Category Archives: Biochemistry

Biochemistry – | University of Utah

ResearchMay 30, 2018Dana Carroll Receives Governor's Medal

At a luncheon with Governor Herbert, Dana Carroll was awarded the 2018 Governor's Medal for Science and Technology. Congratulations Dana! "Read more" to see photos of the award lunch.... Read More

Biochemistry Senior Account Kay Willden retires after 43 years working at the University of Utah and 11 years in Biochemistry. Kay had a retirement open house on May 30th. A large number of people both from Biochemistry and other University departments stopped by to wish her well. Kay will be missed and we wish her the best in the next chapter of her life. "Read more" to see photos from the event.... Read More

University of Utah Health biochemist Dana Carroll, Ph.D., is one of four honorees who will be awarded the 2018 Governors Medal for Science and Technology. ... Read More

Featured on ideas.ted.com, view Janet's video animation that shows, for the first time, the life cycle of HIV on molecular scale.... Read More

We are very sad to note the passing of Eveline Bruenger. She will be missed. Eveline was a vibrant person and a great friend to the department, and she will live on in our departmental postdoctoral award that bears her name. ... Read More

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Recent graduate, Niladri Sinha, Ph.D. (Bass Lab) has been selected for a Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award to recognize outstanding achievement in Graduate Studies. Niladri will be participating in a one-day scientific symposium honoring Hal Weintraub and his commitment to innovative science. The annual Weintraub Award Symposium will be held Friday May 4, 2018 at Fred Hutch's lakeside Robert W. Day Campus. ... Read More

The 3D animation that brought to life Remy in "Ratatouille" and Woody in "Toy Story" is illustrating complex scientific concepts to tell stories of a different kind.... Read More

In a lab at the University of Utah, professor Dana Carroll's team is part of a worldwide effort to refine the technology.... Read More

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Biochemistry - | University of Utah

What can I do with a biochemistry degree? | Prospects.ac.uk

A biochemistry degree opens up a range of highly-skilled careers that incorporate aspects of both biology and medicine

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Take a few minutes to answer the Job Match quiz and find out what careers would suit you

Try Job Match

The practical and technical skills you develop during your biochemistry degree - through laboratory-based work and your final year research project - prepare you well for a research or technical position. Obtaining some work experience, for example a summer internship in a research laboratory or company, will help to boost your chances of finding a job.

Some universities provide a four-year undergraduate course that includes an industry/research placement year. This is usually undertaken in the pharmaceutical or biotechnical industries or a research institute. Opportunities also exist to take a placement abroad, expanding your career prospects. Work placements help develop key skills further and provide opportunities for building contacts and networking.

Whatever your career plans it is important to enhance your degree with extra skills and experiences, which show that you are a proactive person engaging with the world around you.

The main employers of biochemistry graduates in the public sector are:

Opportunities exist in government laboratories such as the Food & Environment Research Agency (FERA) and public health laboratories such as Public Health England.

Biochemistry graduates are also employed in industry. Typical employers include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food, water and agricultural companies. Small companies employ biochemists to provide specialist services, such as toxicological studies.

Other employers include scientific and medical publishers and the Intellectual Property Office (as patent examiners).

Find information on employers in science and pharmaceuticals, healthcare, teaching and education and other job sectors.

During your degree you develop specific skills associated with biochemistry, such as:

Other general skills include:

You can demonstrate your experience in these areas by giving examples from the practical work and group projects included in your degree course.

It is common for biochemists to continue their higher education if they are intending to develop a career in the biosciences. A PhD is essential for academic research or to secure a career as an academic lecturer. Even for those entering research in industry or associated careers such as publishing, science communication or clinical careers, further qualifications are an asset and increasingly essential.

If you are aiming for a career path away from science, for example in teaching, law, finance or other non-scientific careers, consider what kind of professional qualifications may stand you in good stead for getting into your chosen career. With a biochemistry degree you can also apply for graduate entry to medicine, dentistry and veterinary science.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interest you, see Masters degrees and search postgraduate courses.

A fifth of graduates are working in the UK either as biochemists, medical scientists or laboratory technicians.

More than a third of graduates go on to further study, a tenth of whom are studying towards clinical medicine.

Find out what other science graduates are doing six months after finishing their degrees in What Do Graduates Do?

Graduate destinations data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

graduate job

graduate job

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What can I do with a biochemistry degree? | Prospects.ac.uk

MCW: Biochemistry

The research interests of our faculty span a broad spectrum of biochemistry ranging from cell and developmental biology to structural biology. The unifying theme defining us is an interest in biological processes at the molecular level. The department is home to state of the art facilities and instruments for X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, fluorescence microscopy, to name just a few. A collaborative and collegial atmosphere makes the Biochemistry Department an ideal place to do science and train for a wide variety of biomedical science careers.

