University of Missouri

Nov. 2, 2017

The Truth Behind BPA- Free Labels

Cheryl Rosenfeld, a Bond Life Sciences Center investigator and professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri. | photo by Jinghong Chen, Bond LSC What companies aren’t telling you about their merchandise By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC Bisphenol A, otherwise known as BPA, is used to make plastic containers, coats the inside your metal food cans, and leaches into your food and water. BPA has concerned scientists, health practitioners and the general public for many years because of its potential to mimic hormones and disrupt the developmental stages in animals. Opposition to the chemical…

Oct. 30, 2017

In a viral game, the fight isn’t fair

Lab explores how parvo wins in tug of war with cells Kinjal Majumder and David Pintel examine the protein levels in mouse cells during MVM infection. Each black band represents the amount of viral protein in infected cells over time. | Photo by Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC At the start of any tug of war game, the battle is even. But it doesn’t stay that way for long. After a back and forth, the inevitable happens — the stronger team gives the rope one last tug and send the…

Oct. 27, 2017

Vivek Shrestha #IAmScience

Vivek Shrestha, a Ph. D candidate, works in Dr. Ruthie Angelovici’s lab at Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC “#IAmScience because it provides me with a platform to make that which seems impossible possible.” Agriculture is a mainstay in Nepal, where Vivek Shrestha was born and raised. He grew up in a small farming family, but he was surprised that although a significant portion of the country was involved with agriculture, food insecurity was prevalent. “Nepal is a small, developing nation that is naturally beautiful,” Shrestha said. “Agriculture is huge, but still…

Oct. 23, 2017

Modifying molecules with lasers

Jay Thelen Brief by Roger Meissen| Bond LSC What do lasers have to do with food allergies? Bond LSC’s Jay Thelen was recently part of a team that looked at how short laser pulses might be used to modify peptides and proteins to make foods edible for those with specific allergies. Thelen, a biochemistry professor, joined scientists from his department, engineering and Denmark to explore this possibility. What they found was a way to modify molecules quicker and more cheaply than current chemical methods. This could potentially lower costs for specific applications in medicine, pharmacology,…

Oct. 20, 2017

Ronnie LaCombe #IAmScience

Ronnie LaCombe, a Ph. D candidate in biological sciences at MU, stands near her lab station in D Cornelison’s lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I feel most alive when I’m talking to people, both in and out of my field, about my work.” While other kids were playing with Legos and dolls, Ronnie LaCombe was exploring the world through a microscope. Alongside her cousins, LaCombe used science at an early age as both a way of learning and for entertainment. “I’ve…

Oct. 20, 2017

Expanding the limits of knowledge

Purva Patel presents her research on iron in plants during the undergraduate research fair. Patel works in Dr. Mendoza’s lab in the Bond Life Sciences Center. By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC Purva Patel grew up captivated by newspaper articles discussing a method to grow plants without soil called hydroponics. Today, she is one of the scientists mixing the mineral and nutrient solutions to plant seeds in this rapidly growing soil-less method. The University of Missouri senior spent the past year working in David Mendoza-Cózatl’s Bond Life Sciences lab. Her research, which started out as a capstone…

Oct. 17, 2017

A love story closes LSSP 2017

Jim Obergefell’s love endured through his partner’s death and all the way to the Supreme Court. Jim Obergefell speaks about winning the landmark Supreme Court case that granted equal marraige rights to same-sex couples. Obergefell received a standing ovation after his lecture. Photo by Eleanor Hasenbeck | Bond Life Sciences By Eleanor C. Hasenbeck | Bond Life Sciences Jim Obergefell had a destination wedding, but not by choice. On a chartered medical jet on a tarmac in Baltimore, Obergefell married John Arthur, his partner of 20 years, in a union that would result in…

Oct. 16, 2017

McKibben urges climate action in campus lecture

Bill McKibben explained the impact of increasing carbon emissions on the global climate and explored solutions to slowing the trend Bill McKibben responds to an audience member’s question at his lecture on Oct. 4 in Jesse Hall. The screen behind him shows demonstrators blocking an oil rig from leaving harbor. McKibben called them “kayak-tivists.” Photo by Eleanor Hasenbeck | Bond Life Sciences Bill McKibben responds to an audience member’s question at his lecture on Oct. 4 in Jesse Hall. The screen behind him shows demonstrators blocking an oil rig from leaving harbor. McKibben called them…

Oct. 13, 2017

Katy Guthrie #IAmScience

Katy Guthrie, a Ph.D. candidate, works in Dr. Paula McSteen’s lab in Bond LSC. | photo by Allison Scott, Bond LSC By Allison Scott | Bond LSC “#IAmScience because I want to take the knowledge I gain and teach it to other young scientists so they share in this excitement, too.” Katy Guthrie grew up as one of five girls. All five sisters took very different paths —one ended up in hospital management, another in marketing and advertising, one became an engineer and the other works in logistics for a start up. But Guthrie took a…

Oct. 13, 2017

The state of the American marriage

Eli Finkel explains not all modern marriages are getting worse. Finkel spoke about his new book, “The All-Or-Nothing Marriage”. | Photo by Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC “And they lived happily ever after. Like, what the hell?” Eli Finkel exclaimed. “That’s a foolish way of thinking. Really what you’re doing is stepping on the welcome mat of what’s actually going to be interesting, of what’s actually going to be challenging.” Finkel set out to write a book about how the quality of American marriages have declined. But while the modern marriage is…

Oct. 12, 2017

Examining the African American marriage

Charlandra Bryant reveals some of her findings on what influences African Americans’ marriage quality. Bryant spoke on the effects of health on African American couples on Saturday, Oct. 7. | Photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC By: Samantha Kummerer, Bond LSC “Race matters, even in marriage,” Charlandra Bryant said to open her talk on the marital functions of African American couples. Bryant asked the crowd that gathered for the Annual Life Sciences & Society Program Symposium on Saturday, October 7, to name successful African American couples. After naming the Obama’s, many people’s minds come up empty,…

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.