Category Archives: Biochemistry

Biochemistry

Postdoctoral Fellow in Plant Protein Biochemistry job with … – Times Higher Education

Job description

The University of Stavanger invites applicants fora two-year position as PostdoctoralFellow in Plant Protein Biochemistryat the Faculty of Science and Technology,Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Engineering. The position is vacant for appointment as soon as possible.

The objective of the position is to strengthen research, and to give researchers/scholars holding a doctoral degree the opportunity for further qualification toward top academic positions.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will be affiliated with the project The machinery positioning chlorophyll in Cytochrome b6f .

The focus of the work is on the isolation of membrane protein complexes, the regulation of protein subunit translation in-vivo and in-vitro, and the assembly of the protein subunits into an enzymatically active complex.

The position is funded by The Reseach Council of Norway.

The qualifyingproject will be carried out at the University of Stavanger.It is assumed that the appointee will work full time on the project and that she/he will participate in the academic community.

Yourapplication must contain a competence assessment. Please outline your current contributions in the experimental sciences, and how working on the project will add to your competence.

In the project, proteins binding to ribosomes, nascent polypeptide chains, and chlorophyll are investigated during the assembly of Cytochrome b6f. The project description and a detailed experimental plan are drawn up in consultation with the project leader during the first three months of the employment period. It is a prerequisite that you complete the project during the employment period.

You must have a Ph.D. with a specialisation relevant for the project. The Ph.D.thesis must have beensubmitted for evaluation within the application deadline for the position and approved before accession.

In addition you should have:

You must have a good command of both oral and written English.

In the assessment the following criteria will be emphasized:

University of Stavanger values independence, involvementand innovation. Diversity is respected and considered a resource in our work and learning environment. Universal design characterises physical and digital learning environments, and we strive to provide reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities.

You are encouraged to apply regardless of gender, disability or cultural background.

More information on the position can be obtained from Professor Lutz Eichacker, tel: +47 51 83 18 96, e-mail:lutz.eichacker@uis.noor Head of Department Ingunn W. Jolma, e-mail:ingunn.w.jolma@uis.no.

Information about the appointment procedure can be obtained from HR-advisor Rosa Andrade, tel: +47 51 83 11 91,e-mail:rekruttering@uis.no.

To apply for this position please follow the link "Apply for this job". Yourapplication letter, relevant education and work experience as well as language skills must be registered here. In the application letter, you must state your research interestsand motivation for the position.

The following documents must be uploaded as attachments to your application:

Applications are evaluated based on the information available in Jobbnorge on the application deadline. You should ensure that your application shows clearly how your skills and experience meet the criteria which are set out above.

The documentation must be available in either a Scandinavian language or in English. If the total size of the attachments exceeds 30 MB, they must be compressed before upload.

Please note that information on applicants may be published even if the applicant has requested not to be included in the official list of applicants - seeSection 25 of the Freedom of Information Act.If your request is not granted, you will be notified.

UiS only considers applications and attachments registered in Jobbnorge.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. If your application is considered to be in conflict with the criteria in the latter legislation, it willbe rejected without further assessment.

Employment as Postdoctoral Fellowis regulated in"Regulations concerning terms and conditions of employment for the posts of post-doctoral research fellow and research fellow, research assistant and resident".

Your qualificationsfor the position, based on documentation registered in Jobbnorge, will be assessed by an internalexpert committee.Based on the committee's statement, relevant applicants will be invited to an interview before any recommendations are made. References will also be obtained for relevant candidates.More about the hiring process onour website.

UiS has an Acquisition of Rights Agreement for the purpose of securing rights to intellectual property created by its employees, includingresearch results.

It is a prerequisite that you havea residence which enables you to be present at/available to the academic community during ordinary working hours.

The position has been announced in both Norwegian and English. In the case of differences of meaning between the texts, the English text takes precedence.

The University of Stavanger (UiS) has about 12,000 students and 2,200 employees.The university has high ambitions.We strive to have an innovative and international profile, and be a driving force in knowledge development and in the process of societal change.Our common direction is driven by considerationfor green and sustainable change and equitable social development, through new ways of managing natural resources and facilitating better cities and local communities. Energy, health and welfare, learning for life are our focus areas.