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MCW: Biochemistry

Biochemistry Molecular Biology | IU School of Medicine

Working in modern research facilities with advanced instrumentation, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine is working to understand the biochemical and molecular basis of biological processes that lead to common health problems such as diabetes and obesity, cancer, neurological disorders, infectious diseases, cardiovascular malfunctions and alcoholism. Students and faculty in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology thrive in a friendly scientific environment that promotes both intra- and inter-departmental collaboration.

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Biochemistry Molecular Biology | IU School of Medicine

Federation of European Biochemical Societies head to Jerusalem – ITCM

After Kite Pharma exit last week, and number of successes in the field of medical, biological and pharmaceutical research, we can learn how significant Israel is to the world research in biochemistry by hosting the International Congress in this field. FEBS (Federation of European Biochemical Societies) will hold their prestigious International Congress next week at ICC Jerusalem

About 40,000 scientists from 37 countries (from Britain in the west to Armenia in the east) are members of FEBS. This will be the 42nd conference of the organization, and this year the main topic of the conference is 'From molecules to cells and back.'

More than 1,200 prominent researchers, scientists and doctors from Europe and more than 500 researchers and academics from Israel are expected to attend the prestigious conference, which will take place on September 10-14.

Prof. Michal Sharon, vice chairman of the Israel Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, says:"It was a great achievement to convince the organization's leadership to come to Israel, the decision was made at a problematic time, during the military Operation " Protective Edge", when various groups in the world called for a boycott of the State of Israel. Nevertheless, Prof. Abdussalam Azem (Professor of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University) and Professor Israel Pecht, who served as general secretary of FEBS at the time, succeeded in convincing to hold the Congress in Israel, thanks to its esteemed status in the world, as a leading country for research in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology. "

According to Prof. Michal Sharon: "The organization's management held a vote, and in the end elected to come to ICC Jerusalem in 2017. As time approaches, the excitement in Israel among researchers and practitioners in these areas is evident. We are preparing for a fascinating conference, and we hope that during the course of it some new scientific discoveries will be revealed for relief of all humanity. "The conference will include professional scientific discussions in such fields as: cancer biology, metabolomics and signaling pathways, chromatin structure and post-genetic editing processes, career and education, women in science, and more.

Among the conference guests expected to arrive to Israel are Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2012), Prof. Robert Joseph Lefkowitz from Duke University (USA), who has won a prize for his research of G-protein-coupled receptors, Prof. Carol Robinson from University of Oxford, who studies Membrane protein complexes, Prof. Feng Zhang from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who contributed a lot to development of the CRISPR method for genetic modification and more others.

This week, one week before the congress, FEBS is organizing the Young Scientists Forum (YSF), which brings together about 150 young researchers and promotes scientific and social connections between them. Students from all over Europe and Israel arrive at this gathering this week at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel on the suburbs of Jerusalem.

"We are preparing to host this important international conference and are aware of its contribution to the city of Jerusalem, to Israeli science and to the Tourism industry," said Mira Altman, CEO of the International Convention Center.

Altman adds: "The conference tourism has the potential to bring into the Israeli economy over 60 million $ a year."

The Federation of European Biochemical Societies and the Israel Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, work to promote and improve research, science and cooperation in the field.

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Federation of European Biochemical Societies head to Jerusalem - ITCM

Australian Scientists Have Developed a New Tool for Imaging Life at the Nanoscale – Futurism

In BriefScientists at the University of Melbourne have established a new method of imaging biochemistry at the nanoscale. It's hoped that this could lead to a better understanding of neuro-degenerative diseases.

A group of scientists at the University of Melbourne have developed a new means of inspecting biochemistry at the nanoscale. The teams study centers around a quantum kangaroo that is revealed by the tools capacity to detect electron spins at resolutions that were never before possible.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) methodology has been used to help scientists understand biochemical processes in biomechanical systems for quite some time. However, in the past, billions of electronic spins have been required to produce a legible image.

This new project uses an array of quantum probes in diamond to perform non-invasive ESR imaging at a sub-cellular resolution. Its capable of producing images from only a few thousand electron spins.

The sensing and imaging technology we are developing enables us to view life in completely new ways, with greater sensitivity and resolution derived from the fundamental interactions of sample and probe at the quantum mechanical level, Professor Lloyd Hollenberg, who lead the project, told Phys.

Its hoped that this new non-invasive technique could help researchers get a better idea of how transition metal ions like copper play into diseases affecting the brain.

Transition metal ions are implicated in several neuro-degenerative diseases, however, little is known about their concentration and oxidation state within living cells, Dr. David Simpson, lead author the paper and co-head of sensing and imaging at the Centre for Neural Engineering. explained to Phys.Click to View Full Infographic

The University of Melbournes Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology is making great strides when it comes to using quantum technology to improve imaging techniques. In April 2017, a team at the institution was able to capture the movements of electrons in 2D graphene.

