Category Archives: Biochemistry

Biochemistry

Computation is the new experiment – ASBMB Today

After decades of playing second fiddle, computation is now taking center stage achieving critical insights that experimentation alone cannot provide. We are witnessing a dramatic rise in artificial intelligencebased methods coupled with year-on-year improvements of physics-based approaches. We now can fold a protein accurately from sequence alone!

Game-changing methods in protein and enzyme design are hurtling toward us. Scientists now can integrate numerous experimental data sets into computational models to explore previously unseen elements at (and across) scales never before achieved. Computational simulations are rewriting textbooks from molecules to system dynamics and function. Machine learning is transforming drug design and development.

All in all, you will not find a symposium at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, filled with more excitement and possibility than ours. Buckle up for a thrilling ride in March in Seattle!

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, structural biology, simulation, drug discovery, bioinformatics, systems biology, machine learning.

Who should attend: All who want to find out how computation is transforming biological problem-solving.

Theme song: Respect by Aretha Franklin, because computation deserves it.

This session is powered by a powerful flux capacitor.

Structure determinationDebora Marks,Harvard Medical SchoolRommie E. Amaro (chair),University of California, San DiegoRamanathan Arvind,Argonne National Laboratory; University of ChicagoJason Perry,Gilead Sciences Inc.

Drug designJohn Chodera,Sloan Kettering InstituteDavid Baker,University of WashingtonSteve Capuzzi,Vertex PharmaceuticalsCelia Schiffer (chair),University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

Bioinformatics / Systems biologyMarian Walhout,University of Massachusetts Chan Medical SchoolJanet George,Intel CorporationIvet Bahar (chair),University of Pittsburgh School of MedicineHenry van dem Bedam,AtomWise Inc.

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Computation is the new experiment - ASBMB Today

Biochemistry

George Tryfiates – The Dominion Post

Dr. George Panagiotis Tryfiates was welcomed home by his Savior on the Lords Day, Sept. 18, 2022. He was preceded in death by his parents, Panagiotis John and Constance Tryfiates. George is survived by Mary, his beloved wife of 63 years; their four children: Panagiotis George Tryfiates (Laurie), of Virginia; Constance T. Beddard (Rick), of Virginia; Maria K. Dalton (Curtis), of Maryland; and Elizabeth A. Lyons (the Rev. James), of Kentucky; and nine grandchildren: Anastasia, George, Caroline, and Catherine Tryfiates; Gabrielle and Alexandra Beddard, Sofia Dalton and John and Anthony Lyons.

Born Feb. 26, 1935, in Gouria, Greece, he came to the United States in 1954. George joined the biochemistry faculty of the West Virginia University School of Medicine, from which he retired as professor emeritus in 1997. His many professional accomplishments included discovery of a cancer marker based on his research of vitamin B6 and its role in tumor growth. He was an avid Mountaineer fan.Georges first love was Jesus Christ, his Savior. He founded Greek Christian Missions in 1984 to share the Gospel, feed people on the street in Morgantown and, later, similar overseas ministry. It flourished for decades, though George never solicited contributions, and still provides monthly ministry for Morgantowns needy.

Friends and family will be received at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 447 Spruce St., Morgantown, WV 26505, from 10 a.m. until the time of the funeral service at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1, with the Rev. Fr. Earl Cantos, of Florence, Ariz., a family relation, and Fr. Jon Emanuelson of Assumption Greek Orthodox Church officiating. Burial will follow at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Mount Morris, Pa.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Greek Christian Missions, P.O. Box 1003, Morgantown, WV 26507. The family thanks Bluegrass Care Navigators, Lexington, Ky., for their gentle care.Arrangements by Hastings Funeral Home.

Condolences:www.hastingsfuneralhome.com

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George Tryfiates - The Dominion Post

Biochemistry

Learn More About Internship Opportunities in Food Science and Related Fields at ConAgra – University of Arkansas Newswire

The Department of Food Science invites you to attend an internship informational session with Andrea Dunigan from ConAgra brands. This summer, ConAgra has internships available in their Quality Development Program. Students with a background in food science, chemistry, biochemistry, engineeringand related fields are encouraged to attend.

The informational session will be heldfrom 12:30-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept.27,in room D1/D2 of the Food Science Building and includes lunch. Please RSVP to professor Jamie Baum (baum@uark.edu) by Monday, Sept. 26,if you would like to attend.

If you can't make it in person, you can join via Zoom to learn more about the internship opportunities.

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Learn More About Internship Opportunities in Food Science and Related Fields at ConAgra - University of Arkansas Newswire

Biochemistry

How a complex molecule moves iron through the body – ASBMB Today

New research provides fresh insight into how an important class of molecules are created and moved in human cells.

