University of Missouri

Nov. 10, 2021

Technique connects DNA instructions to biological architecture in space: Core collaboration maps the future

Nathan Bivens, director of the Genomics Technology Core at Bond Life Sciences Center, holds a special slide that assigns barcodes to expressed genes on different places on the tissue. This helps Bivens know where certain gene expressions came from on the tissue. | photo by Lauren Hines, Bond LSC By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC The brain is a unique challenge. It has billions of cells with billions of different functions, making it hard to understand what is going on underneath. MU cores now offer 10X Genomics Visium technology which allows researchers to lay genetic data…

Nov. 4, 2021

#IAmScience Clayton Rushford

By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Clayton Rushford isn’t one to complain. While in the Marc Johnson lab at the Bond Life Sciences Center, he’s the guy cheering up lab mates when experiments fail or going with the flow when he must repeat an experiment for the fifth time. As long as he’s doing science, not much can bring him down. “It seems like a very generic answer but the fun thing about [science as a whole] is it’s more or less how we explain all the things that are going on around us with the use…

Oct. 22, 2021

#IAmScience Brian Thomas

By Madalynn Owens | Bond LSC Brian Thomas’ passion for science has been shaped by the excellent mentors he has had throughout his scientific and academic career. At Mizzou, that came from Donald Burke-Aguero. “His mentoring style really fit with what I needed going forward,” Thomas said. “In medicine you can help hundreds of people, but with science and research you can help millions of people as long as that science is translatable.” Thomas spent his first rotation as a medical student in the lab of the Bond Life Sciences Center scientist and professor of Molecular Microbiology…

Oct. 15, 2021

#IAmScience Li Su

By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC The work was tiring. The hours were long. However, Ph.D. candidate Li Su wasn’t affected by any of it. She was in her element During her undergraduate degree in China, Su studied turfgrass science. “There was a chance for undergraduates to do some research project, so I tried it and, although it was exhausting, I stayed in the lab and time just passed,” Su said. “I felt quiet and at peace. I kind of enjoyed it.” As part of the Dong Xu lab at Bond Life Sciences Center, Su…

Oct. 13, 2021

Turning Back the Clock

Megan Sheridan, a postdoctoral fellow working with the R. Michael Roberts lab, removes the base solution from a demonstrated sample of stem cells that will be grown into placental cells for study of their interaction with the Zika virus. | photo by Phillip Sitter, Bond LSC By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC At 24 weeks pregnant, a baby can hear the mother’s lullabies. At 30 weeks, her belly is a little over a foot large. At 40, the hospital bag is already packed and ready to go. But imagine delivering only two weeks…

Oct. 1, 2021

#IAmScience Billy Schulze

By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC  The best piece of advice Ph.D. candidate Billy Schulze ever received was from his father before a baseball game in high school. In past games, Schulze kept striking out. He wasn’t getting any runs. Things seemed bleak. Schulze’s father pulled him aside and said with a smile, “Don’t suck.” “That just kind of made me giggle,” Schulze said. “I think the real message behind that story is don’t think about it too hard. Relax. Have some fun…You can’t take things too seriously, having a sense of humor is so important. Working…

Sep. 20, 2021

Finding a new direction to better corn nutrition

Arabidopsis plants line the shelves of a basement room in Bond LSC. The new biofortification direction the Angelovici lab found in maize seems to also be present in arabidopsis plants. | photo by Phillip Sitter, Bond LSC By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Whether it’s through kernels, cereal or chips, corn pops up everywhere in our diet, providing nutrition to countless people all over the world. But that nourishment isn’t enough to be satisfied, especially when a staple so widespread still lacks some building blocks key to balanced nutrition. Researchers have tried different reverse genetics approaches…

Sep. 10, 2021

Bond LSC duo lands national fellowship by working to advance diversity in science

As president of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) chapter at MU, graduate student Sara Ricardez Hernandez works to connect minority students to research opportunities. | Photo contributed by @MizzouSACNAS on Twitter, Bond LSC. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Sara Ricardez Hernandez starts her day in the Chris Lorson lab with a vibrant demeanor while wearing her jet-black lab coat. Within five minutes, the graduate student is already at her microscope. Ricardez Hernandez’s eagerness has only enhanced since she and principal investigator Chris Lorson won the Howard Hughes…

Aug. 5, 2021

Two SARS-CoV-2 strains cause independent infections only 19 days apart

Increasing detection of reinfections and rediscovering brand new infections within days raises concerns for herd immunity and the durability of vaccine efficacy. Cynthia Tang working to figure out how COVID-19 reinfections can bring us answers on how the virus is developing at Bond LSC. | photo by Davis Suppes, Bond LSC By Davis Suppes | Bond LSC Like many viruses, SARS-CoV-2 continues to develop and evolve with time. As the virus evolves it can become more infectious, produce worse symptoms, and have a higher fatality rate. While people receive more treatment for…

July 23, 2021

Bringing Protection Back in Line

Research refines platform to address immune disorders Dr. Esma Yolcu and Dr. Haval Shirwan, Co-pioneers of ProtEx technology By Davis Suppes | Bond LSC The things that protect you can also cause the most harm. That’s especially true when it comes to your immune system, which protects you against infections, but is also responsible for a host of diseases, including autoimmune disorders, such as type 1 diabetes.  More than 1.4 million Americans suffer from the self-harming condition of diabetes without an effective cure, but researchers Haval Shirwan and Esma Yolcu may have the…

July 16, 2021

How a pandemic spreads

Saathvik Kannan, Kamal, Singh, and Austin Spratt, worked together at Bond LSC to identify new SARS-CoV-2 variants. | photo by Davis Suppes, Bond LSC COVID-19 analysis looks at variant spread By Davis Suppes | Bond LSC Variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 continue to plague the world with spikes in infection, keeping the current pandemic from being fully controlled as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections remain unmanageable in some parts of the world. Researchers at Bond Life Sciences Center and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC)…

July 1, 2021

A scientist steps away from the bench

After 40 years of hard work, it is finally time for David Pintel to pass the torch. Dr. David Pintel, retiring after 40 years at Bond LSC, takes in his office during his last week at Bond LSC. | photo by Davis Suppes, Bond LSC By Davis Suppes| Bond LSC David Pintel is hanging up his lab coat after 40 years.   “It’s been an honor to be able to do my work at the University of Missouri. I’ve had a great group of colleagues both here and at the medical school,”…