In constant collaboration and dialogue with our surroundings, regionally, nationally and internationally, we enjoy an open andcreative climate for education, research, innovation, dissemination and museum activities. Academic life at the University of Stavanger is organised into six facultiescomprising various departments/schools and National Research Centres, as well as the Museum of Archaeology.We are a member of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities. The university is located in the most attractive region in the country with more than 300,000 inhabitants. The Stavanger region has a dynamic labour market and exciting cultural and leisure activities.

Together with our staff and studentswe will challenge the well-known and explore the unknown.

The Faculty of Science and Technologyoffers study programs at bachelor, master and doctoral level. The faculty has established close cooperation on research withNORCE (Norwegian Research Centre AS)and the regional industry. A number of master's and doctoral theses are made in collaboration with the industry. The faculty has established research collaborations with universities in the US and Europe, and has developed several academic environments that are at the forefront internationally.The faculty has about 2,800 students and approximately 500 employees at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Structural Engineering and Materials Science, Department of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering,Department of Energy Resourcesand the Department ofSafety, Economicsand Planning.

The Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technologyoffers study programs at all levels within the areas Biological Chemistry, Chemistry and Environment. Thedepartment is responsible for basic tuition in chemistry at the faculty. There are currently about 60employees including doctoral and postdoctoral fellows, and 230students at the department.

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Postdoctoral Fellow in Plant Protein Biochemistry job with ... - Times Higher Education

Biochemistry

Experiential learning, access to opportunities highlighted at Board of … – Virginia Tech Daily

More than two-thirds of Virginia Tech students complete internships during their college careers, significantly increasing the likelihood that theyll land successfully in a job after college or pursue graduate education. With the implementation of the Bridge Experience Program as the universitys Quality Enhancement Plan in 2020, Virginia Tech has continued to make work-based experiential learning, which include internships and similar co-op experiences, central to its hands-on, minds-on approach to undergraduate education.

We want to make sure internships and other experiential learning opportunities are happening for all our students and that it helps them to be successful after graduation, Kim Filer, associate vice provost for teaching and learning, told the Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee at a panel discussion Monday highlighting issues of access to experiential learning.

During the panel discussion and board meetings, where the Board of Visitors examined access and affordability across the university, Filer indicated that barriers to experiential learning typically results from one of the four Cs cost, communication, curricula, and capacity.

Panelist Donna Westfall-Rudd, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education, part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, agreed that cost is a barrier for many of her students from rural communities, adding, Theyre often limited in options they have for paid experiences. Alumni from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences reported that financial assistance would have helped them pursue more experiential learning opportunities while at Virginia Tech.

According to research from Virginia Techs Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), in-state students from rural areas are the least likely to participate in a paid internship, deterred by housing and relocation costs or the summer tuition required to get curricular credit for an internship.

To overcome barriers related to communication and curricula and deliver on the universitys commitment to engage students in active learning outside the classroom, the Bridge Experience Program works to integrate experiential learning into departmental curricula so that students can identify desirable opportunities early on through guided exploration in class. Research indicates that students thrive when they can apply classroom learning in professional contexts.

Ann Brown, assistant professor of biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a participant in the Bridge Experience Program, shared with board members how her department looked really deeply at where majors from biochemistry are going from Virginia Tech and around the country, then created ways for them to explore internship and research opportunities, initially in the First-Year Experience (FYE) course and continuing in a second-semester biochemistry FYE course, which includes a course-embedded undergraduate research experience.

To help students effectively craft their bridge experience plan, an optional sophomore-year career prep course brings in guest speakers from a wide variety of biochemistry career paths. Some students need more guidance about what you can do with a degree in biochemistry, said Brown. The experience is also important in helping students see that a certain path sometimes may not be best for them or fit their career interests. This is an important part of the experiential learning process as well.

