University of Missouri

June 23, 2016

More than meets the eye

Molecular Cytology Core magnifies scope of research By Phillip Sitter | MU Bond Life Sciences Center A sample is shown in the foreground that can be used in the digital light sheet microscope at MU’s Molecular Cytology Core as Anand Chandrasekhar explains how he uses it to study neuronal development in zebrafish. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC Microscopes have come a long way since Anton van Leeuwenhoek first looked at single-cell organisms in the 1600s. Now, cutting-edge microscopes allow scientists a better look at how cells interact and work. The results were easy to…

May 23, 2016

One step closer from mice to men

Gene therapy treating the neurodegenerative disease, SMARD1, shows promising results in mice studies. Shababi uses an instrument to measure grip strength in the forelimbs of mice. Healthy mice are able to cling on with a stronger grip than SMARD1 mice. | photo by Jennifer Lu, Bond LSC Monir Shababi was confident her experiments treating a rare genetic disease would yield positive results before she even ran them. Scientists had success with a similar degenerative neuromuscular disease, so she had every expectation their strategy would work just as well in her mice. Monir…

May 2, 2016

Learning on Different Levels

New outreach program teaches CAFNR students to make plant science knowledge accessible to a younger audience Written by Stephen Schmidt | Science Writer in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Although abundant light was shining through the windows, it was the quiet before the storm. Andrew Ludwig, a University of Missouri sophomore majoring in plant sciences, surveyed the small tables and chairs spread out before him in the laboratory of the Benton STEM Elementary School on a recent Monday afternoon. He sifted through his notes. He was ready, even though it was his first time stepping foot…

April 5, 2016

Gres receives Von Schwedler Prize

Work on HIV capsid proteins earns prestigious retrivology award Anna Gres studies HIV capsid protein using X-ray crystallography. She recently won the 2016 von Schwedler Prize, which awards her $1,200 and gives her the oppportunity to speak this spring at the Cold Spring Harbor Retrovirus Meeting, one of the largest retroviral research conferences in the world. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC Science is all about structure in the work of Anna Gres. For the past four years, she’s looked closely at one HIV protein to figure out its shape in order to stop the virus.

March 30, 2016

MU Scientists Fighting World Hunger

By Bobby Remis | MU Bond Life Sciences Center Sanborn Field, University of Missouri | photo by Kyle Spradley In the years to come, climate change and population growth will drastically alter the world around us, impacting farmland and the way we grow food. Scott Peck, associate professor of biochemistry, studies how plants perceive and respond to changes in their environment. New research from an interdisciplinary team at the University of Missouri is hoping to curb the decrease in food production due to climate change by studying the roots of corn…

March 15, 2016

Climate change to heat up discussion at annual LSSP symposium

By Jennifer Lu | MU Bond Life Sciences Center Thinkstock by Getty Images Climate change is a pressing issue. Just last week, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published a report linking climate change to extreme weather conditions such as heat waves, droughts, and heavy snows and rains. Globally, 2015 was the warmest year on record, according to climate updates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And January kicked off this year by logging temperatures exceeding those of all previous Januaries on record, a disturbing trend that’s persisted for nine…

March 15, 2016

Seminal work

How unruly data led MU scientists to discover a new microbiome By Roger Meissen | MU Bond Life Sciences Center This seminal vesicle contains a newly-discovered microbiome in mice. Some of its bacteria, like P. acnes, could lead to higher occurrences of prostate cancer. | contributed by Cheryl Rosenfeld It’s a strange place to call home, but seminal fluid offers the perfect environment for particular types of bacteria. Researchers at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center recently identified new bacteria that thrive here. “It’s a new microbiome that hasn’t been looked…

March 8, 2016

Rodents of unusual appetites

How food cravings and eating affects the brain By Jennifer Lu | MU Bond Life Sciences Center When it comes to cookie dough, we’re not the only ones who can’t control our cravings. Kyle Parker’s rats couldn’t resist, either, thanks to a tweak in their brain chemistry. Parker studies the neuroscience of food-based rewards. Matthew Will, associate professor of psychological sciences at the Bond Life Sciences Center, studies the neuroscience of behaviors such as over-eating and addiction | photo by Jennifer Lu, Bond LSC “It’s like when I eat dessert after I’ve eaten an entire meal,” said Parker,…

March 1, 2016

Unmasking the unknown

Scientists explore genetic similarities between plants and mice University of Missouri PhD Candidate Daniel L. Leuchtman peers through an Arabidopsis plant. Leuchtman has been experimenting with replacing a gene in the plants immune system with a similar gene from mice. | Photograph by Justin L. Stewart/MU Bond Life Sciences Center By Justin L. Stewart | MU Bond Life Sciences Center Almost two-thirds of what makes a human a human and a fly a fly are the same, according to the NIH genome research institute. If recent research at the University of Missouri’s Bond…

Jan. 26, 2016

Bond Life Sciences Center Scientists Named to Thomson Reuters’ 2015 List of Highly Cited Researchers

By Bobby Remis | MU Bond Life Sciences Center You can imagine it’s hard to distinguish yourself from the crowd when it comes to scientific papers. But, publishing quality work in a well-known journal adds value to the whole scientific world by assisting others and inspiring new science. Three Bond LSC researchers recently were recognized for doing just that. Bond Life Sciences Center scientists Chris Pires, Shuqun Zhang and Yidong Liu are among five University of Missouri System researchers named in the 2015 Thomson Reuters’ Highly Cited Researchers list. This list spotlights the top 1 percent of papers published from nearly…

Nov. 25, 2015

You shall not pass: the basic science of blocking HIV

  Marc Johnson, associate professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Bond Life Sciences Center, studies viruses such as HIV. | photo by Jennifer Lu, Bond LSC Nineteen colorful foam flowers decorate the walls of Marc Johnson’s office, a memento from his lab members when they “redecorated” while he was out of town. Each flower is labeled in bold Sharpie with the names of viruses and viral proteins that his lab studies—MLV, RSV, Gag, Pol, to name a few. One flower stands out, marked in capital letters: H-I-V. Johnson, an associate professor of molecular microbiology…

Nov. 3, 2015

Family genes

MU freshman follows in aunt’s footsteps while exploring career options Robert Schmidt poses with one of the cats that lives at Horton Animal Hospital, where he works part-time. Schmidt, a freshman studying biochemistry at the University of Missouri, is a member of the Discovery Fellows Program where he is learning about plant genetics by working with biologist Scott Peck in the Bond Life Sciences Center. Photo by Justin L. Stewart | MU Bond Life Sciences Center By Justin L. Stewart | MU Bond Life Sciences Center Sometimes it’s socks. Another time, it was a book cover.