biology

• Science

Using synthetic crab blood substitute in biomedical testing could help save horseshoe crabs and shorebirds

As horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay recover from overfishing, there's a move to find an alternative to using their blood in biomedical testing.

• News

As blue catfish multiply in Chesapeake Bay, watermen pursue new catch — and restaurants offer new delicacy

Amid concern that blue catfish could be spreading out of control in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River, there's an effort to stanch their population.

• News

Flown the coop: Last whooping crane from 50-year-old breeding program leaves Maryland's Patuxent refuge

The squawking bugle-like call of the whooping crane can no longer be heard in the woods of Maryland's Patuxent Research Refuge. The last of a flock of 75 cranes left the Laurel site on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

By Scott Dance

Mar 13, 2019

• Obituaries

Dr. Paul Talalay, Johns Hopkins molecular pharmacologist who made broccoli famous as a cancer fighter, dies

Dr. Paul Talalay, a noted molecular pharmacologist who headed a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine research team that found a chemical in broccoli that boosted the cancer-fighting abilities of humans and animal cells, died Sunday of heart failure at his Roland Park home. He was 95.

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

Mar 13, 2019

• Obituaries

Dr. J. Thomas August, Johns Hopkins scientist who worked to tame viruses, dies

Dr. J. Thomas August, who did pioneering research in immunology and vaccine development at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, died Feb. 11 of metastatic cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The former Poplar Hill resident was 91.

By Jacques Kelly

Feb 25, 2019

• Obituaries

Dr. Paul Englund, Johns Hopkins scientist and teacher, dies

Dr. Paul Theodore Englund, a Johns Hopkins teacher and scientist who studied African sleeping sickness, died of Parkinson’s disease Jan. 12 at age 80.

By Jacques Kelly

Feb 15, 2019

• Features

How an endangered South African toad survived a journey via sneaker to Baltimore

An endangered toad traveled from South Africa to Baltimore in a Johns Hopkins scientist's gym bag.

By Lorraine Mirabella

Jan 14, 2019

• Health

Johns Hopkins professor questions conventional wisdom on blood pressure after research among Amazonian tribes

It has long been assumed that blood pressure automatically rises with age, but a Hopkins epidemiology professor shows, by studying two remote tribes, that it might simply be due to our Western diet.

By Jonathan M. Pitts

Dec 14, 2018

• Health

University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers discover how some bacteria can promote cancer

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have discovered that a bacterial protein interferes with an infected cell's ability to respond to and repair DNA, a problem that can cause cancer.

By Sarah Meehan

Dec 5, 2018

• Maryland

McDaniel welcomes new full-time faculty members

McDaniel College full-time facutly members Elyzabeth Engle, Stephanie Bettis Homan, Nicholas Kahn, Holly Martinson Matthew Mongiello

• News

End of an era: 50-year-old whooping crane breeding program coming to a close at Maryland's Patuxent refuge

The era of the whooping crane at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel is ending. The Trump administration cut the 50-year-old crane breeding program's $1.5 million budget, and by the end of the year, the birds' squawks will no longer be heard at the Patuxent Research Refuge.

By Scott Dance

Oct 12, 2018

• News

Where do Maryland crabs come from? Researchers use a virus, ocean current maps and more to find out.

Scientists are using a crab virus akin to the common cold, computer models of ocean currents and tides, and genetic analysis of crustaceans from Massachusetts to Argentina to figure out just how much different populations of swimming crabs have in common.

By Scott Dance

Sep 21, 2018

• Features

Cat-like creature spotted in Sykesville was a bobcat, DNR says

A large feline captured on a trail camera in Eldersburg was probably a bobcat, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

By Sarah Meehan

Aug 31, 2018

• News

Cownose ray study suggests maligned Chesapeake creatures could be more vulnerable to overfishing than previously thought

New research suggests that if anglers, watermen or even bowhunters kill too many of the Chesapeake Bay's cownose rays, the oft-maligned creatures could disappear from the estuary. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center scientists found that rays often return to the same rivers each year.