For years, scientists knew that mitochondria specialized structures inside cells in the body that are essential for respiration and energy production were involved in the assembly and movement of iron-sulfur cofactors, some of the most essential compounds in the human body. But until now, researchers didnt understand how exactly the process worked.

New research, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that these cofactors are moved with the help of a substance called glutathione, an antioxidant that helps prevent certain types of cell damage by transporting these essential iron cofactors across a membrane barrier.

Mechanism of cluster transport by Atm1.

Glutathione is especially useful as it aids in regulating metals like iron, which is used by red blood cells to make hemoglobin, a protein needed to help carry oxygen throughout the body, said James Cowan, co-author of the study and a distinguished university professor emeritus in chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State.

Iron compounds are critical for the proper functioning of cellular biochemistry, and their assembly and transport is a complex process, Cowan said. We have determined how a specific class of iron cofactors is moved from one cellular compartment to another by use of complex molecular machinery, allowing them to be used in multiple steps of cellular chemistry.

Iron-sulfur clusters are an important class of compounds that carry out a variety of metabolic processes, like helping to transfer electrons in the production of energy and making key metabolites in the cell, as well as assisting in the replication of our genetic information.

But when these clusters don't work properly, or when key proteins cant get them, then bad things happen, Cowan said.

If unable to function, the corrupted protein can give rise to several diseases, including rare forms of anemia, Friedreichs ataxia (a disorder that causes progressive nervous system damage), and a multitude of other metabolic and neurological disorders.

So to study how this essential mechanism works, researchers began by taking a fungus called C. thermophilum, identifying the key protein molecule of interest, and producing large quantities of that protein for structural determination. The study notes that the protein they studied within C. thermophilum is essentially a cellular twin of the human protein ABCB7, which transfers iron-sulfur clusters in people, making it the perfect specimen to study iron-sulfur cluster export in people.

By using a combination of cryo-electron microscopy and computational modeling, the team was then able to create a series of structural models detailing the pathway that mitochondria use to export the iron cofactors to different locations inside the body. While their findings are vital to learning more about the basic building blocks of cellular biochemistry, Cowan said hes excited to see how their discovery could later advance medicine and therapeutics.

By understanding how these cofactors are assembled and moved in human cells, we can lay the groundwork for determining how to prevent or alleviate symptoms of certain diseases, he said. We can also use that fundamental knowledge as the foundation for other advances in understanding cellular chemistry.

This article was republished with permission from The Ohio State University. Read the original.

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How a complex molecule moves iron through the body - ASBMB Today

Biochemistry

UCF Researchers Prove that COVID Disinfectant Works in Latest Research Paper – UCF

A team of UCF researchers have proven the efficacy of a nanomaterial-based disinfectant they developed to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Through their experiments, they found that the disinfectant was able to kill several serious viruses including SARS and Zika. The results of their findings were recently published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

It is always a delight to have our research work featured in a reputed journal, said Udit Kumar, a doctoral student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and the lead author of the journal article. Given the theme and possible impact of antiviral research in current times, our article will definitely aid our fight against global pandemics.

The paper outlines the most recent study from a multidisciplinary team of researchers that includes Sudipta Seal, the chair of the MSE department, and Griff Parks, a College of Medicine virologist and director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. They experimented with the nanomaterial yttrium silicate, which has antiviral properties that are activated by white light, such as sunlight or LED lights. As long as there is a continuous source of light, the antiviral properties regenerate, creating a self-cleaning surface disinfectant.

Yttrium silicate acts as a silent killer, with antiviral properties constantly recharged by the light, Kumar says. It is most effective in minimizing surface to the surface spread of many viruses.

Kumar says their test of yttrium silicate in white light disinfected surfaces with high viral loads in approximately 30 minutes. Additionally, the nanomaterial was able to combat the spread of other viruses including parainfluenza, vesicular stomatitis, rhinovirus, Zika and SARS.

This disinfectant technology is an important achievement for both engineering and health because we all were affected during the pandemic, Seal says. COVID is still ongoing and who knows what other illnesses are on the horizon.

Other UCF researchers, including College of Medicine postdoctoral researcher Candace Fox 16MS 19PhD, nanotechnology student Balaashwin Babu 20 and materials science and engineering student Erik Marcelo, are co-authors on the paper.

This publication is the culmination of timely insight by the investigators as to the importance of rapid development of broad-spectrum anti-microbials, as well as hard work in the lab to show the potency of our new materials, Parks says. This is an outstanding example of the power of cross-discipline research in this case, materials science and microbiology researchers from CECS and COM.

The research is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundations RAPID program.

Seal joined UCFs Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center, which is part of UCFsCollege of Engineering and Computer Science, in 1997. He has an appointment at theCollege of Medicineand is a member of UCFs prosthetics clusterBiionix. He is the former director of UCFs NanoScience Technology Center and Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center. He received his doctorate in materials engineering with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley.

