News

Improving Turfgrass Breeding
Research by MSI PI Donald Wyse (professor, Agronomy and Plant Genetics) is featured on the website of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS). Professor Wyse has worked for many years with organizations involved with the northern Minnesota grass seed industry. He initially did research to eliminate quackgrass, an invasive weed that crowds out other plants. To be sold for sowing, grass seed must be certified quackgrass-free.
MSI PIs Receive Distinguished Teaching Awards for 2020-21
Each year, the University of Minnesota presents the Morse-Alumni and Graduate and Professional teaching awards to recognize faculty who are committed to ongoing improvement of teaching and learning. Morse-Alumni awards recognize outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. The Graduate and Professional teaching awards recognize faculty in graduate and/or professional education. Five MSI PIs have received awards for 2020-21.
High-CBD Plants May Contain Too Much THC
Interest in cannabidiol (CBD) products by consumers has encouraged farmers to develop new varieties of cannabis that have higher levels of the compound. The new varieties are created by crossing hemp plants, which contain no THC, with high-THC varieties to create plants with high levels of CBD.
MSI PIs Receive 2021-23 McKnight Land-Grant Professorships
Four MSI PIs are among the ten faculty members who have been named as the 2021-23 McKnight Land-Grant Professors. Recipients hold the designation “McKnight Land-Grant Professor” for two years. The goal of the program is to advance the careers of assistant professors at a crucial point in their professional lives. The MSI PIs who have been honored with this award are:
Simulating Hypersonic Speeds
MSI PI Thomas Schwartzentruber (professor, Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics) and his collaborator Professor Graham Candler (Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics), who has also been an MSI PI, are featured in a recent story on the College of Science and Engineering (CSE) website.
Project Lets Citizen Scientists Help Lipids Researchers
The Minnesota Microscopy Infrastructure Partnership, which includes MSI PIs and partners, have begun a new citizen-science project on the platform Zooniverse to use inputs from the public to help determine the number size, and location of lipid droplets in cells. Participants draw an outline around what they think are the fat cells in a microscopic image. These inputs are used to create 3D models that researchers can use to understand the role of lipids in biological functions.
MSI PI Victor Lai Receives Undergraduate Advising Award
MSI PI Victor Lai (assistant professor, Chemical Engineering - Swenson College of Science and Engineering, UMN Duluth) is one of the recipients of the 2021 John Tate Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising. The award recognizes high-quality academic advising.
Cannabidiol and the Developing Brain
MSI PI Christopher Faulk (assistant professor, Animal Science) and colleagues have published a study that investigates the effect of cannabidiol (CBD) use during pregnancy. The study found that there are effects on cognition and mood in the offspring of mothers who take CBD, even if the infants are not exposed to CBD after birth. This research indicates that more study is needed to set safety requirements in the use of CBD. The study was published in the journal Clinical Epigenetics: N.M. Wanner, M.
New COVID-19 Tests
Several MSI PIs in the University of Minnesota Medical School and their colleagues have developed two new rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19. The work was recently published in the journal Bioengineering. One test is a diagnostic test that can differentiate between COVID-19 variants. The other allows researchers to analyze the same sample for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms. The technology for both tests uses the CRISPR/Cas9 system.
MSI PI Allison Hubel Named Director of Technological Leadership Institute
The University of Minnesota Technological Leadership Institute (TLI) has announced that their new director will be MSI PI Allison Hubel (professor, Mechanical Engineering). Professor Hubel will be the first woman to hold this position in the TLI’s history.
Brain Injury Can Be Caused by Stretched Neurons
A recent study by MSI PI Patrick Alford (associate professor, Biomedical Engineering; Institute for Engineering in Medicine) and colleagues shows that neurons in the brain do not need to be crushed or torn to result in brain injury. Just stretching them is enough to cause damage resulting in such diseases as Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
March 2021 Maintenance
On Wednesday, March 3, 2021, MSI staff will perform scheduled maintenance and upgrades to various MSI systems. Primary Storage, Mesabi, and Mangi will be unavailable throughout much of the day. A global system reservation will start at 5:00 a.m. on March 3. Jobs that cannot be completed before 5:00 a.m. on March 3 will be held until after maintenance and then started once the system returns to production status. Systems status is always available on our Status page.

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