Uncategorized, Page 6 // Bond Life Sciences Center

Nov. 4, 2022

Complementary Crafts: New Bond LSC investigators bring dual microbiology projects to the center

By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Wendy and Bill Picking tackle a stomach-churning area of science. Fascinated by the bacterium responsible for bacillary dysentery, Bill studies its structure and function, while Wendy aims to use information on that same bacterium for healing. “I do the vaccine stuff, but he’s a protein chemist. So the proteins…

Oct. 11, 2022

Mendoza lab receives $200,000 Pew Charitable Trusts grant for plant microbe nutrition collaboration

Pew Charitable Trusts may be best known for its non-partisan think tank subsidiary that focuses on demographic and social science issues, but its mission to improve public policy and inform bleeds over into support for science. David Mendoza — a Bond Life Sciences Center principal investigator and associate professor of plant sciences in the College…

Sept. 30, 2022

#IAmScience: Jaime Barros-Rios

By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC When Jaime Barros-Rios explains his work to others, he says he studies how plants make wood. All plants — from oaks down to daffodils and clovers — do, in fact, make wood …. or at least components of it. That component is lignin, a functional unit of plant cell…

Sept. 15, 2022

Becoming distinguished: Mittler awarded Board of Curators’ academic honor

By Roger Meissen | Bond LSC Bond Life Sciences Center’s Ron Mittler was recently named Curators’ Distinguished Professor by the University of Missouri System Board of Curators. This top honor is bestowed on professors for outstanding scholarship who have established substantial reputations within their field. “I am honored. Mizzou is such an amazing, supportive, and…

Sept. 13, 2022

Structural change: Singh moves into Bond LSC Investigator role with focus on drug and cellular interactions

By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Kamlendra Singh sat down in his fourth floor office as a Bond LSC Investigator for the first time on September first after nearly 14 years at the Bond Life Sciences Center studying HIV, COVID-19 and how the right molecule can interact to fight disease. Designer compounds are Singh’s specialty,…

Aug. 26, 2022

#IAmScience: Negin Manshour

Negin Manshour first stepped into biology research as an engineering student using robotic algorithms to simulate proteins. When she left academia for her nine-year career developing elevator systems, her fascination with biology never faded. “I always had it in my mind that I wanted to work with proteins or biological concepts,” Manshour said. Manshour, a…

Aug. 17, 2022

Cutting into CRISPR: Walking through the process driving plant research

Gene-editing is the pinnacle of a biologist’s toolbox, but often left unexplained it seems more magic than science. Growing rice from a small cluster of cells to 4-foot stalks can take six-months or more of planning and careful nurture. But how do scientists change the intricate genetic material in each cell of the plants? The…

June 9, 2022

Stacked stress: climate escalation increasingly compound plant mortality

By Karly Balslew | Bond LSC If the world can be taxing on a person as pressure mounts, just think about how stress must feel to plants. Humans can add a layer of clothing when cold or get a glass of water when thirsty, but plants do not share this simple luxury and must endure…

May 12, 2022

Picture-Perfect Science: Contest highlights best microscopic images of the year

By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC One step into the Advanced Light Microscopy Core (ALMC) sounds an automated bell prompting Alexander Jurkevich, the core’s director, to step out of his corner office into the open square room. With a friendly smile, Jurkevich coordinates biologists across MU’s campus to reveal the wonders of the microscopic world.…

April 8, 2022

#IAmScience: Dong Xu

Data connects all: ‘Champion collaborator’ Xu bridges research disciplines with bioinformatics By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Dong Xu extracts wonder from numbers with a keyboard and eager teams of scientists at his fingertips. With his salt-and-pepper hair visible above the cubicle walls and his voice softly but steadily articulated, the beauty of bioinformatics takes…