University of Arizona in the News

Rachel Cernansky, the sustainability editor at Vogue Business, writes that Western-trained researchers and governments are increasingly recognizing the wealth of knowledge that Indigenous communities have amassed to coexist with and protect their environments over hundreds or even thousands of years. Indigenous scholars warn, though, that while traditional knowledge can be used to benefit the world, it can also be mishandled or exploited.

Facing the threat of a more infectious Delta variant, vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech released a statement on Thursday saying it "may be beneficial" for people to get a third dose of their COVID vaccine within six months to a year. But U.S. health officials and other scientists have vehemently disagreed, saying our current vaccines are holding up really well – at least so far. As viral diseases go, COVID-19 is "a slow burn," said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona.

In a review of recent studies and comparisons to other outbreaks, a group of virologists contends that there is more evidence to support a natural spillover from animals to humans. One of the signers of the May 2021 letter, Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, became a co-author of the new paper arguing for a natural spillover. He said his views have evolved as more information emerges.

After months of steady declines, coronavirus infections are once again on the rise in California as the state struggles with slowing daily vaccination rates and the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant. "Please, no more cries of wolf on variants/vaccine efficacy," tweeted Deepta Bhattacharya, an associate professor of immunology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. "The vaccines still work fine in the real world."

New laboratory research on the swiftly spreading delta variant of the coronavirus is highlighting the threats posed by viral mutations, adding urgency to calls to accelerate vaccination efforts across the planet. "We may never see the end of new variants. The virus is likely to become a fixture of human infectious disease, just like influenza viruses," said Michael Worobey, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona.

New research suggests bats maintain awareness of their past, present, and future positions to find their way around. "The bat must plan both locally in time, and into the future, to be successful in its hunting behaviors," said Melville Wohlgemuth, a researcher at the University of Arizona's Batlab. "These are brain processes that are relevant to our lives, as well."

The University of Arizona has crafted a new statement that acknowledges the university's home on the land and territories of Indigenous people. The statement lays a foundation, university leaders say, for meaningful partnerships and continued support for Native American students and communities.

An unknown methane-producing process is likely at work in the hidden ocean beneath the icy shell of Saturn's moon Enceladus, suggests a new study published in Nature Astronomy by scientists at the University of Arizona and Paris Sciences & Lettres University.

The coronavirus pandemic almost certainly originated from an animal, probably at a wildlife market in China, and not from a laboratory leak, a group of virus experts said Wednesday. The experts lay out the published evidence in a pre-print review posted online. It is signed by some of the leading experts in coronaviruses and the genetics of viruses, including evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona.

University of Arizona researcher Jekan Thanga is taking scientific inspiration from an unlikely source: the biblical tale of Noah's Ark. Rather than two of every animal, however, his solar-powered ark on the moon would store cryogenically frozen seed, spore, sperm and egg samples from 6.7 million Earth species.