University of Missouri

Feb. 2, 2022

Outlining Omicron: researchers determine key mutations in the latest COVID-19 variant

Bond LSC and UNMC scientists explain mutations unique to the Omicron variant Austin Spratt, undergraduate mathematics student in the Kamlendra Singh lab, shows protein models of the Omicron spike protein and the receptor it attaches to when infecting cells. “The genetic codes are used to identify the mutations, and then we use the structure to see how it would change over time. It’s going to give us more information about new mutations that occur,” Spratt said. | Photo by Cara Penquite, Bond LSC By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC It took eight days for…

Dec. 20, 2021

New method leads to discovery of placental cell type

Nathan Bivens, director of the Genomics Technology Core at Bond Life Sciences Center, loads the Chromium 10X Genomics machine as part of the single-cell RNA sequence method. | photo by Lauren Hines, Bond LSC By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC  During pregnancy, the fetus and mother can talk to each other without saying a word. On a deeper level, a special cell called the syncytiotrophoblast facilitates this conversation by changing the mother’s physiology based on what the fetus does or does not need. The Michael Roberts lab at Bond Life Sciences Center knew there had to…

Dec. 8, 2021

Bond LSC Researcher Wins Awards for 45-Year Career in Reproductive Biology

Even though Roberts couldn’t accept the award in person, the Chinese Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine still held an award ceremony and presented the medal to one of Roberts’ past associates. | photo contributed by Michael Roberts, Bond LSC. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Still in the lab after 45 years, chancellor’s professor emeritus Michael Roberts has received recognition for his career in reproductive biology research. Roberts won the Marshall Medal from the UK Society for Reproduction and Fertility (SRF) in August and the Gold Medal and Honorable Membership of the Animal…

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…

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…

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…

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…

June 24, 2021

#IAmScience Lyndon Coghill

Lyndon Coghill is the new Director of Informatics Research Core, and he is already making big moves at Mizzou. Lyndon Coghill, Director of Informatics Research Core, stands near his office on June 22 at Bond LSC. | photo by Davis Suppes, Bond LSC  By Davis Suppes | Bond LSC Lyndon Coghill’s official title may be Director of Informatics for the Informatics Research Core, but his job branches out much wider than just a single label. Even as an undergrad, Coghill wore many different hats.  “I was incredibly excited about the way that the MU Office of…

June 22, 2021

A feral past may help chart the future for Brassica vegetables

Although Brassica cretica doesn’t look much like cabbage, broccoli or kohlrabi, the wild relative is the closest relation to our modern vegetables and its endurance might show us how to make our vegetable crops more resilient in the future. | Illustration courtesy of Andi Kur By Roger Meissen | Bond LSC You might not envision plant scientists as the modern-day Indiana Jones of biology, but University of Missouri researchers have been hot on the hunt for an evolutionary history, looking for clues to the ancestors of our gardens and grocery shelves. To find the closest wild…

May 25, 2021

New observation from Stacey lab could help advance plant engineering

Large amounts of the Arabidopsis plant are grown at Bond Life Sciences Center for multiple labs to experiment with and use. | photo by Mariah Cox, Bond LSC By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Think about how a home alarm system alerts a person to a potential burglary with sensors detecting whether an intruder picked a lock, came through a window or came through a garage. Plants are much like this, surviving with the help of their thousands of sensors that can send danger signals to the whole plant so it can react effectively. “Plants have to…

May 12, 2021

Beyond counting: computer science partnership helps speed up plant science experiments

Janlo Robil, graduate student in the Paula McSteen lab, came up with the GrasVIQ project after he finished a project that required him to count hundreds of plant leaf veins. | photo by Lauren Hines, Bond LSC By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC It’s not surprising that researchers feel discouraged when pursuing projects that involve plant leaf vein density analysis. Manually counting individual leaf veins and measuring their density to understand how nutrients are transported in plants can take weeks of tedious work. That’s how Janlo Robil was feeling when he was working on a maize…