Does exposure to certain pesticides increase the risk of breast cancer? Is there a link between childhood obesity and adult breast cancer? If human estrogen promotes some kinds of breast cancer, can phytoestrogens from plants possibly offer protection?
The genetic mechanism that through millennia of evolution has created plump and juicy fruits and vegetables could also be involved in the proliferation of human cancer cells. Plant biologists and computer scientists at Cornell University have essentially made a direct genetic connection between the evolutionary processes involved in plant growth and the processes involved in the growth of mammalian tumors.
Surveying aquatic life from the Great Lakes to small ponds, ecologists at Cornell and the Institute of Ecosystem Studies have found that food-chain length — the number of mouths food passes through on the way to the top predators — is determined by the size of an ecosystem, not by the amount of available food energy.
As economic models go, this one from Cornell could please most political palates: It offers great mileage and moderate taxes. One of the measures the U.S. Senate will consider when it takes up the environmental changes called for in an international treaty aimed at reducing global warming.
Most people recognize that Cornell is a place where knowledge is created. Very few think about what happens next. In future editions of this Cornell Innovations column, we'll describe some of the great ideas that have been dreamed up by Cornellians.
President Hunter Rawlings announced two key administrative appointments at the Cornell Board of Trustees' final meeting May 23. Rawlings announced the appointment of two new vice provosts.
It may not be a household concept, but integrated pest management is the talk of the farm. About 90 percent of the state's growers or producers use at least one form of of it.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a one-year approval for a novel plant protectant that has been tested at Cornell University as a seed coating for onions. This new treatment promises to help save New York's onion crop, providing that it can gain full approval for use beyond 1996.