International Symposium on the Comparative Biology of the Alpha-Proteobacteria" will examine the very latest research and findings on the alpha-proteobacteria, a group of dive...Virginia Bioinformatics Institute launches microbial database
Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have launched a publicly-available microbial database to host a range of microbial genome sequences. ......The VBI Microbial Database (VMD), which is described in a recent article published in Nucleic Acids Research (Vol.34, D379-D381), contains genome sequence and annotation data for the plant pathogens Phytophthora sojae and...Virginia Tech helping to develop higher quality, disease-resistant wheat varieties
Researchers at Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are part of consortium of public wheat breeders and scientists that have been awarded $5 million from the USDA to enable routine use of modern breeding technologies to produce higher quality, disease-resistant wheat....... "For the past two decades, an intensive amount of molecular research has been conducted wherein chromoso...Virginia Tech researcher examining malignant melanoma in horses
Malignant melanoma is a dangerous, aggressive form of cancer and approximately 54,000 new cases are diagnosed every year, according to the American Cancer Society. Interestingly, there are many similarities between malignant melanoma in horses and malignant melanoma in people....... Recognizing the extraordinary opportunity for translational research that the disease represents, Dr. John L. Rober...Virginia Tech scientists develop process for creating biocompatible fibers
Scientists at Virginia Tech have developed a single-step process for creating nonwoven fibrous mats from a small organic molecule creating a new nanoscale material with potential applications where biocompatible materials are required, such as scaffolds for tissue growth and drug delivery....... The research will be presented in the Jan. 20 issue of Science, in the article, "Phospholipid Nonwove...Virginia Tech geobiologist wins Schuchert Award
Blacksburg, Va. - Michal Kowalewski, associate professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech, has been named the recipient of this year's Charles Schuchert Award by the Paleontological Society. The award is bestowed annually to a scientist under the age of 40 whose work reflects excellence and promise in the science of paleontology. ......Kowalewski collects paleontological and geological data over a...Virginia Tech engineer investigates enzyme link to neurological disease
Several neurologically based afflictions, such as Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer diseases, have been correlated to a higher than normal presence of a specific type of enzymes, called transglutaminases (TGase) in the human body. TGases, whose function is to catalyze covalent bonds among proteins, are commonly found in several different human tissues. ......In the presence of unusually hi...Virginia Tech group adds tools to DNA-targeted anti-cancer drugs
Blacksburg, Va. -- Chemistry and biology researchers at Virginia Tech have enhanced the abilities of the molecules they are creating to deliver killing blows to cancer cells. The man-made molecular complexes enter cancer cells and, when signaled, deliver killing medicine or cause the cell to change. The new supermolecules have more units that will absorb light providing more control over the ran...Virginia water center celebrates 40th year at national symposium at Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Va. -- Since 1965, the Virginia Water Resources Research Center at Virginia Tech has provided funding support to hundreds of research projects and student researchers at Virginia Tech. On Oct. 10-12, the center will celebrate it's 40th anniversary in conjunction with the National Water Research Symposium at the Skelton Conference Center on the Virginia Tech campus. ... ...The theme wi...Virginia Tech research, graduate program focus on interfaces
Blacksburg,, Va., -- The mass and energy transfer that takes place at natural interfaces determines virtually every aspect of life. A Virginia Tech team of scientists and engineers has received a prestigious Integrated Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award in the amount of $3.1 million to study these phenomena. ......The National Science Foundation (NSF) is providing the funding...Virginia Tech experts available to speak on the possible discovery of Asian Soybean Rust spores
Blacksburg, Va., August 22, 2005 Virginia Tech scientists say that there has been a change in the status of the fungus causing Asian Soybean Rust but that the new information is still too preliminary for any action on the part of the Commonwealth's soybean producers....... A single cluster of six urediniospores found at Virginia Tech's Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Suff...Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researcher receives USDA functional genomics grant
Blacksburg, Va. Brett Tyler, research professor at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) and Virginia Tech professor of plant pathology, physiology, and weed science, has been awarded a three-year, $980,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to identify the ways in which the plant pathogen Phytopthora sojae overcomes the defenses of its host soybean. ......Phytophthora sp...Virginia Tech, Nanjing Institute researchers discover half-billion year-old fossils
Blacksburg, Va. July 11, 2005 Scientists interested in ancient life have a wealth of fossils and impressions frozen in rocks that they can study from as far back as 540 million years ago when animals with shells and bones began to become plentiful. But evidence of complex life older than 540 million years is scant and difficult to study....... Now, a research team from Virginia Tech in the Unit...Virginia Tech wins $2.7 million grant to protect people from malaria
Blacksburg, Va. Virginia Tech researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Science will join researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya, in a $2.7 million research project to help developing nations reduce the danger of malaria. The project is funded by a grant from the Foundation for the National Insti...Virginia Tech fisheries department releases cultivated mussels at Nature Conservancy site
Blacksburg, Va. Virginia Tech's Freshwater Mussel Conservation Center and Virginia's Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Center in Marion, Va., released several thousand mussels that have been propagated into the Clinch River. Partners in this replenishing project include the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Town of Cedar Bluff, wher...Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researcher receives NSF CAREER award
Blacksburg, Va. Iuliana Lazar, a research assistant professor at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, has been awarded a five-year, $400,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) for research on the development of microfluidic devices with mass spectrometric detection for proteomic applications.... ...This research will lead to the d...Virginia Tech wildlife specialist helping to protect state's new official bat
Blacksburg, Va. With poetic flourish Virginia Governor Mark Warner signed House Bill 2579 yesterday designating the Virginia Big-Eared bat, a cave bat listed by the state and the federal government as endangered, as the official state bat. To protect this and other species of bats, Virginia Tech Extension wildlife specialist Jim Parkhurst has written a guide that can help citizens deal with bats...Virginia Tech patents advance microprocessors, vaccines, vision, vibration control, more
Blacksburg, Va. -- Virginia Tech faculty and staff members and students who received 20 patents during 2004 will be honored by the university and Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc. (VTIP) at a reception at the German Club on March 14. "The creativity, contributions to knowledge, and technology transfer that patents signify are an important form of scholarship," said Brad Fenwick, vice pre...Michael F. Hochella Jr. named Virginia's 2005 Outstanding Scientist
Blacksburg, Va. -- Virginia Tech professor Michael F. Hochella Jr.'s innovative work on how Earth materials interact with living things, water and air has led to his being named Virginia's Outstanding Scientist for 2005 by Gov. Mark R. Warner and Science Museum of Virginia Director Walter R.T. Witschey....... The award will be presented at a banquet at the Science Museum of Virginia on Thursday,...Virginia Tech, TIGR sign memorandum for new alliance
Blacksburg, Va., Nov. 8, 2004 Virginia Tech President Charles Steger announced to the university's board of visitors today that the university and The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) of Rockville, Md., have signed a memorandum of understanding. The new alliance will enrich the university's basic research capacity in the life sciences and enhance TIGR's computational and experimental capaci...US Agency for International Development awards $34 million to Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Va., Oct. 7, 2004 Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger announced today that the university's Office of International Research, Education, and Development has received the largest single-day award to any university by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade Program in the form of two grants totaling $34 million over 5 years. T...Blacksburg, Va., Oct. 7, 2004 Choices and Challenges at Virginia Tech will hold a public forum entitled "On the Eve of Human Cloning," a day-long series of panels and discussions to be held on Oct. 28 at Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center. This forum is open to the public at no charge.... ..."The reality of reproductive and therapeutic human cloning is with us. Both types of cloning inv...