Michigan State University’s (MSU) Jewish student center is bursting at the seams, so Hillel students are asking the East Lansing City Council to approve a 2,450 square foot expansion. Hillel acts as a cultural, social and worship center for the university’s Jewish population.

According to excerpts from the article:

"We're running out of room most weeks," said sophomore Eric Dropkin, 20. "There are periodic weeks where there are not enough tables."

MSU Hillel officials hope to remedy the situation with a two-story addition on the south side of the 12,000-square-foot building at 360 Charles St., Hughey said.

The East Lansing City Council will hold a public hearing on the matter April 15. The project already has gone through the Planning Commission and the Historic District Commission, Hughey said, and City Council approval is the last step.

"I just hope that it will provide a building that will allow us to serve our students in a more comfortable setting, or in a more adequate setting," Hughey said. "It's just too crowded."

The 2,450-square-foot expansion would add space for 100 more people in the dining room, enlarge the kitchen, add an office and put a multipurpose room on the second floor, Hughey said.

Read the entire article here.

Tim and Lisa Mulder, of Watertown Township, have donated 62 acres of their 85-acre property on Forest Hill Road in DeWitt to the Mid-Michigan Land Conservancy. The couple donated the land to the Conservancy to ensure that the land will never be developed.

According to excerpts from the article:

According to the conservancy easement they signed, the Mulders retain ownership of the property, but they've given away the right to develop it for residential, commercial or industrial use, according to Paul Kindel, president of the Conservancy.

The Mulders' 62 acres, appraised at $142,000, lie next door to the 80 acres donated by 83-year-old environmental activist Gloria Miller several years ago.

Kindel loves the fact that the properties are next to each other.

"That's a step in the direction of protecting large contiguous tracts," he said. "We'd like 10,000 or more acres under protection."

Kindel's group already protects over 1,100 acres in seven counties: Clinton, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson and Shiawassee. Of those acres, 705 of those are in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton.

"People are beginning to realize this is the way to go for a sustainable environment," Kindel said.

Miller, who has no children, says she got no tax break when she signed the conservancy easement because her income is too low. But she also says "My grandma, grandpa and dad up in heaven were saying 'What the heck are you doing letting people build all over that land?'"

Environmental fever has struck other neighbors, too. Just down the road is the Civil War era home of Luke and Betsy Freund, which was razed because of a stubborn black mold problem and rebuilt with many green touches. The Freunds are also in the process of signing over land to the conservancy.

"It's not a matter of 'if,' but 'when,'" Betsy said.

Since the Freunds' land abuts the Mulders,' the protected tract will be over 200 acres.

Read the entire article here.

Lansing's nine-member Corridor Improvement Authority is in the middle of developing a plan to attract new, high-end retailers to invest in the Michigan Avenue corridor. The group is brainstorming ideas to woo the new retailers, and will give their recommendations in the next year.

According to excerpts from the article:

Once traffic, beautification and the area’s business climate are studied, the committee will craft specific development plans and make an estimate on the amount of money necessary for carrying out the plan, said Brian Anderson, a member of Lansing’s Economic Development Corp.

“We want to make sure Lansing and Lansing Township’s residents understand the concerns of East Lansing’s residents, and vice versa,” Anderson said.

Renovations are possible because the state Legislature passed a law in 2005 that provides tax incentives for developments spanning more than one community, Anderson said.

Because the committee is regional, Anderson said he expects a broad spectrum of ideas, including suggestions for businesses the committee would like to pursue and ways to beautify the street, Anderson said.

“Higher speeds tend to discourage (people from walking) and slower traffic tends to encourage it,” he said. “Traffic makes a lot of things different, not just walking but whether people want to sit outside at cafes.”

When human biology junior Amanda Reisedge travels down Michigan Avenue to volunteer atSparrow Hospital, she sees stores that don’t appeal to her and little foot traffic.

Read the entire article here.

Lansing-based Capitol Bancorp Limited has formed a joint venture with Forethought Financial Group Inc., of Indianapolis, and DeGorter Capital Partners LLC, of Charlotte, to own and operate Forethought Federal Savings Bank. Forethought Federal Savings is located in Indiana.

According to excerpts from the article:

The terms of the agreement result in a 51 percent ownership position by Capitol Bancorp Limited, 24 percent ownership by Forethought Financial Group Inc., and 25 percent ownership by DeGorter Capital Partners LLC.

