University of Oregon biologist Joe Thornton’s long-running study of protein mutations and cancer has yielded another breakthrough. Thornton, of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution, and Mike Harms, a postdoctoral scientist who will join the UO chemistry faculty in September, found that two tiny mutations in a single protein 500 million years ago caused steroid hormones to take on their crucial present-day roles.

A new study led by Gregory Retallack makes a case for earthly life having existed on land four times as long as was previously believed.

The Oregon legislature funded the Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network for the South Willamette Valley in the amount of $3.75 million

What happens when a country with deep cultural roots becomes part of the global world? How do the citizens adjust to new influences, while maintaining ways of living that seem natural to them? Wendy Larson, vice provost for Portland Programs and a professor of East Asian Languages, is back in Portland after a sabbatical year to conduct research for her fourth book, “Zhang Yimou: Globalization and Subject of Culture.”  The research focuses on Zhang Yimou, one of China’s most famous and controversial film directors.

For as long as people have believed in heaven and hell, a debate has simmered.Religion makes people act better, supporters have long maintained. Religion poisons everything, an increasingly vocal—and youthful—minority responds.Long missing from the discord has been empirical evidence. Until now.