January 11, 2007
Peer Portfolio
Avian virus mutations
It was buried on Page 6 of the University of Wisconsin newspaper, Wisconsin Week, but it reads like front-page news: “Scientists find mutations that let bird flu adapt to humans.”
In work described in the Nov. 16 edition of the journal Nature, researchers at the other UW say they have identified the genetic changes necessary for the H5N1 avian influenza virus to “adapt to easily recognize the receptors that are the gateway to human cells.”
The avian virus has already changed from when it was first seen in 1997, the article states. Lead researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the UW’s School of Veterinary Medicine, said, “There are big differences between the virus first found in 1997 and the virus we see now,” and adds, “We are watching this virus turn itself into a human pathogen.”
Five dry years
It was a sodden autumn in Washington, but not so in the “show-me” state, where rainfall has been scarce for five years now. The dry conditions concern extension agents and others at the University of Missouri-Columbia, partly because of the effect on the water table.
“Lack of rainfall is having a negative impact on our area,” a community development specialist tells Mizzou Weekly, the university’s faculty-staff newspaper. “We are losing the opportunity to attract businesses that offer good-paying jobs.”
Theater for a playwright
The University of Michigan will open its new, 280-seat Arthur Miller Theatre in March, commemorating an alumnus who sdome would call the greatest of all American playwrights.
“With the theater comes an obligation to offer drama students and audiences the type of compelling and honest portrayals found in Arthur Miller’s seminal works,” said U-M President Sue Coleman, according to the campus newspaper, The University Record. Concurrent with the opening, the university will hold a symposium on Miller, author of the classics Death of a Salesman and The Crucible.
Tasty landscaping
Hungry faculty, staff and students at the University of California-Davis need only walk alongside their Plant and Environment Sciences Building for a quick snack, and it’s legal, too. The landscaping around that building is edible, courtesy of the UC’s Buildings and Grounds Division.
“The summer crop comprised tomatoes, bell peppers and sage,” stated an article in the university’s newspaper, Dateline. “All that is gone now, replaced by a winter crop of Swiss chard, bulls blood beets and early Stockton red onions. The garden also features four citrus trees: lemons, oranges and blood oranges.”
Peer Portfolio is a compilation of news from our peer institutions.
