University of Missouri

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…

May 22, 2024

The power of iron

One University of Missouri researcher’s latest discovery, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed how a muscle cell’s mitochondria fail to generate enough energy for skeletal muscles due to one iron–sulfur protein. This understanding could one day help lead to treatments for diseases like Duchenne muscular dystrophy — the most common type of muscular dystrophy in children — and muscle deterioration associated with aging.

Aug. 4, 2023

Shrinking the Target: Developing Cancer Therapies

Michaela Beedy, Brian Thomas, and Margaret Beecher work on aptamers in the lab of Donald Burke. | Photo by Beni Adelstein, Bond LSC Shrinking the Target: Developing Cancer Therapies As cancer cells multiple and spread, doctors face finding treatments that destroy tumors while doing the least amount of damage. This search for precision in cancer therapies is for good reason. It takes only a few minutes in a chemotherapy clinic to see the detriment of cancer drugs on the rest of the body. “The issue with chemotherapeutic drugs is they have a lot of off-target effects,”…

July 25, 2022

Chemical Correspondence: MU researcher plays key role in overseas aptamer technology

By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Donald Burke is a principal investigator at the Bond Life Sciences Center. He is a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology and a joint professor of biochemistry. Photo by Lauren Hines | Bond LSC What started as an email correspondence between two aptamer enthusiasts rapidly snowballed into a hat trick of authorships for Donald Burke. “I was contacted by a student in India asking if I would be an external advisor for her Ph.D. committee,” said Burke, a principal investigator at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center. Burke’s extensive research with…

June 20, 2022

A Dual Focus: MU researcher earns $181,734 NIH grant and U.S. Public Health Service Award for COVID-19 research in the lab and on campus

By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Cynthia Tang is an M.D.-Ph.D. student in the Wan lab. Photo by Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Cynthia Tang’s academic career is marked by her propensity to multitask. From earning a major and three minors during her undergrad to making a documentary while getting lab and clinical experience, she makes the most of her time. Recently Tang received the Excellence in Public Health Award from the United States Public Health Service, and a $181.734 National Institutes of Health grant to be used over four years . . . all while getting…

June 6, 2022

Seeing the bigger picture through applied research projects

Investigators at Bond LSC take steps to apply basic research By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Photo by Lauren Hines | Bond LSC Scribbling in a lab notebook and planning experiments tucked between shelves of equipment, it’s easy to fixate on day-to-day lab operations. But scientists also face the challenge of finding how research can improve the world around us. “The direction, the vision of the lab, ultimately comes from the principal investigator that bridges the research into applied directions,” said Jay Thelen, biochemistry professor and Bond LSC principal investigator Despite the focus on basic…

April 20, 2022

Protein or Poison? Research into seed composition shows potential uses as protein source or insecticide

Hari Krishnan holds a handful of A. pavonina seeds. Known for their bright color, the seeds are known among many Asian and African communities as coming from the red bead tree. Photo by Cara Penquite | Bond LSC By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC An energetic and fulfilling day starts with a spread of healthy meals, and many people rely on nutrition labels to meet their daily quota of vitamins and nutrients. But how did scientists measure the Vitamin C in an orange or the protein content in peanuts for the label? Finding out…