Parks is theCollege of Medicinesassociate dean forResearch. He came to UCF in 2014 as director of the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences after 20 years at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin and was an American Cancer Society Fellow at Northwestern University.

Study title: Potent Inactivation of Human Respiratory Viruses Including SARS-CoV-2 by a Photoactivated Self-Cleaning Regenerative Antiviral Coating

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UCF Researchers Prove that COVID Disinfectant Works in Latest Research Paper - UCF

Biochemistry

Improving Student Success with Course-based Undergraduate Research: The UMass Amherst SEA-PHAGES Program – UMass News and Media Relations

The UMass Amherst Inclusive Excellence Program, now in its fifth year, is funded by a $1 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to increase the universitys capacity for inclusion of all students, but especially for students traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.

In 2020, as an important component of Inclusive Excellence, the College of Natural Sciences launched the Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program. SEA-PHAGES is a two-semester, discovery-based undergraduate research course. Through participation in SEA-PHAGES, students gain a wide variety of lab skills that better prepare them for future success as researchers.

In Phage Discovery, the first course in the sequence, students dig soil samples on campus and work throughout the semester to isolate and characterize new bacteriophages. In Phage Bioinformatics, the second course, students annotate the sequenced genome from a phage discovered during the previous semester and publish it in GenBank.

As of the Fall 2022 semester, the SEA-PHAGES curriculum has officially replaced the traditional introductory lab experience in biology. As a result, all 1,200 students who take Introductory Biology are now engaged in authentic research in their first-year experience.

This transformation is the result of the efforts of faculty Jess Rocheleau and Randy Phillis of biology, Sloan Siegrist of microbiology and Peter Chien of biochemistry and molecular biology.

Watch below for student and faculty highlights in the Phage Discovery course.

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Improving Student Success with Course-based Undergraduate Research: The UMass Amherst SEA-PHAGES Program - UMass News and Media Relations

Biochemistry

Atavistik Bio Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board – Business Wire

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Atavistik Bio, a pre-clinical biotechnology company that is leveraging their scalable and systematic platform to identify novel regulatory sites on proteins to restore function in disease, announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) comprised of distinguished leaders in protein sciences, inborn errors of metabolism, and cancer.

We are proud and honored to have these accomplished scientific leaders join our Scientific Advisory Board, said Marion Dorsch, President and CSO of Atavistik Bio. Together, they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience for Atavistik Bio as we leverage our powerful screening and analytics platforms to unlock the potential of protein-metabolite interactions with the goal to bring transformative therapies to patients. Atavistik Bio looks forward to the input of these outstanding scientists and their contribution to our research and development efforts. Feedback and collaboration with our SAB will be critical to advance our efforts to develop therapies to patients in need. It is a very exciting time for all of us at Atavistik Bio.

The founding members of the Atavistik Bio Scientific Advisory Board are:

Dr. Ralph DeBerardinis is Chief of Pediatric Genetics and Metabolism at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) and Director of the Genetic and Metabolic Disease Program at Childrens Medical Center Research Institute at UTSW (CRI). His laboratory studies the role of altered metabolic pathways in human diseases, including cancer and pediatric inborn errors of metabolism. Work from the DeBerardinis laboratory has produced new insights into disease mechanisms in numerous metabolic diseases, including by defining unexpected fuel preferences in human cancer and uncovering new metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer cells. Dr. DeBerardinis is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and has received numerous awards including the William K. Bowes, Jr. Award in Medical Genetics, the National Cancer Institutes Outstanding Investigator Award, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering & Science of Texass Edith and Peter ODonnell Award in Medicine, and the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine and the Association of American Physicians.

Dr. DeBerardinis received a BS in Biology from St. Josephs University in Philadelphia before earning MD and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvanias School of Medicine. He completed his medical residency and post-doctoral training at The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Pediatrics, Medical Genetics and Clinical Biochemical Genetics.

Dr. Jared Rutter is a Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and holds the Dee Glen and Ida Smith Endowed Chair for Cancer Research at the University of Utah where he has been on the faculty since 2003. His laboratory has identified the functions of several previously uncharacterized mitochondrial proteins, including the discovery of the long-sought mitochondrial pyruvate carrier. This knowledge has demonstrated that this critical metabolic step is impaired in a variety of human diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. In addition, the Rutter lab is taking multiple approaches to understand how metabolic state influences cell fate and cell behavior decisions. Dr. Rutter has been an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 2015 and serves as co-Director of the Diabetes and Metabolism Center at the University of Utah and co-Leader of the Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation at Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Dr. Rutter performed undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University and received his PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2001, working with Dr. Steve McKnight. After receiving his PhD, he spent 18 months as the Sara and Frank McKnight Independent Fellow of Biochemistry before joining the faculty at the University of Utah.