Nanotechnology is set to have a huge impact on medicine, and not just in terms of imaging. Recent advances have facilitated projects like a breathalyzer that can detect the flu, and a nanoparticle that can remove toxins administered by snake bites but of course being able to check out whats happening at the nanoscale is incredibly valuable in terms of both diagnosis and research.

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Australian Scientists Have Developed a New Tool for Imaging Life at the Nanoscale - Futurism

Molecular Map Shows How to Disable Dangerous Bioweapon … – Duke Today

DURHAM, N.C. -- During World War II, the Soviet Red Army was forced to move their biological warfare operations out of the path of advancing Nazi troops. Among the dangerous cargo were vials of Francisella tularensis, the organism that causes tularemia and one of the worlds most infectious pathogens.

Years later, a Soviet defector claimed that his country had unleashed their stores of F. tularensis on German soldiers, weakening them shortly before the pivotal Battle of Stalingrad. Others believe the outbreak on the German-Soviet front was more likely spread by rats, not Russians. Yet no one has disputed the bacterias capacity to inflict harm.

The Centers of Disease Control ranks tularemia as one of the six most concerning bioterrorism agents, alongside anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox and viral hemorrhagic fever. And Russian stockpiles of it likely remain.

American scientists studying F. tularensis recently mapped out the complex molecular circuitry that enables the bacterium to become virulent. The map reveals a unique characteristic of the bacteria that could become the target of future drug development.

The research appeared early online Sept.1 and will be in the Sept. 13, 2017 journal Genes & Development.

Now we have the coordinates for stopping one of the most infectious agents known to man. By having all of these pieces, and understanding how they fit together, we can design new drugs that can shut down virulence, said Maria A. Schumacher, Ph.D., senior study author and the Nanaline H. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at the Duke University School of Medicine.

F. tularensis is an exceptionally hardy organism that can infect a variety of hosts, including humans, rabbits and mosquitos, and can survive for weeks at a time in dead and decaying carcasses. It is so virulent that a person only has to inhale 10 microscopic particles of the bacterium to become infected. The Russians and Japanese, as well as the Americans and their allies, all explored its potential as a biological weapon during World War II.

After the war, Russians continued to develop the agent, searching for mutations that could make it resistant to antibiotics and thus even more deadly. The World Health Organization has since projected that 110 pounds of F. tularensis dispersed over a city of 5 million people would cause about 250,000 cases of severe illness, and 19,000 deaths.

Despite decades of fervent study, the factors that make this bacterium so pathogenic are still not fully understood. Recently, a cluster of genes called the Francisella pathogenicity island emerged that is essential for its virulence. In this study, researchers carried out a battery of structural, biochemical and cellular studies to define the molecular factors that turn these pathogenicity genes on and off.

They suspected that a stress-sensing molecule or alarmone called ppGpp might play a role. Alarmones are known to respond to stressful conditions by promoting survival and virulence in bacteria.

Lead study author and Duke graduate student Bonnie J. Cuthbert started by looking at factors that might interact with ppGpp, such as the aptly named protein pathogenicity island gene regulator or PigR, the macrophage growth locus protein A or MglA, and the stringent starvation protein A or SspA. Cuthbert used a technique called x-ray crystallography to produce atomic-level three-dimensional structures of each of these proteins, and then assembled them one by one, like the components of a circuit board.

She found that MglA and SspA partner up to form a two-part protein that contains a unique binding pocket on its underside for ppGpp. Once this molecule is bound, it recruits PigR and subsequently stabilizes RNA polymerase to this area of the F. tularensis genome, creating a large complex that latches onto the DNA to flip on the pathogenicity genes.

The researchers then created mutations that destroyed the binding pocket for ppGpp. They found that when the alarmone couldnt bind, pathogenicity couldnt be activated.

We have uncovered a totally novel way for controlling virulence, said senior study author Richard G. Brennan, Ph.D., James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry and Chair of Biochemistry at Duke University School of Medicine and also an advisor to Cuthbert. If we could block this binding pocket, then we could stop virulence in F. tularensis. It would be a new way of fighting this bacteria, by disabling it with antivirulence drugs rather than by killing it outright with antibiotics.

The research was supported by aNational Institutes of Health grants GM115547,GM37048, and AI081693. The Berkeley Center for Structural Biology is supported in part by the National Institutesof Health, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The ALS issupported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic EnergySciences of the US Department of Energy under contract numberDEAC02-05CH11231.

CITATION: Dissection of the molecular circuitry controlling virulence in Francisella tularensis, Bonnie Cuthbert, Wilma Ross, Amy Rohlfing, Simon Dove, Richard Gourse, Richard G. Brennan, and Maria A. Schumacher. Genes & Development, September 13, 2017. DOI: 10.1101/gad.303701.117

http://genesdev.cshlp.org/content/early/2017/09/01/gad.303701.117.full.pdf+html?sid=f7d8a806-f7ee-4da3-ac9e-1f1f4f82f5c3

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Molecular Map Shows How to Disable Dangerous Bioweapon ... - Duke Today