With more than $300 million in trust assets under management, Forethought Federal Savings Bank is an industry leader in providing trust-related, preneed funeral planning products and services to customers in 28 states.

Forethought Financial Group's President and CEO, John A. Graf, said, "Clients of Forethought Federal Savings Bank and Capitol Bancorp Limited affiliate banks will benefit from the financial strength of this alliance. It will provide additional product and service offerings that can benefit all of our valued customers."

Capitol Bancorp Limited's Chairman and CEO Joseph D. Reid stated, "This strategic alliance is consistent with our corporation's growth strategy. It will enhance our national presence while creating an opportunity to increase our non-interest income."

Read the entire article here.

Williamston officials are working with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) to get a grant that would help revitalize the historic National Block Hotel. One option for the hotel includes creating a mixed-use space with retail on the first floor and office and residential housing on the second and third floors.

According to excerpts from the article:

With the building in foreclosure and a deal to purchase the hotel falling through, council members are re-evaluating their options or risk losing the historic site.

Community specialist for MSHDA, Tom Durkee, was invited to speak about the Signature Building Acquisition grant program, which could potentially save the building.

Built in the 1870s, the hotel located at 109 E. Grand River hasn't operated for nearly 90 years.

During that time retail stores occupied the space, but for the past six years it has been dead to the public. Businesses vacate the building because repairing the problems is too costly, said councilmember Ken Zichi.

Council members see it as a black eye for the city and a site is not appealing to visitors.

"For people to come into town there is often a lot of talk about the city being business friendly and a welcome community," said councilmember Carmen Siciliano.

"It's one more thing that's deterring us from that goal."

With the hopes of changing the attitude, Durkee discussed the key programs items and briefly explained how his unit the Community Assistance Team (CATeam) can assist the city in repairing the building so it can be used for creating jobs.

The city would receive the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) which is used for public infrastructure, planning/market and signature building acquisition and grants up to $400,000 from the MSHDA.

"The ultimate goal is actually based on the City's desire to pursue a grant if they choose to do so," said Durkee, who is currently doing a grant with the city for public infrastructure in conjunction with a grocery store expansion.

Read the entire article here.

Career Connections, a 10-course program put together by the Clinton County Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) and Lansing Community College (LCC), is connecting high school juniors and seniors with job options. The program exposes kids to allied health, auto service, business management, computer support systems, construction trades, criminal justice, EMS/fire, teacher prep and TV/radio careers.

According to excerpts from the article:

Justin Proper is a 2006 graduate of Ovid-Elsie High School and a sophomore at Ferris State University where he is studying TV production. Proper did two years of TV/Radio.

"It was really great," said Proper. "Before I took the class, I didn't know what I wanted to do. James Ford (the instructor) gave us a lot of information and made it clear there are a lot of options."

In the second year of TV/Radio, Proper did a senior project.

"I'm way ahead of the other freshmen and sophomores in the program at Ferris," he said. "A lot of the kids were totally stressing out over video projects, but I was so used to it.

"My best high school experience was that class."

Emily Schrauben graduated from Fowler High School in 2007. She took the Early Childhood. Now she is studying nursing with a goal of becoming a pediatric nurse.

"I learned a lot about child development from birth to age 8," said Schrauben, "and I learned a lot about developing plans for children ? routines and activities."

Though Schrauben in going into nursing, she stills feels the Early Childhood program was worthwhile for her.

"It was good for nursing because you need to take psychology for nursing and we did a lot of child psychology in Early Childhood," she said. "It was really helpful for babysitting. I got a lot of ideas for activities, art projects, seasonal ideas."

Read the entire article here.

The City of East Lansing is going back to its natural roots by participating in the Restoration of Our Trees (ROOT) Program for the second year in a row. The ROOT program helps counties that are under an Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) quarantine restore damaged trees.

According to excerpts from the article:

The city will have 250 trees available for purchase including sugar maple, river birch, ginkgo, tulip tree, dawn redwood, London plane tree, red oak and swamp white oak.

Residents are eligible to purchase up to two trees per household at a cost of $21 each.

Trees come in 5-7 gallon containers and are 5-8' tall. A homeowner does not need to have lost an ash to participate in the program.

Due to overwhelming response, trees will be sold by random drawing.

Read the entire article here.

