While many want to put the pandemic in the past, unfortunately, 2022 proved that COVID‑19 is very much still here.
Washington State University’s most widely covered research of the year involved the discovery of a virus, a type of cousin to SAR-CoV-2, in Russian bats that could possibly jump to humans. This study demonstrates the impact and importance of WSU’s leading infectious disease research that hopefully, can help prevent or minimize the next viral outbreak.
Much of the WSU research that had the broadest general interest reach this year also had to do with health and wellness, ranging from the benefits of exercise to a new potential autism test to finding clues to fight diabetes from hibernating bears.
Top coverage about CAS research includes articles about biologist Michael Skinner’s study of twins that links exercise to beneficial epigenetic changes, and other biological and environmental scientists’ work to learn which proteins enable bears to regulate insulin.