Though her years at Virginia Tech have been peppered with bridge experiences like internships, study abroad, and undergraduate research, panel member Madeline Eberhardt, a senior in English, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, with a pre-education option, said students in smaller majors like hers need additional support to find internships that might guide a career path.

Currently, Eberhardt interns with CETL, one of several internships and undergraduate research assistantships she's completed. Yet shes mindful of peers and alumni who lacked access to such work-based experiential learning. We need to provide all students with a path forward, she said.

Of the four Cs that inhibit experiential learning, capacity may be the most pervasive and is a support area of emphasis for Virginia Tech. We need to develop more opportunities, and the university is committed to providing those for students, Filer said. Regardless of your discipline or major, we are working to create the capacity to give students these important and engaged learning experiences.

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Experiential learning, access to opportunities highlighted at Board of ... - Virginia Tech Daily

Biochemistry

Global Hemp Group Announces Appointment of Dr. Herbert Fritsche, Former Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Section…

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 22, 2023) - GLOBAL HEMP GROUP INC.(CSE: GHG) (OTC Pink: GBHPF)(FSE: GHG) ("GHG" or the "Company")is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Herbert Fritsche to the Company's Advisory Board as its Chief Scientific Advisor. Dr. Fritsche is a world-renowned Clinical Chemist and former Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Section at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for 41 years.

Dr. Fritsche served as an invited consultant/advisor to the Food and Drug Administration, the National Cancer Institute, the Laboratory Practice Guidelines Committee for the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, the Editorial Board of six international scientific journals, and as a consultant to many major international diagnostic companies. Previously, he served on the Expert Panel for developing Tumor Marker Practice Guidelines for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) from its inception until his retirement from MD Anderson Cancer Center.

His awards include the Johnson and Johnson Award for Outstanding Research and Contributions to Clinical Biochemistry from the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, the Abbott-ISOBM Award for Outstanding Research in Oncology, the Morton K. Schwartz Award for Outstanding Achievements in the field of Cancer Diagnostics from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry ("AACC"), the Carl Jolliff Award for Lifetime Achievements in Immunology and Immunodiagnostics from the Immunology Division of the AACC, the Morton K. Schwartz Award for significant contributions to the development of cancer diagnostics from the New York Metro Division of the AACC, the Outstanding Clinical Chemist Award by the Texas Section of the AACC, the National Award for Contributions in Education by the AACC, the Dean's Excellence Award from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science, and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Clinical Ligand Assay Society ("CLAS").

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Dr. Fritsche has served as President of the CLAS and various national committees for both the CLAS and AACC. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry.

He has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, invited articles and book chapters, and participated in the validation and FDA clearance process for many commercial serum cancer markers currently in use in the United States. Dr. Fritsche holds three patents and two patents pending.

Dr. Fritsche has lectured extensively for many years at international and national meetings of medical and professional societies, and he is recognized internationally as an expert in the field of clinical chemistry, cancer diagnostics and laboratory medicine.

Dr Fritsche stated, "I am pleased to continue working with Stephen Barnhill, Jr. and I look forward to now working with him to expand GHG's efforts to sublicense the exclusively licensed unique intellectual property from Apollon Formularies, plc on the natural biologic pharmaceutical formulations for cancer, inflammatory diseases and chronic pain, thereby, increasing accessibility of these products to help patients around the world where they are legal."

"Dr. Fritsche is a highly respected international authority in clinical chemistry and one of the world's leading experts on cancer biomarkers, whom I have had the honor of working with for more than 10 years. We are extremely pleased that he has agreed to join GHG's Advisory Board as our Chief Scientific Advisor ("CSA")," stated Stephen D. Barnhill, Jr. CEO of Global Hemp Group, "As GHG's CSA, Dr. Fritsche will be leading all scientific aspects of GHG's global licensing program for the intellectual property portfolio GHG recently licensed from Apollon."

About Global Hemp Group Inc.