By Scott Dance

Aug 23, 2018

• Health

Grant cuts by March of Dimes imperil research at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere

The March of Dimes Foundation unexpectedly cut existing grant awards, jeopardizing research into 37 medical programs across the country, including two at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

By Mark Puente

Aug 2, 2018

• Maryland

Marine Bio Camp means muddy hands, tempting seafood

Campers participating in the marine science segment of McDaniel College’s Summer Science Academy included muddy hands and scientific experiments aboard the Rachel Carson — the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s flagship research vessel. 

• Health

Maryland seniors with dementia find understanding and camaraderie at social club

Integrace Copper Ridge has a monthly social club for people with dementia, who might have trouble communicating and carrying on a conversation as they once could.

By Andrea K. McDaniels

Feb 26, 2018

• Maryland

Several residents challenge Harford council president's remarks about climate change

Palmer was one of more than a dozen people who spent 45 minutes Tuesday rebuffing claims made last week by Council President Richard Slutzky that global warming is “bogus.”

By Erika Butler

Feb 21, 2018

• News

Bird-tracking study reveals some migration paths cross areas slated for offshore wind farms

If and when wind farms are built off of Maryland's coast, turbines will be spinning in areas through which many seabirds cross in annual migrations, but where few linger, a study has found.

By Scott Dance

Dec 24, 2017

• Obituaries

Notable Maryland deaths in 2017

Notable Marylanders who died in 2017.

• Obituaries

Dr. Pamela Sklar, scientist who studied the genetics of mental illness

Dr. Pamela Sklar, 58, studied the genetics of mental illness

By Jacques Kelly

Dec 12, 2017

• Maryland

Deer self-eradicate ticks with new feeders in county parks

New deer feeders in four Howard County parks will begin treating white-tailed deer for ticks as part of a five-year study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.

By Andrew Michaels

Oct 20, 2017

• Health

University of Maryland researchers work on flu treatment

Maryland team hopes to save lives and lesson illness with new flu treatments

By Meredith Cohn

Oct 10, 2017

• News

Idaho engineer to bring fresh eyes to Maryland's Chesapeake Bay research

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science president Don Boesch is handing over the reins to Peter Goodwin, after a 27-year tenure.

By Scott Dance

Sep 15, 2017

• Health

After reversing cocaine addiction in mice, University of Maryland researcher turns to opioids

Meaghan Creed has already cured cocaine addiction in mice with a combination of deep brain stimulation and medication, and now she’s trying to see if she can do the same for opioid addiction.

By Carrie Wells

Sep 1, 2017

• Maryland

Football: Century's King spent summer involved at National Aquarium

Century lineman Jack King used student summer program to increase his knowledge of biological studies.

• Maryland

Ticks, Lyme disease and Zika can be fought with simple precautions

Moquitos bring Zika and West Nile, ticks Lyme disease and meat allergies. But simple actions defend against them all.

• Opinion

The best science is often accidental

Allowing scientists to follow their unbridled curiosity about how nature works is the best way to encourage new discoveries, rather than requiring some utilitarian end.

• News

Outbreak of toxic Pfiesteria in 1997 hurt many — but boosted Chesapeake cleanup

Pfiesteria turned the waters of the Pocomoke River in Maryland toxic 20 years ago.

By Michael Dresser

Jul 22, 2017

• Sports

Fish tales: DNR's Maryland Angler's Log a valuable resource for biologists

The log has proved educational, for anglers and biologists alike.

By Jonas Shaffer

Jul 18, 2017

• Health

Like it or not, broccoli is good for you

A new study by Jed Fahey, a nutritional biochemist at Johns Hopkins, and a team of researchers based in Europe and the U.S. suggests that sulforaphane, a compound that is found naturally in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, can reduce some of the harmful effects of Type II diabetes in overweight adults.

By Jonathan M. Pitts

Jun 30, 2017

• News

Scientists recommend limiting crab harvest in second half of 2017 season

Maryland crabs could be scarcer — and possibly more expensive — in the second half of the summer if state officials heed a call from scientists Monday to limit harvests.

By Scott Dance

Jun 26, 2017

• News

Researchers finding more dolphins than expected in lower Chesapeake Bay

With awareness on the rise, researchers in Maryland and Virginia are undertaking the first comprehensive studies of bottlenose dolphins in the Chesapeake Bay. Their early findings suggest more dolphins swim up the bay than they ever thought.

