News
Oct. 9, 2017
Forming a bond
Dr. Larry Young opens the second day of The Science of Love. | photo by Roger Meissen Larry Young explores chemicals behind monogamy in prairie voles, humans By Allison Scott Upon first glance, it wouldn’t seem that humans and small rodents have that much in common. However, Larry Young extensively studies the prairie vole because their desire to mate for life. “Prairie voles mate for life,” Young said. “That’s very unusual, in fact, only three to five percent of mammals do this.” This commonality between the small mammal and humans allows Young to relate…
Oct. 7, 2017
Balancing lust, romance and attachment
Dr. Helen Fisher opens the 13th annual LSSP symposium, The Science of Love, on Friday, Oct. 6. | photo by Allison Scott Helen Fisher delves into the relationships we choose and why in our digital age By Allison Scott | Bond Life Sciences Center We might not understand what drives us to establish and maintain romantic relationships, but Helen Fisher has made her living trying to figure it out. The romantic love expert spoke Friday, October 6, in Bond LSC about the neurological reasons behind why humans behave the way they do. “Romantic love…
Oct. 4, 2017
The future of lab technology
Ph.D. student Ke Gao and computer scientist Filiz Bunyak collaborate with researchers at the Bond Life Sciences Center. The pair helps advance high-throughput phenotyping by developing applications and algorithms for image analysis. | Photo by Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC Computer scientists create applications to speed up research in the lab By Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC Three years ago, Ke Gao stood uncomfortably beside rows of biomedical students and plant scientists at the Bond Life Sciences research fair. His poster wasn’t discussing the DNA of seeds or how plants transport nutrients but rather a scientific device.
Sep. 27, 2017
Vinit Shanbhag #IAmScience
Vinit Shanbhag is a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry and works in Michael Petris’ lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott By Allison Scott | Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I like to discover. The excitement of uncovering things that could have an impact on millions of lives is fascinating.” Vinit Shanbhag isn’t your typical student. His extensive background both overseas in India and at the Florida Institute of Technology serve to prove just that and prepared him for his next adventure at Mizzou. “When I came here for the on-campus interviews, the department…
Sep. 22, 2017
Sterling Evans #IAmScience
By Allison Scott | Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I want to focus my research on problems that exist in agriculture in undeveloped and third world countries.” Sterling Evans’ mind wasn’t focused on research when he started college, but that would soon change. The sophomore plant sciences major uncovered his interest thanks to Freshman Research in Plant Sciences (FRIPS) — a program dedicated to introducing research to freshman students from plant-related degree programs. “I was interested in plant sciences-related fields when I started here, but I had no intention of getting involved in undergraduate research,” Evans said. “Being…
Sep. 20, 2017
The tool that’s making a big splash in science research
How zebrafish gained their popularity as a model organism By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC The core of many modern discoveries in developmental biology is swimming in a tank. These are zebrafish that serve as the lab rats for Anand Chandrasekhar’s research. Dozens of tanks containing thousands of swimming fish fill the lab in the basement of the Bond Life Sciences Center. There are baby fish, striped fish and clear fish, many genetically modified for experimental reasons, and they are studied from fertilized embryo to adolescence. Chandrasekhar’s lab uses zebrafish to study migrating motor neurons in the brainstem that control muscle…
Sep. 15, 2017
Paul Caldo #IAmScience
By Allison Scott | Bond LSC “#IAmScience because research allows me to challenge my understanding of the world around me and strive toward figuring out the unknown.” Paul Caldo isn’t your typical undergraduate student. As a junior, Caldo is double majoring in Biology and Psychology, which gives him a unique perspective on science as a whole. It is in the overlap between his majors, however, that most interests him. “I am fascinated with development in both psychology and biology because the early stages of life lay the foundation for who and what you will become,” he…
Sep. 14, 2017
Bond Life Sciences grant leads to revolutionary way to create vaccines
Researchers Jeffrey Adamovicz, Bret Ulery, and Dong Xu work together to develop a vaccine in a novel way. The trio received a Bond Life Sciences Center seed grant to fund their interdisciplinary research. | Photo by Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC By Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC What happens when a chemical engineer, a computer scientist, and an immunologist walk into a lab? Vaccines are created faster and cheaper. At least this trio hopes that’s the answer. Bond Life Sciences Center computer scientist Dong Xu joined forces with immunologist Jeffery Adamovicz and chemical engineer Bret Ulery for the…
Sep. 8, 2017
A Ph.D. in structural virology
Anna Gres studies HIV capsid protein using X-ray crystallography. She recently finished her five-year research project at the Bond Life Sciences Center. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC Gres reflects on the dissertation in HIV research By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC Ph.D. candidate Anna Gres frequently described her success at the Bond Life Sciences Center as being lucky. “It was challenging and stressful, but I think everything worked out well for me and I was lucky in a way. I was fortunate to get to the good labs, interact with great people, attend courses,…
Sep. 5, 2017
Into muscles
Rebecca Craigg, an undergraduate biology major, studies muscle regeneration in D Cornelison’s lab. | Photo by Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC Undergrad’s passion spurred by mice muscle regeneration research By: Samantha Kummerer | Bond LSC Uncertainty and curiosity led Rebecca Craigg to work in a lab. As a first-generation college student with an interest in science but no idea what undergraduate research entailed, her path at the University of Missouri landed her in the Bond Life Sciences Center and the lab of D Cornelison. “I honestly thought undergraduate research meant you just followed around someone like…
Aug. 31, 2017
Women Power At Bond LSC
Melissa Mitchum, D Cornelison and Cheryl Rosenfeld (from left to right) of Bond Life Sciences Center were promoted to full professor on September 1, 2017. Three Promoted to Full Professor By MJ Rogers, Bond LSC Scientific success largely hinges on research results, and four recent promotions at Bond Life Sciences Center celebrate that achievement. Cheryl Rosenfeld, D Cornelison and Melissa Mitchum of Bond Life Sciences Center were promoted to full professor as of September 1, while Laurie Erb received a promotion as a non-tenure-track research professor. They are the first…
Aug. 30, 2017
Emilia Asante #IAmScience
“#IAmScience because looking into the unknown and coming up with a plan to take a stab at answering it is so fascinating.” No one in Emilia Asante’s family works in a science field or attended graduate school. “As an immigrant from Ghana, my family was unaware of the American educational system,” she said. “So many of my academic journeys were unknown and I had to navigate it by myself. I was always interested in science and with the help of programs such as the Lang Youth Medical program when I was in…