Global Hemp Group Inc. (CSE: GHG) (OTC Pink: GBHPF) (FSE: GHG) is focused on executing a multi-phased strategy to become a leader in the industrial hemp industry. To further support and innovate, GHG has established a R&D Division to actively pursue the development of Intellectual Property that can be patented for implementation at its projects and beyond. The Division is led by Prof. Vctor M. Castao, Ph.D., whose career has focused in the areas of applied science and technology. The R&D team will initially focus on development of Environmentally Friendly Construction Materials, Nano Fertilizers and Enhanced Extraction from Hemp.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Global Hemp Group Inc., including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, dependence upon regulatory approvals, the availability of future financing and exploration risk, and the legality of cannabis and hemp. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of Page 2 of 2 preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Global Hemp Group Inc. disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For Further Information Contact Global Hemp Group

Investor Relations

Tel: 778-726-2900 info@globalhempgroup.com

http://www.globalhempgroup.com

Subscribe to the GHG YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtjFn9dOyHMxJee-_37MTrw

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/globalhempgrp

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hemp_global/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hemp_Global

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18596421

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/159400

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Global Hemp Group Announces Appointment of Dr. Herbert Fritsche, Former Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Section...

Biochemistry

Protein Capture Innovation from WL Gore & Associates – BioProcess Insider

This interview features: William Barrett, PhD, Product Specialist, WL Gore & Associates.

William Barrett, PhD is a product specialist with WL Gore & Associates. He has over 20 years combined experience in biotechnology, chromatography, and the medical device industries. Most recently at WL Gore, Bills focused on affinity purification chromatography. Previously, Bill worked at Agilent on affinity depletion devices used in biomarker discovery and proteomics. He received a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Illinois and completed his fellowship in the Laboratory of Biochemistry at the National Heath, Lung, and Blood Institute at the NIH.

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Protein Capture Innovation from WL Gore & Associates - BioProcess Insider

Biochemistry

Exploring marine science at the cellular level – ASBMB Today

How do you end up studying how stingray venom affects cancer cells?

For Karlie Tischendorf, it all began when a high school English teacher assigned each student to learn about and present on any topic of their choice. Tischendorf saw this as a blank check to satisfy her curiosity about coral bleaching. After a deep dive into this process, she knew she had to get involved in marine biology.

Brooke Leuking

Now a senior at Purdue University, Tischendorf started her undergraduate career as an aquatic science major, but after a few classes, she was unsatisfied she wanted to understand marine life on the microscopic level. She shared her discontent with her mentor, and after reviewing the possible options and receiving additional guidance from her adviser, Tischendorf changed her major to biochemistry with a minor in aquatic science. She also has a second minor in Spanish.

Atlantic stingrayin an aquarium.

In 2022, Tischendorf spent 10 weeks as an intern at the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida. Designed in partnership with the National Science Foundation, the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program gives undergraduates a concise and hands-on experience in real-world marine research. She worked with long-time Mote Labs researchers Cathy Walsh and Carl Luer on extracting venom from stingrays. Its a challenging process; in other organisms, venom is stored in a gland, but stingray venom is stored in tissue cells in the spine.

To learn about the therapeutic potential of compounds in the venom, Tischendorf used a variety of assays to determine how it would affect cells isolated from a mouse with fibrosarcoma, a malignant cancer. While this project still has a ways to go, Walsh said, The initial results are exciting and gave us the interest to want to continue going further.

This is one of five research projects Tischendorf has worked on as an undergraduate. Her advice to students interested in science is to find habits that work for them individually, be patient with themselves and beware of making unhealthy comparisons. She also advises, Say yes to opportunities as they come up because you really dont know where its going to lead you.

When her adviser encouraged Tischendorf to apply to be outreach co-chair in the biochemistry club even though shed never attended a meeting she followed her own advice. As a result, she met more peers and built meaningful relationships. To this day, she says it was one of the best things that could have ever happened.

Similarly, she said changing her major to biochemistry was a shot in the dark. But that shot led her to a plethora of experiences, each preparing her for her next opportunity. After her graduation in May, Tischendorf said shell take a gap year before applying to Ph.D. programs that allow her to delve deeper into marine ecotoxicology. Shes also been working toward her scuba certification so she can spend time diving around St. Kitts and Nevis as well as Turks and Caicos.

