Stories

  • Art work with two circles intersecting and constellation tree like in green are in the middle. It is an artist depiction of gene networks.Katherine Baldwin with minor edits using generative AI tools. The caption was fine tuned with Microsoft Copilot.

Deciphering the Regulatory Network of a Pathogenic Fungus

In a new study, researchers from the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) have created a software tool that can help reveal biological pathways of a notorious pathogenic fungus. Aspergillus fumigatus, which is found worldwide, can infiltrate a human body and quickly overwhelm the immune system. In immunocompromised individuals, this fungus can cause major damage and has a high mortality rate. The new tool may eventually help researchers address the problems caused by A. fumigatus. 

  • Lucida logo representing starry night.Concentric layers in a circle that are gold with a dark background, words say Lucida Project

Researchers at UW–Madison Receive Major Grant to Study the Link Between Mental Health and the Microbiome

Long before science caught up, Vincent Van Gogh sensed a connection between melancholy and microbes. Now, 135 years later, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the Center for Healthy Minds, PRECISE, and MIT have launched a project that investigates the microbiome’s central role in human well-being and the power of interdisciplinary research. Combining genomics, data science, behavioral health, and international collaboration, the research project is advancing a global understanding of how microbes shape the mind.

  • An immunofluorescence image of mice pancreatic cells (green) and immune cells (blue)

How disabling one gene protects mice against Type 1 diabetes

In collaboration with the Feyza Lab, Khagani Eynullazada, a grad student from Sushmita Roy’s lab identified gene regulatory networks capturing shared and perturbation-specific stress pathways in Type 1 diabetes using GRN inference tools on scRNA-seq data from in vivo mouse models.

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24 Hours with WID

Landing page for 24 hours with wid showing all the different times on a digital clockThe Wisconsin Institute for Discovery is abuzz 24 hours per day. From “eureka” moments in the middle of the night to methodical pipetting in the middle of the day, to gathering diverse ideas from across the globe in the early evening, something is always happening in our interdisciplinary sphere. Enjoy a sampling of the important work we do in each of these 24 hours and please come back periodically as we refresh with new profiles.

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