Agriculture and Life Sciences

Nov 1, 2011

Digging Up Clues: Research On Buried Blow Flies Will Help Crime Scene Investigators

When investigating a murder, every clue helps. New research from North Carolina State University sheds light on how – and whether – blow flies survive when buried underground during their development. It’s an advance that will help forensic investigators understand how long a body may have been left above ground before being buried – or… 

Oct 27, 2011

NC State Expert Offers Insight On E. coli Outbreak

An outbreak of pathogenic E. coli is currently affecting at least 9 individuals in North Carolina. This pathogen can cause nausea, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), vomiting and can result in long-term health consequences. Dr. Ben Chapman, a food safety researcher at North Carolina State University, is available to provide insights on limiting the spread of the… 

Oct 24, 2011

Circadian Rhythm Linked to Skin Cancer in Mice

Score one for the siesta. When you’re hit with that afternoon energy lull, don’t head outside to find some sunlight to brighten your day. The same circadian rhythm that saps your afternoon energy also appears to slow down some important cellular healing mechanisms – including one that repairs DNA damage in  skin cells. New research… 

Sep 28, 2011

Not Quite ’Roid Rage: Complicated Gene Networks Involved in Fly Aggression

Fruit fly aggression is correlated with smaller brain parts, involves complex interactions between networks of important genes, and often cannot be controlled with mood-altering drugs like lithium. Those are the results of a painstaking study conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University and colleagues in Belgium who are trying to discover what happens in… 

Sep 25, 2011

Rogue Receptor Critical For Ill Effects of Devastating Kidney Disease

Effects of a particularly devastating human kidney disease may be blunted by making a certain cellular protein receptor much less receptive, according to new research by scientists from North Carolina State University and a number of French universities and hospitals. The findings take a major step toward suggesting a beneficial treatment for rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis… 

Aug 24, 2011

NC State Experts Can Discuss Hurricane, Disaster Issues

With Hurricane Irene churning toward the Southeastern United States, media looking for information on a variety of hurricane topics can contact the following North Carolina State University experts: Storm Surge and Flood Prediction Marine meteorologist Dr. Lian Xie can discuss research on hurricane formation. Specifically, Xie can talk about hurricane climatology and seasonal prediction; storm… 

Aug 3, 2011

NC State Gets $25 Million Grant to Nullify Norovirus

North Carolina State University will use a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to strengthen food safety by studying human noroviruses across the food supply chain in an effort to design effective control measures and reduce the number of virus-caused food-borne illnesses. Human noroviruses… 

Jul 21, 2011

Don’t It Make My Black Wings Red?

Many tropical butterflies and moths have strikingly beautiful wing colors and patterns. To scientists, though, studying these colors and patterns is less about beauty and more about learning how some butterflies and moths have managed to evolve deceptively similar or exceptionally diverse color patterns. When butterflies mimic the wing patterns and colors of other butterflies… 

Jul 13, 2011

Spread Of Fungus-Farming Beetles Is Bad News For Trees

North Carolina State University researchers have found that a subset of fungus-farming ambrosia beetles may be in the early stages of a global epidemic threatening a number of economically important trees, including avocados, poplars and oaks. 

Jun 28, 2011

NC State Experts Offer Insight On Final Shuttle Launch, Space Experiments, Future Of Space Exploration

The space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch July 8. It will be the final mission for NASA’s shuttle program. The shuttle will be carrying an experiment into orbit for North Carolina State University researchers. Reporters can contact these NC State experts for more information about the experiment, the role that the shuttle program and the… 

May 18, 2011

Lack of Important ‘Gatekeeper’ Protein Linked to Skin Cancer

New research from North Carolina State University shows that a “gatekeeper” protein plays an important role in skin-cancer prevention in humans and lab mice. The protein, C/EBP alpha, is normally abundantly expressed to help protect skin cells from DNA damage when humans are exposed to sunlight. The NC State research shows, however, that the protein is… 

May 10, 2011

Darkness Stifles Reproduction of Surface-Dwelling Fish

There’s a reason to be afraid of the dark. Fish accustomed to living near the light of the water’s surface become proverbial “fish out of water” when they move to dark environments like those found in caves, according to a study from North Carolina State University. In research published this week in Biology Letters, a… 

May 6, 2011

Study: To Be Sustainable, U.S. Agriculture Needs Transformational Push

Improving the sustainability of U.S. agriculture requires broad, transformational shifts in market structure, policy incentives and the type and availability of scientific knowledge, asserts a “Policy Forum” paper in the May 6 edition of the journal Science, co-authored by a horticultural scientist from North Carolina State University. The paper, written by members of a National… 

May 5, 2011

Study Shows Corn Gene Provides Resistance to Multiple Diseases

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a specific gene in corn that appears to be associated with resistance to three important plant leaf diseases. In a paper published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, NC State  plant pathologists and crop scientists pinpoint the gene – glutathione S-transferase – that seems… 

May 4, 2011

Gould Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Dr. Fred Gould, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Entomology at North Carolina State University, has been elected into the National Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s most important scientific societies. Gould becomes the ninth current NC State faculty member to be elected into the august scientific society. He is one of 72 new members…