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Exploring marine science at the cellular level - ASBMB Today

Biochemistry

Photosynthesis ‘hack’ could lead to new ways of generating renewable energy – Phys.org

Researchers have hacked the earliest stages of photosynthesis, the natural machine that powers the vast majority of life on Earth, and discovered new ways to extract energy from the process, a finding that could lead to new ways of generating clean fuel and renewable energy. Credit: Robin Horton

Researchers have 'hacked' the earliest stages of photosynthesis, the natural machine that powers the vast majority of life on Earth, and discovered new ways to extract energy from the process, a finding that could lead to new ways of generating clean fuel and renewable energy.

An international team of physicists, chemists and biologists, led by the University of Cambridge, was able to study photosynthesisthe process by which plants, algae and some bacteria convert sunlight into energyin live cells at an ultrafast timescale: a millionth of a millionth of a second.

Despite the fact that it is one of the most well-known and well-studied processes on Earth, the researchers found that photosynthesis still has secrets to tell. Using ultrafast spectroscopic techniques to study the movement of energy, the researchers found the chemicals that can extract electrons from the molecular structures responsible for photosynthesis do so at the initial stages, rather than much later, as was previously thought. This 'rewiring' of photosynthesis could improve ways in which it deals with excess energy, and create new and more efficient ways of using its power. The results are reported in the journal Nature.

"We didn't know as much about photosynthesis as we thought we did, and the new electron transfer pathway we found here is completely surprising," said Dr. Jenny Zhang from Cambridge's Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, who coordinated the research. Despite the fact that it is one of the most well-known and well-studied processes on Earth, researchers from the University of Cambridge have found that photosynthesis still has secrets to tell. Using ultrafast spectroscopic techniques to study the movement of energy, the researchers found the chemicals that can extract electrons from the molecular structures responsible for photosynthesis do so at the initial stages, rather than much later, as was previously thought. This rewiring of photosynthesis could improve ways in which it deals with excess energy, and create new and more efficient ways of using its power. Credit: Mairi Eyres

While photosynthesis is a natural process, scientists have also been studying how it could be used as to help address the climate crisis, by mimicking photosynthetic processes to generate clean fuels from sunlight and water, for example.

Zhang and her colleagues were originally trying to understand why a ring-shaped molecule called a quinone is able to 'steal' electrons from photosynthesis. Quinones are common in nature, and they can accept and give away electrons easily. The researchers used a technique called ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy to study how the quinones behave in photosynthetic cyanobacteria.

"No one had properly studied how this molecule interplays with photosynthetic machineries at such an early point of photosynthesis: we thought we were just using a new technique to confirm what we already knew," said Zhang. "Instead, we found a whole new pathway, and opened the black box of photosynthesis a bit further."

Using ultrafast spectroscopy to watch the electrons, the researchers found that the protein scaffold where the initial chemical reactions of photosynthesis take place is 'leaky', allowing electrons to escape. This leakiness could help plants protect themselves from damage from bright or rapidly changing light.

"The physics of photosynthesis is seriously impressive," said co-first author Tomi Baikie, from Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory "Normally, we work on highly ordered materials, but observing charge transport through cells opens up remarkable opportunities for new discoveries on how nature operates."

"Since the electrons from photosynthesis are dispersed through the whole system, that means we can access them," said co-first author Dr. Laura Wey, who did the work in the Department of Biochemistry, and is now based at the University of Turku, Finland. "The fact that we didn't know this pathway existed is exciting, because we could be able to harness it to extract more energy for renewables." Researchers have hacked the earliest stages of photosynthesis, the natural machine that powers the vast majority of life on Earth, and discovered new ways to extract energy from the process, a finding that could lead to new ways of generating clean fuel and renewable energy. Credit: Tomi Baikie

The researchers say that being able to extract charges at an earlier point in the process of photosynthesis, could make the process more efficient when manipulating photosynthetic pathways to generate clean fuels from the Sun. In addition, the ability to regulate photosynthesis could mean that crops could be made more able to tolerate intense sunlight.

