News
Oct. 7, 2020
Plant vs. Pathogen
Research scientist Jianbin Su studies the immune system in lettuce on the third floor of the Bond Life Science Center. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Scientist Jianbin Su’s research lately took him outside to look at patches of grass and cracks in sidewalks around Mizzou’s campus, searching for a subject in the wild. He found his subject in the form of wild lettuce. That search can potentially help Su — a research scientist in the Walter Gassmann lab at Bond Life Sciences Center — better understand the immune system of lettuce and therefore protect it against…
Oct. 5, 2020
Influenza: How it Transmits from Birds to Pigs
Henry Wan | Photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC By Becca Wolf Geese will soon fill the skies as they migrate south in V-formation as the weather gets colder and the leaves start changing color. For a month or so, migrating birds take over, crossing roads, sitting in parks and stopping to eat leftover seeds in farm fields or swim in ponds as they travel south for the winter. What people may not realize is that some of these birds are carrying something harmful, yet invisible to the naked eye. That something is influenza A viruses that can…
Sep. 25, 2020
Beyond the Vaccine
Lucas Woods from the Weisman lab watches lung cancer cells and oral epithelial cells grow. | photo by Lauren Hines, Bond LSC By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Vaccine development remains a central goal to get the current COVID-19 pandemic under control. While vaccines are highly vital in the fight against the current pandemic, what if scientists could prevent the virus from entering cells altogether? Researchers at Bond Life Sciences Center are working to do just that and, so far, they’re the only ones at Mizzou on the case. For the Gary Weisman lab, that starts…
Sep. 21, 2020
Four Cell Lines, One Great Discovery
Using cell lines to better understand copper homeostasis Nikita Gudekar working at her lab table. | photo by Becca Wolf, Bond LSC By Becca Wolf | Bond LSC When one thinks of copper, they often think of a shiny new penny. A striking engravement of Abraham Lincoln’s side profile with the words, ‘In God we trust’ engraved over his head. This, however, is not the case for Nikita Gudekar. Gudekar, a genetics area program Ph.D. candidate in the Petris lab, thinks of copper and gets inspired. Copper is an essential element in the body that has many roles…
Sep. 18, 2020
#IAmScience Kinjal Majumder
By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC It was another day in the lab. Kinjal Majumder, a postdoctoral fellow in the David Pintel lab at Bond Life Sciences Center, was working on his research and stopped to check his email. At that moment, he found out he just won a $700,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health. He felt relieved. “I wish I could say something more high minded about it, but honestly, at that point, you’re like, ‘Oh, thank God. I got the award,’” Majumder said. “Then I thought, ‘Alright. I’m gonna…
Sep. 11, 2020
A Big Load: Using Wastewater to Test For COVID-19
Marc Johnson collecting pellets in his lab. | photo by Becca Wolf, Bond LSC By Becca Wolf | Bond LSC There is not much thought that goes into using the bathroom. You do your business, flush, and wash your hands. It is just a part of the daily routine. Recently though, human waste has become a golden nugget to researchers. In fact, waste from toilets throughout the community are contributing to figuring out where the next COVID-19 outbreak could happen. And Marc Johnson, Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator and MU professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, is…
Sep. 4, 2020
Killing Cancer with Code
These maps show the receptors’ locations, density and count in a cancer cell. | photo contributed by Alexander Jurkevich, Donald Burke-Agüero, David Porciani and Skyler Kramer. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC With two laptops in front of him and a supercomputer on the edge of campus, graduate student Skyler Kramer runs through code daily in the Dong Xu lab with a purpose far beyond deciphering lines of data. He helps his colleagues defeat cancer. Working in Bond LSC with senior post doctorate David Porciani from the Donald…
Sep. 2, 2020
In Search of a Bond
Clement Essien poses outside Bond LSC near the building’s garden. | photo by Lauren Hines, Bond LSC. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Artificial intelligence (AI) can do more than just write a book given a few words. It can help make cancer treatments more effective and predict the presence of disease in cells, which doctoral student Clement Essien did through his recent project. “It’s exciting because for several years, I was a software engineer, and then I felt like I wanted to do something more with that,” Essien said. “I want to make some contribution…
July 16, 2020
New analysis points to danger in FDA’s allowed levels of BPA in food
Jiude Mao works on BPA testing in the lab of Cheryl Rosenfeld. By Mariah Cox | Bond LSC Bisphenol A, more commonly known as BPA, has been a source of scientific dispute for the past decade. With a lack of consensus among scientists, consumers are left unaware of the potential harms of the chemicals in plastic. In response to a recent report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that claims BPA is safe at the current levels occurring in foods, Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator Cheryl Rosenfeld and a group of researchers across the country…
June 3, 2020
IMSD awarded grant to continue training diverse scientists
New funding changes some structure to program Olivia Warner By Jerry Duggan | Bond LSC Mizzou was always near the top of Olivia Warner’s list for Ph.D. programs. Its renowned psychological sciences program, sound training in Warner’s specialty of addiction and supportive, collaborative atmosphere that she didn’t see at other places made it a top choice on paper. But she was not introduced to her most formative program in terms of professional development until she had already moved across the country from Arizona to mid-Missouri. Within her first month, Warner learned of the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development…
June 1, 2020
Studying Drug Resistance, One Connection at a Time
Kinjal Majumder | photo by Mariah Cox, Bond LSC By Becca Wolf | Bond LSC Where you are creates opportunities. The structure and placement of labs encourages researchers to collaborate and talk to each other and often, connections and friendships are formed. For Kinjal Majumder, a virologist and postdoctoral fellow in the David Pintel lab at Bond Life Sciences Center, that has meant bouncing many ideas off friends and colleagues from neighboring labs. Little did he know that one connection would lead him to interesting findings in a field outside of virology. Those results may help make progress…
May 29, 2020
#IAmScience Landon Swartz
By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Landon Swartz, undergraduate student researcher, is motivated by a simple desire — to help others through the power of computer engineering. Coming from Springfield, Missouri, Swartz decided to go to Mizzou in 2017. “I chose engineering,” Swartz said. “It fits my idea of solving problems, but also lets me be able to see a benefit to people.” Swartz got involved in research through the honors college after he talked to David Mendoza, associate professor in plant sciences and Bond LSC investigator. Mendoza was looking for people to…