An Israeli pharmaceutical company is scheduled to open shop in the Lansing area in the next three to four months. RenoPharm, an Israeli startup, is waiting on $5 million from investors before putting down roots in Lansing.

According to excerpts from the article:

The operation could be the first success story of a volunteer group looking to build business ties between Michigan and Israel. It also would be the first recruitment win for the fledgling Lansing Economic Area Partnership Inc.

"Our goal is to get closer to the U.S. market," said Peter Assaf, chief executive officer and founder of RenoPharm Ltd., which operates from a for-profit business incubator in Nazareth. "I'm planning in three to four months to be there."

RenoPharm officials visited Michigan in October and returned in February to scout possible locations, meet with local leaders and connect with companies with which it likely would do business.

The last remaining hurdle is raising $5 million from investors for the move and Phase I clinical trials for its patented drug compound.

Assaf said he found the right mix in Lansing because of potential research resources at Michigan State University and access to life sciences service companies in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

The one-hour drive to those cities should be easy for company officials used to flying 15 hours to reach business partners, said Matt Dugener, president and chief executive officer of regional economic development group LEAP.

"The southern part of Michigan has all the resources a biotech firm needs to be successful," he said. "They're just not all in one community."

Read the entire article here.

A $1.3 million remodeled warehouse on Grand Avenue is set to be part of the Accident Fund's $182 million Ottawa Power Station redevelopment in Downtown Lansing. The warehouse is owned by former State Representative Fred Stackable.

According to excerpts from the article:

"My intention when I left the Legislature was I'd move in here, practice law here and probably die here," said Stackable, 72. "I've got an apartment upstairs, a real fireplace, garage out there where I kept my race car, and practice law here. It was made to order."

Those plans, however, changed last year. Stackable sold his building for $1.3 million as part of a complex deal that stands to remodel the idled Ottawa Power Station into the headquarters of Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America.

Stackable now is under a March 31 deadline to get out.

He's put most of the building's contents up for sale - from some of his old racing trophies and office furniture to the Jacuzzi tub in his apartment bathroom.

"We have basically salvaged the building," said Hal Redman, owner of Delta Township-based Redman Enterprises, which is running a sale at the building through Saturday. "There's just all kinds of things in here."

After Stackable moves out, the building is likely to sit vacant until the fall, when work is expected to pick up on the $182 million Accident Fund project.

Stackable's building, a vacant building attached to the north and part of a city-owned parking garage over Grand Avenue all are slated to be razed eventually.

Read the entire article here.

The City of Lansing has committed at least $150,000 to update a comprehensive master plan that hasn’t seen a major update since 1958. Though only $150,000 has been committed, the city estimates that as much as $350,000 could be spent on the project.

According to excerpts from the article:

Bob Johnson, the city's Planning and Neighborhood Development director, said during a media roundtable that the city has at least $150,000 budgeted for the project and there's a possibility that Lansing could spend a total of $350,000 for the work involved.

"The master plan is one of those living documents that the community looks to in terms of inspiration," Johnson said. "It will help shape Lansing as we go forth."

Johnson announced that Ann Arbor-based JJR will manage the project. JJR is a nationally recognized leader in landscape architecture, planning, urban design, civil engineering and environmental science.

Both Johnson and Robert Doyle, a JJR associate, agreed that the 18-month master plan endeavor might seek public input as early as May.

The result will be a document that touches on development, bike paths, cell phone towers, historic preservation and other city features that tend to be both popular and unpopular with residents.

Doyle said JJR will update the master plan with assistance from LSL Planning Inc. in Royal Oak; Landscape Architects and Planners in Lansing; and Anderson Economic Group, which has its main office in East Lansing.

Doyle said updating the comprehensive master plan will involve three steps: determining what's already in place, getting community input, and going through the planning process.

Read the entire article here.

The Big Three are gearing up to hire roughly 36,000 workers over the next four years. The companies are primarily looking for a younger, more educated workforce.

According to excerpts from the article:

The three automakers will hire about 36,000 hourly and salaried workers in Michigan over the next four years to replace those who are taking buyouts or retiring, a study from Ann Arbor's Center for Automotive said recently.

The bulk of those Michigan jobs will be hourly production positions. But the new hires will need different skills than those who went before them, said Dan Flores, a spokesman for GM.

"Some of the key skills we look for are problem-solving ability, communication skills, having the ability to work with a team and collaborate," Flores said.