"Many scientists have tried to extract electrons from an earlier point in photosynthesis, but said it wasn't possible because the energy is so buried in the protein scaffold," said Zhang. "The fact that we can steal them at an earlier process is mind-blowing. At first, we thought we'd made a mistake: it took a while for us to convince ourselves that we'd done it."

Key to the discovery was the use of ultrafast spectroscopy, which allowed the researchers to follow the flow of energy in the living photosynthetic cells on a femtosecond scalea thousandth of a trillionth of a second.

"The use of these ultrafast methods has allowed us to understand more about the early events in photosynthesis, on which life on Earth depends," said co-author Professor Christopher Howe from the Department of Biochemistry.

More information: Jenny Zhang, Photosynthesis re-wired on the pico-second timescale, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05763-9. http://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05763-9

Journal information: Nature

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Photosynthesis 'hack' could lead to new ways of generating renewable energy - Phys.org

Biochemistry

The Winnemucca District Office welcomes a new district manager – Bureau of Land Management

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. - The Bureau of Land Management, Nevada has selected Sam Burton as the new Winnemucca District Manager. Mr. Burton previously served as the Field Manager for Helium Operations in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) New Mexico, Amarillo Field Office.

Im happy to announce Sam Burton as the Winnemucca district manager. He is a proven leader and has a great understanding of our multiple-use mission that will be a great asset to one of the most important Districts in the agency, Jon Raby, BLM Nevada State Director, said.

The Winnemucca District Office manages around 8.2 million acres located in Humboldt and Pershing counties and portions of Washoe, Lyon and Churchill counties in the northwest corner of Nevada. Many of the District responsibilities encompass mine permitting, wild horse and burro management, special recreation permitting (SRP) including the Burning Man permit, which is the largest SRP in the BLM.

During his BLM career Mr. Burton has also served as the AFM for Minerals in BLM's Northeastern States Field Office in Milwaukee, WI. In this position he managed BLM's mineral resources and oil and gas programs in 20 northeastern states with oversight for lead, gold, coal, and dimension stone.

Mr. Burton was born in Eschwege, Germany and grew up traveling extensively around Europe in a military family (U.S. Army) serving overseas. He spent his high school and college years living in Sierra Vista, AZ and Tucson AZ. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona.

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The Winnemucca District Office welcomes a new district manager - Bureau of Land Management

Biochemistry

Obesity May Exacerbate Breast Cancer Risk in Women with BRCA … – Weill Cornell Medicine Newsroom

Obesity may spur DNA damage in the breast tissue of women who carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, possibly contributing to breast cancer development in this already high-risk group, according to new multi-institutional translational research led by Weill Cornell Medicine scientists.

The study, published in the Feb. 22 issue of Science Translational Medicine, suggests that weight management and medications that impact metabolic health may be an important part of preventive care for women with these genetic mutations, although further research is needed.

Obesity and poor metabolic health are known breast cancer risk factors in the general population, but whether these modifiable risk factors contribute to breast cancer development in BRCA mutation carriers has been largely unknown, said senior study author Dr. Kristy A. Brown, the Emilie Lippmann and Janice Jacobs McCarthy Research Scholar in Breast Cancer and an associate professor of biochemistry in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Dr. Kristy Brown

Prior findings from epidemiological studies of the impact of body weight on breast cancer development in BRCA mutation carriers are unclear, said the papers first author Dr. Priya Bhardwaj, who was a doctoral candidate in the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences when the current research was being conducted. Our research provides clinicians with mechanistic evidence of the possible benefits of intervening on the metabolic side of the breast cancer disease process, she said.

The researchers analyzed noncancerous breast tissue samples from patients with either BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations who had undergone mastectomy. The study population included women who had a body mass index (BMI) in the lower range of below 25 kg/m2 and those with a BMI of 25 or higher, categorized as overweight or obese.

Using immunofluorescence, the researchers found that higher BMI in women with BRCA mutations was positively correlated with DNA damage in the milk glands. They determined that the metabolic hormones leptin and insulin, and the hormone estrogen, which is commonly linked with breast cancer growth, were drivers of this DNA damage.

