University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemists have developed an approach that allows them to measure with unprecedented accuracy the strengths of hydrogen bonds in a protein. The scientists were then able to predict the function of different versions of the protein based on structural information, a novel outcome that was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Vibrantly colored creatures from the depths of the South Pacific harbor toxins that have the potential to act as powerful cancer drugs–and CALS biochemists have defined the structure of the toxins and provided basic understanding that can be used to synthesize pharmaceuticals.

Thomas Record, a biophysical chemist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was in August named one of six 2006 Society Fellows by the Biophysical Society, a […]

The chemical pathways by which alcohol causes neurological cell death in chick embryos overlap with the pathways that give alcohol its addictive properties, a University of Wisconsin-Madison fetal alcohol researcher announced in a study published this month in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Researchers at the Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have received a $20 million award to fund Phase II of the Protein Structure Initiative over the next five years. Information from the PSI project, funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, will deepen our understanding of a variety of biological processes.

A regular hoe handle is about 54 to 57 inches long, and forces workers to bend to reach the ground. This strains the back, neck, shoulders and arms. The long-handled diamond hoe’s handle is nearly 6 feet long. Tests done by the University of Wisconsin’s Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project found a worker using a diamond hoe was more upright, leaning forward by only eight degrees compared with fifteen degrees of forward lean when using a standard-length hoe.

“We love our milking stool!” states Tim Powers of Laws Nursery in Hastings, Minn. This past summer, Powers and his employees tried out a one-legged […]

For nursery growers who use tractors and wagons to move plants, one-person hitching systems can dramatically save time and reduce the risk of serious injury. Without having to climb down off the tractor, you can back up to a wagon until the coupling device locks the wagon in place. Unhitching is simply done by pulling a release cable. With this system no second person is required to guide or latch the hitch.

Spring rains may make flowers–and crops–grow, but when stormwater runs off fields it can carry topsoil, chemicals and nutrients such as phosphorus into rivers and streams. This spring, a University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist and his team will begin tests to understand the mechanisms of erosion by tracking sediment movement as well as the flow of water over fields.

Patrick Krysan (Horticulture/Genome Center of Wisconsin) has received a Career Award from the National Science Foundation. The award, $700,000 over five years, will fund Krysan’s research efforts.