That's because GM's new manufacturing system, already in place at the Lansing Delta Township and Lansing Grand River plants and being rolled out internationally, relies on hourly workers to find solutions to production problems and inefficiencies.

Prospective new hires are tested for those skills by a third party, Flores said. And only those who demonstrate an aptitude for working in that environment can earn a spot on the work floor.

"Generally speaking, we have some of the best manufacturing jobs in the world," Flores said. "We need the best people available."

Taking additional colleges at a community college also might give job seekers an edge, said Bob Sherer, executive director of the Capital Area.

Skills such as computer aided design and engineering and a knowledge of manufacturing systems can be picked up at two-year colleges such as Lansing Community, he said. LCC also offers training in alternative fuels, a topic increasingly important to the auto industry.

New high school graduates could see the benefit of the hiring boom next year, researchers from the Center for Automotive Research said, largely because the new nonassembly production jobs will pay an average of $14 an hour, about half of the current average wage for hourly workers at GM.

Read the entire article here.

City officials and the developer of the Albert Place Condominiums in downtown East Lansing are putting their faith in the housing market, despite a national downward trend in real estate.

According to excerpts from the article:

Developers for Albert Place Condominiums in downtown East Lansing have received five refundable deposits for condos in the 36-unit complex, said Douglas Cron, a developer with Stonehouse Village III LLC.

Residents should be able to move into condos, which will sit on top of a two-story city-owned parking structure, by August.

About 30 people have expressed interest so far.

"Obviously we're in difficult economic times, that's not a secret," said Ron Springer, community development analyst for the city.

But, "the downtown condominium market is different than, say, somebody looking out in the country or on the outskirts of town," he said.

"There are a number of people in the downtown market that want to live downtown, they want to be near the city amenities, they want to be within walking distance of campus, they want to be near the things that go on downtown," he said.

They don't want to drive to these. They want to be right there."

Stonehouse Village is set to open a model today at 617 E. Grand River Ave. Construction on Albert Place, at the corner of Albert Avenue and Bailey Street across from the site of the future Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, began last summer, Springer said.

The developer hopes a mix of people will be attracted to the project, including professionals, those looking for a second home and university faculty.

Read the entire article here.

A downtown East Lansing nightclub, Club 131, recently underwent an interior renovation. The club, now named Club Rush, officially opened to the public March 14.

According to excerpts from the article:

Christian Dorsch, general manager of the club’s sister restaurant, Harper’s Brewpub, says the change is being made to create a new environment for East Lansing residents. “[It’s] for a new format, a new image,” he explains. Squashing rumors that the joint establishments are doing poorly, Dorsch says the change has nothing to do with lack of sales. “If we weren’t doing well, we wouldn’t want to invest in a new concept,” he says.

The club’s “new concept” will involve upgrades to entertainment, ambience and décor, bringing in what Dorsch calls “category A” disc jockeys from the Chicago market and plenty of special effects lighting.

“It’s going to be incredibly attractive, appealing to the eye,” Dorsch says. “There’s going to be a cosmetic face lift.”

With major audio and visual upgrades, Dorsch says the club will feature “incredible” light shows. “We have ambience lighting, intelligence lighting, mood lighting, you name it,” he says. It’s all going to be connected with the shows.”

Coming just four years after 131’s debut, the remodeling follows on the heels of a similar revamping to neighboring bar The Post, but Dorsch says the upgrade was in the works before that. “We’ve been talking about doing this for a while,” he says. “Part of the concept was getting all the right entertainers and promoters involved, all working together.”

Read the entire article here.

The new Williamston Mathematics and Science Academy is getting ready to select the first 26 students to participate in its first fall class. The Academy has a science and technology-based curriculum.

According to excerpts from the article:

Twenty-six science and math students from this year's eighth grade will be accepted for the academy's first class next fall. Four years from now, those students will have completed a demanding curriculum designed to put them in a top university, or on the fast-track toward high-paying jobs in a high-tech world.

"The students will be using an impressive new facility and a new program designed to combine math, science and technology," said Dan Schab, the academy's math instructor and a former Michigan Teacher of the Year.

Ten cutting-edge classrooms, completed last year, using part of a $25 million bond approved by local voters, will house the new academy at the high school.

