Bond LSC Research
Aug. 6, 2024
Virologist joins Bond LSC, takes on LIDR leadership
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Anthony Griffiths is the new director of Mizzou’s Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research and a new Bond LSC principal investigator. | Photo by Braiden Wade Growing up in ’70s and ’80s Britain, 10-year-old Anthony Griffiths’ brain had the dangers of rabies seared into it during European vacations. At the time, rabies hadn’t made its way to Britain but was present throughout the continent, and the public service announcement posters were a fearful reminder to remain vigilant. While messages warning against smuggling unquarantined pets into the country scared most children with statements…
Aug. 1, 2024
Fishing cat genetic research paves the way for animal conservation
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Rachel Carroll, research specialist in the Wes Warren lab at Bond LSC, stands with magazine cover for her study on fishing cats. | Photo by Braiden Wade As animals face increasing pressure from habitat loss and changing climate in the wild, zoos worldwide strive to reinforce diversity for at-risk populations among their inhabitants. So, when Rachel Carroll took charge of creating a genetic blueprint for the fishing cat — a feline native to Southeast Asia — she had one eye toward helping the often-overlooked “grumpy, overgrown house cat.” “We’re hoping that we…
July 23, 2024
Scientist sees legacy in search for cryptic Covid-19 strain origin
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Marc Johnson, a principal investigator at Bond LSC, works at his desk. | Photo by Braiden Wade When Marc Johnson set out to find the source behind the mysterious combinations of coronavirus mutations he found in wastewater, he had no idea this work could one day be his legacy. “If there’s anything in my career that’s ever cited in 100 years, it will be this study,” said Johnson, a principal investigator at Bond Life Sciences Center. The research details how scientists narrowed a search for a cryptic lineage of SARS-CoV-2, the virus…
July 2, 2024
Mizzou researcher gains global insights through Fulbright opportunity
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Bing Yang is a Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator. | Photo by Braiden Wade, Bond LSC For a researcher passionate about making crops more resilient against diseases, working in a rapidly growing, influential country was a huge opportunity. Bing Yang, a Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator, put his knowledge into practice earlier this year in India thanks to a recent Fulbright Specialist Program award. “It was a very rich experience for me to go there and have that firsthand experience in a foreign country,” Yang said. Yang ran a…
June 25, 2024
Two years of research create lasting impact for Nigerian visiting scholar
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Michael Arowolo is a visiting professor in the lab of Dong Xu, a Bond LSC principal investigator. | photo by Braiden Wade, Bond LSC The African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” can especially apply in science where that village includes mentors like Dong Xu, a Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator, who has trained hundreds of students and collaborators. Michael Arowolo, is among those mentored, having spent the past two years in Xu’s lab as a visiting scholar. In August, he will take that experience with him to…
May 22, 2024
The power of iron
One University of Missouri researcher’s latest discovery, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed how a muscle cell’s mitochondria fail to generate enough energy for skeletal muscles due to one iron–sulfur protein. This understanding could one day help lead to treatments for diseases like Duchenne muscular dystrophy — the most common type of muscular dystrophy in children — and muscle deterioration associated with aging.
April 18, 2024
Ron Mittler named 2023 AAAS Fellow
Ron Mittler was among the five University of Missouri Faculty members recognized as a 2023 AAAS Fellow. | photo by Roger Meissen The list of this year’s American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows includes five University of Missouri Faculty members. Among the faculty is Ron Mittler, a principal investigator at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center and Curators’ Distinguished Professor in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and professor in the School of Medicine. The AAAS Fellows recognize researchers for distinguished and innovative work. Ron Mittler is being recognized for significant breakthroughs in the study of…
Oct. 9, 2023
$20 million grant to help researcher accelerate fight against cancer with new therapeutic
Molecular biologist Paul de Figueiredo and his team at the University of Missouri are pushing the envelope by striving to create a single-use cancer therapeutic. | Photo by Roger Meissen This year alone, the American Cancer Society estimates almost 2 million new cancer cases will occur in the United States, and at least 25% of cases may be fatal. That’s why MU Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator Paul de Figueiredo and his team at the University of Missouri are working to lower these numbers through the Synthetic Programmable bacteria for Immune-directed Killing in tumor Environments (SPIKEs) project. The goal of the…
Oct. 2, 2023
Chris Lorson on fast track for spinal muscular atrophy drug
A research grant awarded to MU professor Chris Lorson’s biotechnology company is allowing innovative experimentation with a new spinal muscular atrophy drug. MU Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator Chris Lorson is forging a new path at the University of Missouri for drug development and clinical trials using a $4.3 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) Blueprint for Neuroscience Research grant. Lorson, a Curators’ Distinguished Professor in veterinary pathobiology, serves as associate vice chancellor for research and strategic initiatives in the Division of Research and associate dean of research and graduate studies in the College of Veterinary Medicine. His research…
Sep. 20, 2023
Henry Wan among twelve MU faculty named Curators’ Distinguished Professors
The University of Missouri named nine Curator’s Distinguished Professors and approved three emeriti designations. The University of Missouri Board of Curators recently named seven University of Missouri faculty members Curators’ Distinguished Professors. Among the list is MU Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator Xiu-Feng “Henry” Wan. The professorship is the highest and most prestigious academic rank and is awarded to a select few outstanding scholars with established reputations. To read more, visit showme.missouri.edu.
Aug. 4, 2023
Shrinking the Target: Developing Cancer Therapies
Michaela Beedy, Brian Thomas, and Margaret Beecher work on aptamers in the lab of Donald Burke. | Photo by Beni Adelstein, Bond LSC Shrinking the Target: Developing Cancer Therapies As cancer cells multiple and spread, doctors face finding treatments that destroy tumors while doing the least amount of damage. This search for precision in cancer therapies is for good reason. It takes only a few minutes in a chemotherapy clinic to see the detriment of cancer drugs on the rest of the body. “The issue with chemotherapeutic drugs is they have a lot of off-target effects,”…
July 25, 2022
Chemical Correspondence: MU researcher plays key role in overseas aptamer technology
By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Donald Burke is a principal investigator at the Bond Life Sciences Center. He is a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology and a joint professor of biochemistry. Photo by Lauren Hines | Bond LSC What started as an email correspondence between two aptamer enthusiasts rapidly snowballed into a hat trick of authorships for Donald Burke. “I was contacted by a student in India asking if I would be an external advisor for her Ph.D. committee,” said Burke, a principal investigator at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center. Burke’s extensive research with…