About The Source
The Source is a place for information, inspiration and for sharing stories about exciting discoveries and accomplishments at Washington University. Here, you’ll experience the research, scholarship and creativity that drive us every day. You’ll also get a glimpse of campus life and meet the people who inspire us: scientists, leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, artists and authors. If you’re looking to explore a remarkable place where people matter and serious work is done, this is The Source.
‘Lost crops’ could have fed as many as maize
For thousands of years, goosefoot and knotweed were grown as crops, possibly feeding as many indigenous people of North America as corn. But the domesticated forms of these lost crops became lost over the years, and now a Washington University in St. Louis archaeologist is trying to figure out why — and recreate them.
Wendland appointed Washington University provost
Beverly Wendland, the James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, has been appointed provost of Washington University in St. Louis, effective July 1, according to Chancellor Andrew D. Martin.
Green in tooth and claw
Hard plant foods like seeds and nuts may have made up a larger part of early human ancestors’ diet than currently presumed, according to a new experimental study of modern tooth enamel from anthropologists in Arts & Sciences.
$29 million for new phase of international Alzheimer’s study
School of Medicine researchers have received $29 million from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health to continue a long-running, international Alzheimer’s study aimed at understanding how the disease develops and progresses.
Mutations in donors’ stem cells may cause problems for cancer patients
A new study from the School of Medicine suggests that bone marrow — or blood stem cells — from healthy donors can harbor extremely rare mutations that can cause health problems for the cancer patients who receive them. Such stem cell transplants are important for treating blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia.
Leaders use shortcut to assess who trusts them
A new study that included a pair of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School, Kurt Dirks and Andrew Knight, explored what underlies an accurate sense of trust in a business organization.
Investigational drugs block bone loss in mice receiving chemotherapy
Exposure to chemotherapy and radiation during cancer treatment leads to bone loss and increases the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. A new School of Medicine study identifies the trigger for this bone loss and suggests ways to prevent it.
Tuning optical resonators gives researchers control over transparency
Using a nanoparticle as a “tuning device,” researchers at the McKelvey School of Engineering have devised a way to control electromagnetically induced transparency — a feature of light which allows it to pass through opaque media.