And the tools are first class - wireless laptop computers, the Internet or TV signals projected onto "smart boards," an electronic tablet that allows an instructor to draw over what is shown on the Internet, special software that projects a calculator onto a screen and a document camera that allows an instructor to project any slide for all students to see.

Classes will focus on advanced math, technology and science. But what excites instructors is the synergy of it all.

"This will be a one-of-a-kind in the mid-Michigan area," said Schab, a 27-year veteran.

Read the entire article here.

The East Lansing City Council unanimously agreed to allow a developer, Pierce Education Properties, to create a detailed design plan for the proposed $750 million Red Cedar development, bringing the riverfront mixed-use development project one step closer to its groundbreaking.

According to excerpts from the article:

Council members unanimously voted to enter the next phase of the city's tentative agreement with the developer.

During the next year, Pierce Education will create a detailed design plan and schedule for the 25-acre project, which could be completed in 2012.

Pierce Education will prelease with retail and entertainment tenants and will acquire necessary private properties.

"This project will be transformational for the city of East Lansing, for MSU and for mid-Michigan," said Fred Pierce, Pierce's president. "It'll open up the river as a big community asset that certainly has been a long time in coming."

Jim van Ravensway, the city's director of planning and community development, said determining a project's feasibility typically is the biggest hurdle.

Pierce presented what he believes is a financially feasible plan to the council last week that includes $200 million from the city in tax increments.

East Village would be bounded by East Grand River Avenue and extend from Bogue Street to Stoddard Avenue.

Read the entire article here.

Lansing biotechnology company, Emergent Biosolutions, brought in $182.9 million in revenue in 2007, a 20 percent increase from 2006. The firm attributed much of its growth to increased sales of its Anthrax vaccination, BioThrax.

According to excerpts from the article:

Total revenues for 2007 grew 20 percent to $182.9 million from $152.7 million in 2006 primarily from growth in sales of BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed). The company also announced net income for 2007 of $22.9 million, or $0.79 per share, versus $22.8 million, or $0.99 per share, for 2006.

“We are very pleased with our financial results for 2007, having registered a fourth consecutive year of revenue growth and a sixth consecutive year of profitability,” said R. Don Elsey, Emergent BioSolutions’ chief financial officer.

“The strength of our product sales to our U.S. and foreign government customers during 2007 allowed us to continue to reinvest internally generated cash flows into our product development pipeline. Going forward, the set schedule of delivery of doses to HHS under the current contract over the next two years and the resulting annual revenues generated from these deliveries position us well to continue investing in our advanced and follow-on product pipeline, pursue additional markets for BioThrax and make additional investments in our manufacturing and development infrastructure.

"We will also continue to pursue our strategy of growth through opportunistic acquisition, as we look to build out our product pipeline opportunities.”

Read the entire article here.

Rae’s Yarn Boutique owner, Rae Blackledge, recently moved her store to a bigger space on Lansing’s Eastside. This is the second time Blackledge’s business has grown to the degree that she’s needed to find a bigger operating space.

According to excerpts from the article:

Starting out in a stall at the Mega Mall, on Lansing’s north side, Blackledge brought her passion for knitting to the people. “I have knitted since fourth grade; my grandma taught me,” she says.  “I get very nervous when I’m sitting still, and it helps to have something in my hands to keep me calm.

Blackledge has come a long way since the fourth grade, but her love for knitting hasn’t faded a bit. A year after opening shop, she moved the business to the Frandor Shopping Center, where it flourished for nearly three years. On the day of this interview, she proudly sported a “Got Yarn?” T-shirt behind the counter of her shop’s new home on East Michigan Avenue. Blackledge moved the boutique to the roomier digs in early January.

“We mainly moved because we felt it was time to expand our shop,” she says. “We were feeling very crowded.”

Blackledge says the Frandor location was “divided up very poorly” and had a lot of wasted space. Now with an open 1,700 square feet, Rae’s has more than doubled in size, allowing customers more space to learn to knit or crochet with one of Blackledge’s classes, work on projects or simply shop for yarn and supplies, Blackledge says her shoppers have responded well to the move. “I think almost all of our customers have been in to see the new space,” she says.

Blackledge says the boutique’s selection and knowledgeable employees separate it from the “big box stores.” “We can really help out if you have problems or specific questions,” Blackledge says.

Read the entire article here.

