University of Missouri

May 27, 2020

Shirwan, Yolcu Bring Pedigree, ProtEx Technology to Bond LSC

Haval Shirwan and Esma Yolcu By Jerry Duggan | Bond LSC Haval Shirwan and Esma Yolcu arrive at Bond LSC as accomplished researchers. While having different expertise within the field of immunology, the married couple collaborates extensively on research and together developed ProtEx technology, an alternative to traditional methods of gene therapy for immunomodulation with applications to autoimmune diseases, transplantation, cancer immunoprevention and immunotherapy, and vaccines against infections With work published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and 19 patents to Shirwan’s name, they both arrive at Mizzou ready to build on their research background and contribute to the new…

May 25, 2020

Probing for answers

Kwaku Tawiah, Ph.D. candidate, poses on the fifth floor of Bond LSC. | photo by Mariah Cox, Bond LSC. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Disease diagnosis takes money, time and technology — something rural communities don’t always possess. Kwaku Tawiah, a fifth-year graduate student, and researchers in the Burke lab are creating a probe that can diagnose and inhibit viral diseases cheaply, in less time and without electricity. “With some of these infections, the faster you’re able to detect it, the better,” Tawiah said. “So, one of my motivations in grad school was to come…

May 19, 2020

Shifting Focus: HIV researcher takes on COVID-19

Marc Johnson | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC By Becca Wolf | Bond LSC Marc Johnson’s research focus changed suddenly one day this February when he received a shipment. That package of synthesized SARS-COV2 spike genes — the virus that causes COVID-19 — has now taken him down a new path. “It was unusual, nothing like this has ever happened to me before,” Johnson said, an MU professor of molecular microbiology and immunology and Bond LSC investigator. “I’ve never had to switch directions so abruptly before but, you know, we’re always taking on new projects and shifting,…

May 13, 2020

The Little Robot That Can

The imaging system helps collect data on the growth of plants. | photo contributed by Samuel McInturf. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC In a corner of the David Mendoza lab, a small machine runs back and forth across a track, taking pictures continuously of plants grown in clear square plates. This machine not only saves time during data collection but also helps the lab track the growth of plants in real time. After almost five years of development, the Mendoza lab has reached the final stretch in their robotic endeavors. Now, they’re putting finishing…

April 30, 2020

Treating COVID-19: Bond LSC lab explores effectiveness of remdesivir and other potential drugs

By Jerry Duggan | Bond LSC As countries hang their hopes on the drug remdesivir for battling COVID-19, recent modeling and computer-aided drug evaluation at the University of Missouri caution to keep an open mind to other drug treatments. Kamlendra Singh at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center assessed remdesivir and several other drugs for long-term success in treating coronavirus causing the pandemic across the world. His results were published April 26 in the journal Pathogens. “Remdesivir is working against COVID-19, but these other drugs are in no way inferior to it,”…

April 29, 2020

The Lab in Time of COVID-19

The main halls of Bond LSC are empty due to researchers being told to work from home. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC On an average day, you can find post doctorate Norman Best surrounded by corn in the greenhouse or at his bench in the McSteen lab doing molecular work. However, since Columbia and state leaders issued a stay-at-home order on March 25 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, this means Bond LSC is mostly empty and researchers like Best are at home writing. “It’s definitely…

April 29, 2020

Influenza & COVID-19 Research: A Campus-wide Effort

Henry Wan | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC By Becca Wolf | Bond LSC With shelter in place orders being extended throughout the country and events being canceled, COVID-19 is a pressing issue, and influenza researchers at MU have been pivoting recently to begin studying the virus. Henry Wan, an influenza researcher and Bond LSC principal investigator, is planning on expanding his work to start looking at COVID-19 along with a team of epidemiologists, anthropologists, engineers, and more at MU. While influenza and COVID-19 are not the same virus, both are infectious respiratory…

April 27, 2020

Making sense of junk

Mary Butler, an undergraduate from Truman State University, gains experience working on experiments in the lab of Bond LSC’s Cheryl Rosenfeld. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC By Mariah Cox How did an undergraduate student from Truman State University spend last summer working on a research project with a Bond Life Sciences Center primary investigator and become on track to be published as first author several months thereafter? A nationwide National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored program has allowed Mary Butler to jump-start her research career early on.  Butler, a sophomore biochemistry…

April 22, 2020

Boron: Exposed

Figure B is a colorized radiographic image that shows the path of boron in a five-day-old maize seedling. | photo contributed by Alexandra Housh, Michaela Matthes, Amber Gerheart, Stacy Wilder, Kun-Eek Kil, Michael Schueller, James Guthrie, Paula McSteen, and Richard Ferrieri. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC The element Boron, while extremely low in levels, leaves a trail of green and blue radioactive decay as it travels through the veins of plants. Due to radiotracer technology, this picture of the element’s movement provides this unique insight to what’s going on inside the leaves, stems and roots of…

April 20, 2020

New Genome Sequencing Instrument Pays Dividends at DNA Core

Nathan Bivens and Wes Warren. | Photos by Mariah Cox & Erica Overfelt, Bond LSC By Jerry Duggan | Bond LSC Behind any breakthrough in science lies a research process full of precise methods and instrumentation essential to moving from hypothesis to discovery. Some of those genetic breakthroughs just became more possible on UM System campuses, thanks to a new, more efficient genome sequencing instrument at MU’s DNA Core. The NovaSeq instrument was first put to use in December, purchased with funds from an UM System tier 1 grant meant to benefit…

April 16, 2020

Dong Xu receives national honor

Dong Xu, Bond LSC principal investigator and Shumaker Endowed Professor in the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC A Bond Life Sciences Center researcher has been inducted into an elite organization comprised of two percent of all medical and biological engineers. The American Institution for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) this week announced the induction of Dong Xu, a Bond LSC principal investigator and Shumaker Endowed Professor in the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering. “Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to…

Feb. 12, 2020

Another Piece of the Pi: Tech gives research automation edge

This Raspberry Pi device developed by former MU undergrad Brandin Grindstaff allowed members of the Chris Pires lab to remotely monitor their plants. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC By Mariah Cox | Bond LSC What does an iconic American dessert have in common with a credit-card-sized single-board computer? Well, only its name. Small but mighty, the Raspberry Pi can be programmed for use in multiple settings and has been increasingly used for tasks in research labs. But it took a scientific conference in Europe for one Bond LSC lab to…