News
Feb. 28, 2019
#IAmScience Yul Eum Song
By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC As an undergraduate student, Yul Eum Song had experiences that put her on a path to help create change. Now as an experienced and educated doctoral researcher, she studies the mechanisms of retroviruses in the lab of Bond LSC’s Marc Johnson, and she continues to love science and the way it answers questions and positively influences the world. “I like viruses because they can be deadly, so it’s really fascinating for humans to learn about,” Song said. Song received her undergraduate degree from Dongguk University in Korea. Though she…
Feb. 27, 2019
B TrCP protein required for HIV to hide in host cells
Researchers are one step closer to understanding HIV By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC Usually, the human immune system is good at recognizing infected cells and then killing them, but in the case of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus has ways to hide. One of the ways is by using a viral protein called Vpu. Vpu helps HIV survive by hiding the fact that it is infected from its host cells. For the past few years, researchers at the University of Missouri have helped uncover how this works. “If you delete Vpu, those virus-infected cells…
Feb. 15, 2019
#IAmScience Frank Baker
By Danielle Pycior | Bond Life Sciences Center With eyes wide open, glued to metal tubes, researchers from across the University of Missouri’s campus are searching for answers that are unseeable to the unequipped human eye. The Molecular Cytology Core is a resource for anyone to come and further understand their research. The Core’s Imaging Specialist, Frank Baker, has been an intermediary between the facilities equipment and researchers for four years. Molecular cytology is the localization of molecules within the cell. In other words, researchers look at molecular methods occurring to understand cellular functions.
Feb. 13, 2019
What makes us trust science?
Mariah Cox | Bond LSC When Simine Vazire began teaching undergraduate research methods she focused on its difference from pseudo-science or nonscience, the value of the scientific method and the notion that science is self-correcting. However, it became harder for her to teach that lesson with a clear conscience as she began to grapple with issues of credibility and replicability in the field of psychology with her own research. “Credibility is arguably the eye of the storm of the in the replication crisis. I didn’t call this the replication crisis in psychological science because that’s pretty controversial,”…
Feb. 8, 2019
#IAmScience Ashley Meyer
Mariah Cox | Bond LSC Situated in the Bond Life Sciences Center is an almost empty research lab on the fourth floor, which to some may look like an end but is really just a new beginning. Inside you may find a few boxes of gloves, a stack of brightly colored test tube racks and a sole thermocycler sitting on the lab bench. You’ll also find Ashley Meyer, the first researcher hired on by Wes Warren. “This is a brand-new lab. Dr. Warren came from Washington University in Saint Louis, and he didn’t bring anything with him…
Jan. 30, 2019
The start of an academic relationship
Joint recruitment weekend welcomes prospective grad students to MU family By Danielle Pycior | Bond LSC As laughter and conversation began to fill the hall with the arrival of graduate students from across the country, new relationships began to form. Entering its 10th year, the annual Graduate Life Sciences Joint Recruitment Weekend continues a unique recruitment tradition at the University of Missouri that has only grown with time. Chris Pires, a Bond Life Sciences Center investigator, professor of biological sciences and associate dean for research in MU’s College of Arts and Science, has utilized the event every…
Jan. 28, 2019
10th annual Agroforestry Symposium focuses on entrepreneurship in research
Rob Riedel from Wild Ozark Ginseng Farm introduces their products at the Agroforestry Symposium on Jan. 26, 2017 | photo by Jinghong Chen, Bond LSC By Mariah Cox | Bond LSC Farmers, scientists and tree experts, from field to forest, will bring their work inside this Wednesday and Thursday to hear how research can improve all of their livelihoods. The 10th annual University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry Symposium is set to take place Jan. 30-31 at the Bond Life Sciences Center on the University of Missouri’s campus. The two-day event will focus on innovation and…
Jan. 3, 2019
#IAmScience Julie Gauthier
By Erica Overfelt | Bond LSC Many might agree that their sex education was not taught well in school. This poorly taught education inspired junior Julie Gauthier to look deeper medicine and sexually transmitted diseases, and it spurred her interest in science. “My high school had an uninformed sex education curriculum,” Gauthier said. “It was not based in science as much as I thought it should be, so when I got here I did a lot of personal research on sex health. Scientists are curious, and I was curious on the subject.” While Gauthier’s initial interest was in science surrounding health, her current research…
Dec. 14, 2018
Closure comes with final defense
Ph.D. dissertation wraps up student career. By Erica Overfelt | Bond LSC Ending your career as a student is a whirlwind of emotion. Ph.D. student Ben Spears soon will be saying his final goodbyes to his lab after he gave his final presentation earlier this month. Spears spent the past six years in Walter Gassmann’s lab in Bond LSC, and he has been a student for almost all of his life. “You know it is kind of surreal,” Spears said. “It’s hard to describe. I mean, I don’t know what it is like to not be a…
Dec. 11, 2018
Stacey named National Academy of Inventors Fellow
By Roger Meissen, Bond LSC Science and invention are both about discovering the possibilities in something. Those possibilities can create something new that improves the lives of people and advances our understanding of the world. It’s no surprise that Gary Stacey, a Bond Life Sciences Center primary investigator, is being recognized this year as one of 148 academic fellows by the National Academy of Inventors. “I am very proud to welcome another class of outstanding NAI Fellows, whose collective achievements have helped shape the future and who each day work to improve our world,” said Paul R.
Dec. 7, 2018
#IAmScience Shawn Abrahams
By Erica Overfelt | Bond LSC “Eccentric” is generally a word you do not want to use for a future boss. But that’s what led Shawn Abrahams to the Chris Pires’ lab at Bond LSC. Abrahams first met Pires at the Botany 2013 conference in New Orleans. “If you have ever met Chris before you know he is full of advice. At the time Chris told me about his expectations for grad students, how many papers you should have to be successful and that you should always be considering your 10-year plan,” Abrahams said. “I appreciated it as…
Nov. 30, 2018
#IAmScience Trupti Joshi
By Erica Overfelt | Bond LSC Juggling research, teaching, collaborative meetings, grant writing, and training postdocs and students is no problem for Trupti Joshi. That array of responsibilities is just part of the job for a Bond LSC researcher focused on bioinformatics, an area that connects so many types of science by collecting and analyzing genetic data. “Bioinformatics is a very interdisciplinary science that marries the wet and the dry labs,” Joshi said. “It applies software tools and computational techniques from computer science, engineering, mathematics and statistics towards efficient ways to analyze, integrate and mine large-scale genomics and…