University of Missouri

March 1, 2018

Sarah Gebkin #IAmScience

Sarah Gebken, a junior biological engineering major, works in the Pires Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because I bring a unique perspective to the world of research.” They say only an engineer could figure out their way around the engineering building at Mizzou. Now in her junior year, Sarah Gebken boasts the ability to do just that. Her unique perspective as a biological engineering major translates to her work in Chris Pires’ lab in Bond LSC, too. As both an engineer and…

March 1, 2018

Piecing together plant immunity

Scott Peck studies Arabidopsis and how bacteria perceive it before initiating an infection. Roger Meissen/ Bond LSC By Madelyne Maag | Bond Life Sciences Center Bacteria and disease show no mercy to any organism they can effectively attack, including plants. Yet, plants can also develop an immune response against these threats from their complex genetic makeup. Scott Peck’s research delves into how plants do this and how bacteria evade those defenses. Over the course of the last decade, the Bond Life Sciences Center investigator and professor of biochemistry has specifically looked into how plants are able to…

Feb. 23, 2018

Duolin Wang #IAmScience

Duolin Wang, a researcher in the Dong Xu lab in Bond LSC, works in bioinformatics. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because I want to explore the beauty of biological sequences through computational methods.” Bioinformatics is a melting pot in the world of science. As a study of analyzing complex data, it’s not a field for everyone, but its applications are vast. Duolin Wang, a researcher in the Dong Xu Lab at Bond LSC, isn’t intimidated by the complexities her field presents. She came to America…

Feb. 16, 2018

Bond Life Sciences Center adds Molecular Interactions Core as a new research hub

Tom Quinn, director of the Molecular Interactions Core, and others demonstrate equipment for its Jan. 24 open house. | Photo by Katelyn Brown, Bond LSC By Katelyn Brown, Bond LSC For researchers, the shape of molecules gives insight into how cells, viruses and other macromolecular interactions take place. Getting a clear view of that structure is the hard part, and the new Molecular Interactions Core (MIC) at the Bond Life Sciences Center will now give researchers from many different disciplines one place where state-of-the-art equipment are available for them to use to further science. Dr. Kamal…

Feb. 16, 2018

Eric Fedosejevs #IAmScience

Eric Fedosejevs, a postdoc, stands in front of his lab station in the Thelen Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I want to discover how plants decide what to store in their seeds.” The family garden doesn’t typically turn into a life-long journey of studying plants. But when Eric Fedosejevs went to college, the native Canadian found that plants naturally made sense when deciding what to do with his life. “Growing up, we always had a big garden with a lot of vegetables,” Fedosejevs said. “And with the…

Feb. 9, 2018

Patrick Nittler #IAmScience

Patrick Nittler, a Ph.D candidate in molecular plant biology at MU, stands near his lab station in the Liscum Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I push through failures knowing that eventually something will work out.” Breaking things apart and putting them back together has been engrained in Patrick Nittler’s life for as long as he can remember. Growing up, Nittler served as his dad’s sidekick as he salvaged parts of a broken computer to boost performance in their new one. Moments like those were bonding experiences that…

Feb. 2, 2018

Rohit Rao #IAmScience

Rohit Rao, a junior biology and psychology double major, works in the Sarafianos Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC   “#IAmScience because I get to apply knowledge from the classroom to my research.” There are a number of ways to get involved in research, but tennis probably doesn’t come to mind. Rohit Rao was practicing his serve alongside Kamal Singh in 2015 when the two began talking about science. The junior biology and psychology double major expressed his interest in working in research, and Singh offered for him to join…

Jan. 26, 2018

Ashten Kimble #IAmScience

Ashten Kimble works in Walter Gassmann’s lab in Bond LSC studying plant pathogens. | Photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I am constantly learning and questioning. We try to understand life in order to improve it, but every answer brings on new questions and new areas to advance.” If you walked into Ashten Kimble’s apartment, you’d notice immediately that it’s filled with plants. While some plant biologists refrain from caring for plants on their days off, the graduate student embraces being surrounded by life. As a part of Walter Gassmann’s Lab in Bond…

Jan. 19, 2018

Braden Zink #IAmScience

Braden Zink, a biology major at MU, stands near his lab station in the Angelovici Lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC   By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because I have learned to think critically and approach scientific unknowns in a way that will prepare me for a career as a successful physician.” Labs aren’t born in a day. Neither are researchers. Braden Zink, a senior biology major, could tell story after story about just that. He came to Mizzou with little knowledge of university research but…

Jan. 12, 2018

Carson Broeker #IAmScience

Carson Broeker, a biochemistry junior at MU, works in the Angelovici lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center “#IAmScience because learning and chasing my innate curiosity about the living world with them makes me excited to work in lab each day.” Science can be about serendipity that leads to better discoveries and opportunities that researchers don’t expect. Carson Broeker knows this all too well. “I wasn’t always interested in research,” said Broeker, a junior biochemistry major. “I took the three science classes my high…

Jan. 9, 2018

From undergrads to scientists

Soybeans are used to screen for genes connected to traits that resist soybean cyst nematode. Recent progress by the the Mitchum lab explores how the plants combat the parasite and how the parasite sidestep genetic protections. Samantha Kummerer | Bond Life Sciences Center It might not sound like a traditional undergraduate experience, but Elizabeth Prenger and Andrew Ludwig found success studying a tiny parasitic worm. It’s called the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and it sucks more than a billion dollars a year from American soybean farmers. While farmers have used resistant soybeans…

Jan. 5, 2018

Suman Gurung #IAmScience

Suman Gurung, a Developmental Neurology Ph.D candidate, stands in front of the zebra fish he studies. Gurung works in the Chandrasekhar lab at Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center #IAmScience “because it allows me to get involved in our quest to understand how the brain develops.” The smallest discoveries often yield the greatest rewards when it comes to science. Suman Gurung, a Ph.D. candidate in the Division of Biological Sciences, is well aware of that. Gurung works to uncover those small discoveries through the movement of…