News
April 27, 2019
#IAmScience Chris Pires
By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC Through Chris Pires’ eyes, science isn’t an unconnected ideology in which scientists hold the proper way of understanding the world, it is an answer-seeking process in which humans strive to understand existence and the things around and within it. “I don’t think science is a thing, it’s a way of thinking” Pires said. “I like to think I live the life of the mind.” As a kid in a rural northern California town, he dreamt of exploring the universe and alien landscapes, but enthusiastically settled for the unobserved below the…
April 25, 2019
DNA Day
A time to celebrate the thing that makes us who we are By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC In 1865, after a decade long search into patterns of inheritance, Gregor Mendel discovered how individuals receive traits from their parents. Through working with pea plants, he found that genes come in pairs and are inherited as distinct units. He tracked those genes through dominant and recessive traits. Like many vital scientists throughout history, Mendel wasn’t appreciated in his own time due to his unpopular ideas. Now seen as the “father of genetics,” Mendel is recognized as the scientist…
April 24, 2019
Let’s Talk About Fake News
The Science, Health and Environmental Journalism club at MU hosted a fake news panel on April 3. | photo by Mariah Cox, Bond LSC By Mariah Cox What do CBD, climate change, flat earthers, and anti-vaxxers have in common? All are prevalent in the propagation of ‘fake news’ in science. Truthful and accurate reporting is crucial in the field of journalism to create a well-informed society. You may have heard the term ‘fake news’ a time or two, but what does fake news really mean, what does it look like and how does it arise? “It’s…
April 22, 2019
A week in visuals: Missouri Life Sciences Week 2019
Missouri Life Sciences Week 2019 wrapped up on Friday. It brought us a taste of science across our broad research community at Mizzou. From students presenting their hard work in labs to core facilities showing what they do to advance the work of scientists across campus, Bond LSC was bustling with energy. If you missed the action, get a taste of what it all in the photos from the week’s events below. Alexandra Diller Costello explains her research poster Monday morning during the Missouri Life Sciences Week 2019 poster session. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC…
April 16, 2019
#IAmScience Haritha Dhanikonda
Haritha Dhanikonda is a first-year Ph.D. student studying the evolution of RNA in Donald Burke’s lab. | photo by Mariah Cox, Bond LSC By Mariah Cox There is no shortage of complexities to be solved on Earth, but for Haritha Dhanikonda our discoveries here can be used to further our knowledge of the celestial bodies in the universe. That interest landed her in the lab of Donald Burke in Bond LSC where their RNA work is funded in part by NASA, but her interest beyond this planet started much earlier. From a young age, Dhanikonda was fascinated…
April 11, 2019
The problem with placentas
MU scientists develop model to study complex pregnancy disease Here, stem cells have undergone differentiation. The green shows the hormone used to diagnose pregnancy in humans and the ovals are nuclei, some of which stain a pinkish color, representing the protein GATA2. By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC Researchers have been exploring the complicated and difficult world of pluripotent stem cells for 15 long years on the second floor of the University of Missouri’s Bond Life Sciences Center. A type of stem cell that can be turned into any cell in the human body and…
April 6, 2019
#IAmScience Patience Okiring
By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC In the warm, inviting atmosphere of the Bond LSC fiscal office reside the unsung heroes that make science possible. When a new discovery is made, few look back to see who wrote the grants and secured funds that allowed the research to thrive, yet those staff members quietly fight for researchers every day. After only a year as a grant writer, Patience Okiring has worked on so many grants that she can’t keep count. “There are a lot of challenges, of course, but it’s like a new discovery…
March 22, 2019
#IAmScience Lucas Woods
By Mariah Cox | Bond LSC Ten years ago, Lucas Woods stepped into Gary Weisman’s lab with a fresh perspective on P2 cell receptors. Now, as an experienced lab manager, Woods dives deeper into the role of these receptors in a myriad of diseases. Woods came to the Bond Life Sciences Center after graduating from Missouri State University in Springfield with a degree in cell and molecular biology. He studied P2 receptors as a part of his undergraduate research with Dr. Richard Garrad, who completed his post-doctoral research in Weisman’s lab. Garrad recognized Woods’s interest…
March 18, 2019
Hot topic research networking
Moving science forward through discussion By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC A casual conversation amongst friends two years ago turned into an initiative to better connect scientists doing related work across the University of Missouri campus. Hot Topic research networking was born out of informal discussions, growing into a cross-campus and cross-discipline network. “They need to talk and communicate to build things up and down the chain,” said Karla Carter, executive assistant to Bond LSC director. “That’s where some of the most exciting science is born.” Carter explained that by helping facilitate these discussions, Bond LSC helps…
March 15, 2019
#IAmScience Michael Greenlief
By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC In high school, Michael Greenlief had teachers that led his curiosity into a passion for science and problem-solving. Decades later, he is an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Missouri and director of Charles W. Gehrke Proteomics Center located in Bond Life Sciences Center. Depending on the day, Greenlief could be found many places on campus, but his favorite part of MU is working with students. “They keep things going; they keep things fresh,” he said. Through all aspects of his roles on campus, there exists an underlying…
March 14, 2019
Pumping Iron: Leaves play a larger role in controlling how plants absorb micronutrients
By Mariah Cox | Bond LSC How do plants take up and use iron? For David Mendoza, a scientist at Bond Life Sciences Center, it’s not an inconsequential question. He works to decipher the answer in an effort to better fortify the food we eat. “We need to understand how plants accumulate iron,” Mendoza said. “Iron is really important for plants and for us because iron is a critical part of proteins that help produce energy, especially for plants in photosynthesis. Without iron, plants are sick. Without iron, we get sick.” His most recent published work further…
March 8, 2019
#IAmScience Amith Reddy
Mariah Cox | Bond LSC Amith Reddy has been in academia for some time and doesn’t plan to leave anytime soon. With two master’s degrees under his belt, Reddy is only a few months away from completing his Ph.D. in plant sciences. Reddy began his secondary education career in India where he spent most of his life before moving to New Mexico for his second master’s. He cites the hands-on application of science that he first began to experience at the Directorate of Sorghum Research in India as the turning point of his interest in plant sciences.