Furthermore, the scientists found that they could reduce DNA damage in tissue samples in the lab by exposing them to metformin. This drug, commonly used to manage type 2 diabetes, is also known to suppress the expression of aromatasean enzyme that is responsible for estrogen biosynthesis.

Metformin is an attractive option to study because it has very limited side effects, and we can think about the possibility of using it in a risk reduction setting, Dr. Brown said. However, we still need to determine which biomarkers can be used as clear indications of risk reduction in this patient population, beyond closely following people for cancer development.

In addition to their tissue studies, the researchers assessed mice with BRCA1 mutations to better understand whether an increase in DNA damage is associated with cancerous tumor growth. The scientists found that obese mice with metabolic dysfunction had higher rates of tumor formation than lean mice. Not only did obese mice develop tumors earlier, but they also developed tumors at a higher incidence overall by the end of the study, Dr. Bhardwaj said.

Overall, this study contributes to a better appreciation of the effects of lifestyle, obesity and metabolic health on cancer development in high-risk populations, Dr. Brown said. The researchers plan to further study the mechanisms that drive DNA damage in the breast tissue of women withBRCA mutations and hope to encourage the clinical study of lifestyle changes or metformin in these patients.

This line of research may go beyond BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, Dr. Brown said. It may also have an impact on other hereditary cancers or cancer types.

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Obesity May Exacerbate Breast Cancer Risk in Women with BRCA ... - Weill Cornell Medicine Newsroom

Biochemistry

Students win College of Science Catalyst Competition with idea to … – Clemson News

March 21, 2023March 21, 2023

When Clemson University first-year student Devin Casper had a wreck with his brother in the car, it scared him.

Caspers 2010 Suburu WRX STi wasnt equipped with a computer-assisted driver notification system commonly found in vehicles today that alerts drivers if they are about to hit something.

We were lucky. Neither of us was hurt. But it got me thinking of ways to improve the safety of older cars, said Casper, who is majoring in mechanical and computer engineering.

He and his roommate Soren Spina, a first-year biochemistry student, turned those concerns into the winning idea in the College of Sciences Catalyst Competition. The entrepreneurial challenge culminated on March 15 when student teams pitched their innovative ideas to a panel of judges in the Watt Family Innovation Center.

The pair won $2,500 for their Octasight Automotive Safety System, which is a wireless, interactive hub-based system of sensors that alerts drivers of obstacles before they hit them. In addition to the monetary prize, the winners get the chance to compete in the University-wide

Spiro Institutes University Pitch Smackdown on April 14.

We believe this product can go to market, Spina said.

Casper told the judges that basic computer-assisted driver notification systems started to appear in higher-end vehicles in 2015 and in economy cars in 2017.

He said 127 million of the 211 million cars on the road today are models older than 2014.

Sixty percent of Americans are driving without these features, he said. They said the primary audience for their product would be drivers of cars without sensor systems and parents of young drivers who want that extra layer of protection for their children.

Previous attempts to put computer-assisted driver notification systems in cars that werent factory-equipped required vehicular modification, were difficult to install, had limited features, were wired and were not reliable.

The pair came up with Octasight, a wireless, interactive hub-based system of eight lidar sensors one on each corner and side face of the vehicle. The device has an integrated charging dock. The main hub displays data and provides visual and tactile alerts to the driver.

Spina said other features could be integrated into Octasight in the future, including blind spot monitoring, thermal cameras and intruder detection.

Were going to continue to work on the product, even tomorrow. Well do more prototypes and further market research. Well be speaking to more experts, he said. We have a ton of ideas to expand the product and make it more versatile. Were looking forward to seeing where it can go.

Second place went to Susan Davis, a sophomore biological sciences student, for SafeStraws, which could detect substances in drinks, including common date rape drugs or even the amount of sugar. The straw would use litmus and pH paper and change colors if something was detected.

Sabrina Melendez-Rosales, a senior majoring in biology and genetics, won third place for Diaband, a skin-like product that would use Hirudin, a compound found in leech saliva, to promote wound healing in diabetics by helping to restore blood flow to the injured area.

