#IAmScience
Aug. 29, 2024
Plant biochemist puts down new roots at Bond LSC
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Joe Lynch, Bond LSC principal investigator and assistant professor of Plant Science & Technology poses inside Bond LSC. | Photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC Whether growing plants in his garden or experimenting with moon dust, Joe Lynch is on the lookout for his next DIY project. As one of the newest principal investigators at Bond LSC and a MizzouForward hire, the plant biochemist brings a curiosity as he embarks on a new chapter at Mizzou. He is eager to dive deep into understanding how plants use aromatic amino acids to survive…
Aug. 6, 2024
Virologist joins Bond LSC, takes on LIDR leadership
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Anthony Griffiths is the new director of Mizzou’s Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research and a new Bond LSC principal investigator. | Photo by Braiden Wade Growing up in ’70s and ’80s Britain, 10-year-old Anthony Griffiths’ brain had the dangers of rabies seared into it during European vacations. At the time, rabies hadn’t made its way to Britain but was present throughout the continent, and the public service announcement posters were a fearful reminder to remain vigilant. While messages warning against smuggling unquarantined pets into the country scared most children with statements…
Aug. 1, 2024
Fishing cat genetic research paves the way for animal conservation
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Rachel Carroll, research specialist in the Wes Warren lab at Bond LSC, stands with magazine cover for her study on fishing cats. | Photo by Braiden Wade As animals face increasing pressure from habitat loss and changing climate in the wild, zoos worldwide strive to reinforce diversity for at-risk populations among their inhabitants. So, when Rachel Carroll took charge of creating a genetic blueprint for the fishing cat — a feline native to Southeast Asia — she had one eye toward helping the often-overlooked “grumpy, overgrown house cat.” “We’re hoping that we…
July 23, 2024
Scientist sees legacy in search for cryptic Covid-19 strain origin
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Marc Johnson, a principal investigator at Bond LSC, works at his desk. | Photo by Braiden Wade When Marc Johnson set out to find the source behind the mysterious combinations of coronavirus mutations he found in wastewater, he had no idea this work could one day be his legacy. “If there’s anything in my career that’s ever cited in 100 years, it will be this study,” said Johnson, a principal investigator at Bond Life Sciences Center. The research details how scientists narrowed a search for a cryptic lineage of SARS-CoV-2, the virus…
July 2, 2024
Mizzou researcher gains global insights through Fulbright opportunity
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Bing Yang is a Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator. | Photo by Braiden Wade, Bond LSC For a researcher passionate about making crops more resilient against diseases, working in a rapidly growing, influential country was a huge opportunity. Bing Yang, a Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator, put his knowledge into practice earlier this year in India thanks to a recent Fulbright Specialist Program award. “It was a very rich experience for me to go there and have that firsthand experience in a foreign country,” Yang said. Yang ran a…
June 25, 2024
Two years of research create lasting impact for Nigerian visiting scholar
By Sarah Rubinstein | Bond LSC Michael Arowolo is a visiting professor in the lab of Dong Xu, a Bond LSC principal investigator. | photo by Braiden Wade, Bond LSC The African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” can especially apply in science where that village includes mentors like Dong Xu, a Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator, who has trained hundreds of students and collaborators. Michael Arowolo, is among those mentored, having spent the past two years in Xu’s lab as a visiting scholar. In August, he will take that experience with him to…
July 15, 2022
#IAmScience Beatriz Praena Garcia
Photo by Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Art and science are often considered opposites, but Beatriz Praena Garcia sees overlap. “I think in this job you need to be very artistic,” Praena said. “I have a basic methodology to do the essays … then I read a little bit online. You can search in another paper and do some research to see how you can apply it to your work. You can be more creative, so it’s not always the same.” The postdoctoral researcher studies influenza vaccines in the Henry Wan lab, tackling them from three angles.
July 1, 2022
#IAmScience: Ajay Gupta
By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Photo by Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Ajay Gupta learned biology basics as a first year undergraduate on the bumpy bus ride from his small hometown to Punjab Agricultural University. Just a few hours’ ride, he made the most of his time before he returned home to help his family’s agricultural goods business. Working extra hours in the margins of his time has become a habit for Gupta. Now a plant science first year Ph.D. student in the Bing Yang lab and Department of Plant Science and Technology Millikan Endowment…
June 17, 2022
#IAmScience: Sam Yanders
By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC When Samantha Yanders stepped to the front of Monsanto Auditorium, she followed presentations from two researchers with three degrees each. Yanders only had three years of undergraduate research experience. Nevertheless, she pinned the microphone to her tie, ran her fingers through her short curly hair, and explained her research with a calm certainty to her voice. Having just finished her junior year as a plant science undergraduate, Yanders spent the first week of her summer sharing her passion for plants with fellow researchers during the 2022 Interdisciplinary Plant Group Symposium.
April 29, 2022
#IAmScience: Mengran Yang
By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Mengran Yang sat perched on a stool too tall for the cart of lush green tobacco plants in front of her. Behind towering shelves of lab equipment, she hunched over the plants and steadily pricked each leaf with a syringe. Yang works with Arabidopsis and tobacco plants to learn about plant immune systems as a postdoctoral fellow in the Gary Stacey lab. Her research focuses on signals plant cells send to coordinate a fight against pathogens. “I think it’s very interesting to see how plants can defend against the pathogens,”…
April 23, 2022
#IAmScience: Leah Lepore
By Karly Balslew | Bond LSC Exploring new places and diving into the world of the unknown can be intimidating. At a young age, Leah Lepore was immersed in this world and grew to love it. “The first time I left the country was to travel to Japan and it was an incredible culture shock,” said the current Chris Lorson lab member. “From my twelve-year-old perspective, I was learning about a different way of life but also drove my parents nuts because I would only eat McDonald’s while we were there.” An avid traveler,…
April 15, 2022
#IAmScience: Aijing Feng
By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Growing up in a humble beach town in China, Aijing Feng dreamed of following the footsteps of her idol and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Now halfway around the globe nimbly tapping a keyboard in her cubicle at the Bond Life Sciences Center, she realizes the shortcomings of her tech-giant fantasy. “For a commercial thing, you can have lots of money, you can earn lots of money, you can have [a] great life,” Feng said. “But when you [do] research, you can have ideas [that] something can change in your life.