By Tim Prudente

Jun 11, 2017

• Environment

As cicadas emerge four years early, scientists wonder if climate change is providing a nudge

Cicadas are emerging across the Baltimore region, confusing entomologists who weren't expecting to see so many of the screeching insects until 2021.

By Scott Dance

May 16, 2017

• News

NOAA investigating spate of humpback whale deaths, including two in Maryland waters

Biologists are investigating an unusual number of humpback whale deaths along the Atlantic Coast since the beginning of 2016, including six in recent months at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay or on the Delmarva Peninsula.

By Scott Dance

Apr 27, 2017

• News

Seeding project near Key Bridge looks to give oysters 'a second chance' in the Patapsco

Chesapeake Bay advocates are testing a strategy to give oysters a second chance in the Patapsco.

By Scott Dance

Apr 25, 2017

• Maryland

As crab season beckons, some watermen hope for new rules to bolster their harvest

For years, watermen from the lower Eastern Shore have begged state officials to ease crab catch limits. They are hoping changes may be coming from the Hogan administration.

By Scott Dance

Mar 25, 2017

• Maryland

In School

Carroll County resident Christopher Deboda, of Woodbine, made the president's list for the fall 2016 semester at Cecil College in North East. To qual

• Obituaries

Gilbert O. Ogonji, noted professor at Coppin, dies

Gilbert O. Ogonji, a former longtime Coppin State University professor and department head, died on March 13. He was 77.

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

Mar 20, 2017

• Business

Five minutes with Rana Quraishi, director of new ventures at University of Maryland, Baltimore

Quraishi works with researchers and entrepreneurs to advance technology discovered in university labs to a point where it can be turned into a company.

By Sarah Gantz

Mar 10, 2017

• Health

Hopkins scientists are engineering cells to eat deadly bacteria

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are working to engineer single-cell organisms that will seek out and eat bacteria that are deadly to humans.

By Carrie Wells

Feb 25, 2017

• Sun Investigates

University of Maryland researcher's published articles retracted after investigation

A pharmacology professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore will no longer conduct research at the school after eight of his articles were retracted from a major scientific journal for inaccuracies.

By Andrea K. McDaniels

Feb 11, 2017

• Education

Loyola professor developing spray to identify fly spit at crime scenes

Forensic investigators have relied on their own judgment to distinguish the spotted stains left by flies from the evidence of spattered blood. But a professor at Loyola University Maryland is developing a spray that removes the guesswork.

By Tim Prudente

Jan 9, 2017

• Maryland

At Blackwater refuge, rising sea levels drown habitat

The view from the observation deck over a meadow of brown marsh grasses would make a nice postcard. Eagles roost on tall pines, muskrats burrow in mounds of mud and straw, and black ducks splash in a pond.

By Scott Dance

Dec 31, 2016

• Biology

Program relies on fish to inspire students to become future scientists

The BioEYES fish raising program launched in 2002 in the lab of a Philadelphia biologist who was a popular field trip stop and has become a multi-city effort to launch the next generation of scientists

By Meredith Cohn

Dec 21, 2016

• Maryland

Blackwater Wildlife Refuge adds 400 acres along the Nanticoke River

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore is growing by 410 acres after the federal government bought two pieces of land along the Nanticoke River.

By Scott Dance

Dec 1, 2016

• Opinion

Can't fit into your jeans? Don't blame your genes

Research suggesting there's a fat gene that controls obesity has been greatly exaggerated. Don't blame your genes if you can't fit into your jeans.

• Maryland

Student scientists engineer bacteria to break down plastic, hope to help clean Baltimore harbor

The Baltimore BioCrew, a group of six city high school students, engineered bacteria to break down plastic in a project they say could help clean up Inner Harbor pollution.

By Scott Dance

Nov 21, 2016

• Maryland

Chincoteague refuge features many more critters than just ponies

The ponies live on a protected National Wildlife Refuge with many species of animals and so many varied birds that I am still, after 30 years of regular visits, discovering new species nearly every time I visit.

• Opinion

The value of wilderness

In the past 20 years humans destroyed 10 percent — over 1 million square miles — of the planet's wilderness. Without decisive action, we will probably destroy all that remains unprotected by 2050. So I ask you: What is the conceptual value of wilderness?