Bond LSC Research
Nov. 13, 2025
Ron Mittler and Bing Yang among 2025 Highly Cited Researchers
Oct. 12, 2025
Core leads labs through bioinformatics bottleneck to better results
By Sophie Rentschler | Division of Research Ti Lu spends her days perfecting a vaccine, giving shots to charge mouse immune systems to fight off disease, but the hefty data from her samples needs the expertise of Mizzou’s Bioinformatics and Analytics Core (BAC) to help make sense of it. To prevent Shigella flexneri — a bacterium that can cause severe diarrhea in third world countries — the assistant research professor in the lab of Wendy Picking at Bond Life Sciences Center, has to sort through troves of data unveiled from mice organelles given versions of the vaccine.
Sep. 24, 2025
An intercellular snapshot
How advanced light microscopy brings clarity to research questions By Sophie Rentschler | Division of Research Under the microscope, the slice of mouse organ tissue resembled a mix of swirling indigo sky from Van Gogh’s Starry Night mixed with one of Monet’s impressionistic water lily paintings. While it could be mistaken for abstract art, this high-definition picture of cellular interactions and distinct structures tagged with bright, highlighter-esque colors are the exact images Paul de Figueiredo needs to explore a form of cancer treatment. “Our eyes are one of our major senses,” said de Figueiredo, a Bond…
Sep. 15, 2025
Burke-Agüero, Warren among those named new Curators’ Distinguished Professors
Aug. 18, 2025
New Joy of Discovery sculpture images celebrate art in science
Aug. 12, 2025
Flu fighters: Mizzou researchers getting a closer look at immune response to influenza
July 16, 2025
Research steps: the movement behind making science work
By Sophie Rentschler | Bond LSC Each day Bond Life Sciences Center’s occupants collectively contribute hundreds of thousands of steps in the pursuit of science. Faculty, staff and students can be seen hurrying across its bridges that connect east and west wings of the building, and one can get a full picture of the people contributing to the activity within its walls when they emerge en masse during lunch breaks, fire drills or class changes. Matt Nelson, a senior engineering technician at Bond LSC, is a constant among these. He starts his day at 7:30…
May 15, 2025
Stacey receives Hales Prize from ASPB
Congrats to Bond LSC principal investigator Gary Stacey for recently receiving the 2025 Stephen Hales Prize from the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) for his noteworthy service in plant biology. His home department wrote up this summary of the award.
March 26, 2025
Donald Burke-Agüero among faculty honored as 2024 AAAS Fellows
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recognized four University of Missouri Faculty as 2024 AAAS Fellows for their distinguished work in various fields of science. Among the list is Donald Burke-Agüero, a principal investigator at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center and professor of biochemistry and molecular microbiology and immunology in the School of Medicine. Burke-Agüero is being recognized for his distinguished contributions to the development of RNA aptamers to investigate viral and cancer biology and as therapeutic agents, as well as for his research on the RNA world hypothesis. To read more, visit…
Jan. 20, 2025
Bond LSC launches Joy of Discovery art contest
Help us connect the public with the artistic side of your science as we continue celebrating our 20th year. Bond LSC seeks Mizzou research images to refresh its Joy of Discovery sculpture in McQuinn Atrium. The contest begins spring semester of 2025. Final selections will be installed in the Joy of Discovery sculpture for 10 years. Important DatesJanuary 27, 2025 – Submission portal opensApril 2, 2025 – Submissions closeApril 30, 2025 – Artists are notified of selected images Find a full set of rules at https://bondlsc.missouri.edu/joy-of-discovery-art-submission/…
Oct. 28, 2024
Revolutionizing disease prevention
Understanding microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses is key to protecting human health — especially as experts predict new infectious diseases will continue to emerge worldwide in the coming years. But safely transporting samples of these microbes to labs for testing remains a challenge. That’s where University of Missouri Professor Paul de Figueiredo, his team and collaborators come in. De Figueiredo recently received more than $3.5 million as part of a nearly $12.9 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a method to preserve microbial samples during transport. To read more,…
Sep. 29, 2024
Ron Mittler’s quest to make soybeans smarter
MU Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator and plant geneticist Ron Mittler is finding ways to breed soybean crops that can handle heat, drought and water-logging stresses, improving yields under pressure. Working with $2.4 million from the National Science Foundation, Mittler hopes to add to his more than two decades of research by investigating the mechanisms behind how plants cool themselves while under heat and drought stress. He’ll achieve this by genetically engineering soybean plants in ways that improve their resistance to these stresses. To read more, visit showme.missouri.edu.