Michigan State University (MSU) is working with Ohio-based N-Viro International Corp. to turn human and animal waste into alternative energy. The university wants to mix solid human waste and animal waste with coal to fuel the T.B. Simon Power Plant.

According to excerpts from the article:

The ultimate goal is to find a cost-effective way to reduce MSU's carbon dioxide emissions, said Bob Ellerhorst, director of utilities at the university.

"It's an environmental gain," Ellerhorst said of the patented N-Viro fuel. "We think it probably will end up priced equivalent to coal when we get all done."

N-Viro and MSU officials have agreed to work together over the next six months on an engineering and cost analysis for the potential project.

The end result could be construction in 2009 of a facility on campus that would make the fuel.

The company would use biosolids from wastewater treatment plants and animal waste from campus to make the fuel. The city of East Lansing treats MSU's sewage.

A test at MSU's power plant in January 2007 found the mixture burned more efficiently and cleaner than coal alone, officials said.

Most of the 550,000 tons of carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas scientists believe contributes to climate change - the university sends into the atmosphere each year comes from the coal-fired Simon Power Plant, Ellerhorst said. The plant provides electricity and heat to campus buildings north of Mt. Hope Road.

Through its membership in the Chicago Climate Exchange, a voluntary cap-and-trade system, MSU pledged to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by about 55,000 tons by 2010.

If it doesn't meet those goals, MSU will need to buy carbon dioxide credits through the exchange.

Last month, officials announced a deal to buy 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide credits from the University of Iowa because MSU didn't meet its reduction target.

MSU paid $21,250, or $4.25 per ton.

Read the entire article here.

The San Francisco Opera Company is trying its hardest to make opera accessible for the country’s younger audience by putting it on the big screen. The company recently announced that Lansing’s NCG Theaters will be one of only 120 theaters showing the new art form.

According to excerpts from the article:

The opera company is producing four operas from live performances in a digital format complete with surround sound stereo, with the full splendor and quality of a theatrical movie.

"We (filmed) three live performances of each opera, then edited, re-mixed and color-corrected to produce a crystal-clear digital movie of the operas," said Jessica Koplos, director of electronic media for the opera company. "This has never been done before. "

The series will open with Giovanni Puccini's "La Rondine," on-screen Saturday through Tuesday at NCG.

Koplos said up to 10 cameras were used to record the performances - and no body mikes. "We wanted the full ambiance of the theater," Koplos said. "If your ears are sharp, you'll hear pages turning in the orchestra pit and shoes clicking on the stage."

The operas are sent out to the theaters on an encoded hard drive. The Bigger Picture, the company working with the San Francisco Opera, requires the theaters be outfitted for digital movies. "Michigan is one of the most digitized states in the U.S.," said Michelle Martell, an officer with The Bigger Picture.

The operas will be shown in March and April and were recorded from operas performed earlier this season. Koplos says that the traditional stage direction was not altered in any way to conform to the camera work. "You're going to see the opera just as it was performed in our opera house."

Read the entire article here.

A Michigan State University (MSU) study linking testosterone to eating disorders suggests that increased amounts of the hormone could protect people against disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

According to excerpts from the article:

An ongoing, six-year study of 538 sets of twins in Michigan indicates that females who were in the womb with male twins have lower risk for eating disorder symptoms than females who were in the womb with female twins. Previous animal research has shown that females in the womb with males are exposed to higher levels of testosterone.

The new findings – from a team of MSU psychology researchers – are published in the March issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, out today.

“From these findings, it appears that testosterone exposure could have a protective effect against the development of disordered eating,” said project researcher Kelly Klump, MSU associate professor of psychology and president of the Academy for Eating Disorders.

According to the academy, 10 percent or more of late adolescent and adult women report symptoms of eating disorders at any given time.

Klump said researchers have known for years that women are more affected by eating disorders than men and that “some of that is due to social influences such as beauty ideals around thinness for women that we don’t have for men.”

But the question of whether biological influences also play a role has been an understudied area, she said. The fast-growing MSU Twin Registry, which includes more than 1,200 sets of twins ages 6 to 30, provided a substantial research population, said Klump, who runs the registry with Alexandra Burt, assistant professor of psychology.

Kristen Culbert, lead researcher on the project and a doctoral student in clinical psychology, said while societal differences have typically been used to explain why women are more affected by eating disorders, the new research is “significant in suggesting a biological explanation.”

Read the entire article here.