College Connect by Liza Moise, a junior biology major; Elizabeth White, a junior language and international health major; and Simone Boles, an international health major; received honorable mention. College Connect is an online platform that provides college students with a place to share their mental health challenges and emotions anonymously.

The Catalyst Competition, which launched in 2021, is a two-semester program in which participating student teams receive support through entrepreneurial-related educational workshops, professional consultants and faculty advisers.

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Biochemistry

Examining properties that allow moons to retain liquid water and possibly enable life – Phys.org

by Exzellenzcluster Origins

Liquid water is one of the most important ingredients for the emergence of life as we know it on Earth. Researchers of the ORIGINS Cluster from the fields of astrophysics, astrochemistry and biochemistry have now determined in a novel, interdisciplinary collaboration the necessary properties that allow moons around free-floating planets to retain liquid water for a sufficiently long time and thus enable life.

The study is published in the International Journal of Astrobiology.

For the emergence of life on Earth, liquid water was a crucial component. Since only one planet is known so far to have given rise to life, the scientists assume that also elsewhere the presence of liquid water plays a pivotal role in the chemical evolution that can lead to the emergence of life.

In and outside our solar system, the habitable zone defines an annular region around the central star in which planets are neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water. Moons can also be habitableeven if they belong to planets beyond the habitable zone. In that case, however, they must have a heat source other than stellar heat, such as changing tidal forces. Indeed, Saturn's moon Enceladus has an ocean of liquid water hidden beneath its ice crust thanks to tidal heating.

The discovery of dozens of free-flying planets (FFPs) in our galaxy has changed our understanding of the early evolution of planetary systems and theories of planet formation. These lonely wanderers were probably ejected from their planetary systems by dynamic instabilities and thus no longer have a parent star. However, if they have moons in tight orbits, they can gravitationally bind them. This works best for Jupiter-like planets with Earth-sized moons. In this way, new, unexpected places emerge where life could form.

In a previous study of liquid water on moons of starless planets, researchers from the ORIGINS cluster demonstrated that Earth-sized moons around Jupiter-like planets may indeed have liquid water. Their results suggested that the amount of water possible on the lunar surfaces is only a fraction of the total volume of all terrestrial oceans, which is still a hundred times the water content of Earth's atmosphere. This amount is already enough to enable the chemical processes that can lead to life. Local wet-dry cycles (evaporation and condensation), as recently shown in a study of the first stages in the evolution by ORIGINS scientists, provide the necessary chemical complexity that could promote the accumulation of molecules and the polymerization of RNA.

The orbit of exomoons around FFPs becomes less eccentric and thus more circular over time. This reduces the tidal forces and thus the heating efficiency. In a unique collaboration, Ph.D. student Giulia Roccetti (ESO, previously a Master's student at LMU), under the guidance of ORIGINS scientists, Prof. Barbara Ercolano (LMU, Astrophysics), Dr. Karan Molaverdikhani (LMU), Dr. Tommaso Grassi (MPE, Astrochemistry) and Prof. Dieter Braun (LMU, Biochemistry), developed a new, realistic model that can calculate the evolution of lunar orbits over long timescales. These are timescales of several billion years, as required for the evolution of life.

"In this way," Giulia Roccetti explains, "we found that exomoons with small orbital radii not only have the best chance of surviving their planet's ejection from its planetary system, but also remain eccentric for the longest period of time and thus can optimally produce tidal heat." In addition, dense atmospheres favor the preservation of liquid water. In summary, Earth-sized moons with Venus-like atmospheres in close orbits around their orphan planets are interesting new candidates for habitable worlds.

More information: Giulia Roccetti et al, Presence of liquid water during the evolution of exomoons orbiting ejected free-floating planets, International Journal of Astrobiology (2023). DOI: 10.1017/S1473550423000046

Journal information: International Journal of Astrobiology

Provided by Exzellenzcluster Origins

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Examining properties that allow moons to retain liquid water and possibly enable life - Phys.org