Researchers have long known that acid rain can severely decrease the diversity of plant and animal communities in lakes and ponds. However, little is known about how microscopic bacteria, which form the foundation of freshwater ecosystems, respond to acidification. To address this knowledge gap, researchers at RPI’s Darrin Fresh Water Institute have developed one of the most comprehensive databases in existence on the impacts of acid rain on microorganisms. Read more.

Jeffrey Martin has Sweet Success with Invention of Artificial Golgi

Among the most important and complex molecules in the human body, sugars control not just metabolism but also how cells communicate with one another.

Jeffrey Martin, a graduate student in biochemistry and biophysics, has put his basic knowledge of sugars to exceptional use by creating a lab-on-a-chip device that builds complex, highly specialized sugar molecules, mimicking one of the most important cellular structures in the human body: the Golgi Apparatus. Read more.

The Future of the Web: An Old-Fashioned Debate with a Social Media Twist

On June 11, leading authorities on the World Wide Web gathered at RPI for a public discussion about the future of the Web. The debate, streamed live via an interactive Webcast, was part of a daylong event to celebrate the launch of the Tetherless World Constellation at Rensselaer, a new academic center devoted to the emerging field of Web Science. Read more.

Deadly Dose: Rensselaer Heparin Expert Helps Uncover Source of Lethal Contamination

The mysterious death of patients around the world following a routine dosage of the common blood thinner, heparin, sent researchers on a frantic search to uncover what could make the standard drug so toxic.

Robert J. Linhardt, professor of chemistry and chemical biology, and the Ann and John H. Broadbent Jr. ’59 Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is part of an international team that recently announced it had uncovered the source of the deadly contamination: a complex carbohydrate named oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, which has a structure so similar to heparin it was nearly undetectable to less advanced technology. Read more.