Karen Allen, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair of Chemistry at Boston University. For over 25 years, she has led research teams at Boston University, in the Departments of Physiology and Biophysics at the School of Medicine, and Chemistry. She is also a Professor of Material Science and Engineering and on the faculty of the Bioinformatics program at Boston University. The structure-aided design approach in the Allen lab encompasses the use of macromolecular X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering, molecular modeling, and kinetics.

Karen received her B.S. degree in Biology, from Tufts University and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Brandeis University in the laboratory of the mechanistic enzymologist, Dr. Robert H. Abeles. Following her desire to see enzymes in action she pursued X-ray crystallography during postdoctoral studies as an American Cancer Society Fellow in the laboratory of Drs. Gregory A. Petsko and Dagmar Ringe.

Kivanc Birsoy, Ph.D. is a Chapman-Perelman Associate Professor at Rockefeller University. His research at Rockefeller focuses on how cancer cells rewire their metabolic pathways to adapt to environmental stresses during tumorigenesis and other pathological states. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Special Fellow award, Margaret and Herman Sokol Award, NIH Career Transition Award, Irma Hirschl/Monique Weill-Caulier Trusts Award, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Foundation Scholar Award, March of Dimes Basil OConnor Scholar Award, AACR NextGen award for Transformative Cancer Research, Searle Scholar, Pew-Stewart Scholarship for Cancer Research and NIH Directors New Innovator Award.

Kivanc received his undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics from Bilkent University in Turkey in 2004 and his Ph.D. from the Rockefeller University in 2009, where he studied the molecular genetics of obesity in the laboratory of Jeffrey Friedman. In 2010, he joined the laboratory of David Sabatini at the Whitehead Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he combined forward genetics and metabolomics approaches to understand how different cancer types rewire their metabolism to adapt nutrient deprived environments.

Benjamin Cravatt, Ph.D. is the Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology and Professor in the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute. His research group develops and applies chemical proteomic technologies for protein and drug discovery on a global scale and has particular interest in studying biochemical pathways in cancer and the nervous system. His honors include a Searle Scholar Award, the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, a Cope Scholar Award, the ASBMB Merck Award, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Ben is a co-founder of several biotechnology companies, including Activx Biosciences (acquired by Kyorin Pharmaceuticals), Abide Therapeutics (acquired by Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals), Vividion Therapeutics (Acquired by Bayer Pharmaceuticals), Boundless Bio, Kisbee Therapeutics, and Kojin Therapeutics.

Ben obtained his undergraduate education at Stanford University, receiving a B.S. in the Biological Sciences and a B.A. in History. He then received a Ph.D. from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in 1996, and joined the faculty at TSRI in 1997.

The SAB will be co-chaired by Dr. DeBerardinis and Dr. Rutter, the scientific founders of Atavistik Bio, and work closely with the company to advance their leading-edge metabolite protein screening platform discovery programs. Im delighted to be appointed Co-Chair of Atavistik Bios Scientific Advisory Board, and to be part of such a distinguished group of experts, said Dr. DeBerardinis. Together we aim to guide Atavistik Bio through the development of its pipeline while maximizing the potential of the companys technology platform, stated Dr. Rutter.

About Atavistik Bio

Atavistik Bio is a pre-clinical biotechnology company that is harnessing the power of protein-metabolite interactions to add a new lens to drug discovery with the aim of transforming the lives of patients. By leveraging its optimized Atavistik Metabolite Protein Screening (AMPS) platform and computational approaches, Atavistik Bio aims to evaluate metabolite-protein interactions by screening proteins with their proprietary metabolite library to determine where binding sites with biological relevance might exist. This will enable Atavistik Bio to build an extensive protein-metabolite database map (the Interactome) to reveal unique insights into the crosstalk between metabolite-protein pathways that were previously thought to be unrelated. Utilizing advanced informatics tools, deep expertise in chemistry and computationally rich structure-based drug design, Atavistik Bio will be able to identify and understand the role of these interactions across important biological and disease-relevant pathways to drive the discovery of novel therapeutics with an initial focus on inborn errors of metabolism and cancer. Atavistik Bio is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit http://www.atavistikbio.com.

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Atavistik Bio Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board - Business Wire

Biochemistry

Will rapid COVID tests be able to detect new variants? – Futurity: Research News

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New research evaluates how rapid tests will perform when challenged with future SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The availability of rapid antigen tests has significantly advanced efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. But every new variant of concern raises questions about whether diagnostic tests will still be effective.

The new study in Cell attempts to answer these questions.

The researchers developed a novel method for evaluating how mutations to SARS-CoV-2 can affect recognition by antibodies used in rapid antigen tests.

Because most rapid antigen tests detect the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N protein), the team directly measured how mutations to the N protein affected diagnostic antibodies ability to recognize their target.

Based on our findings, none of the major past and present SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern contain mutations that would affect the capability of current rapid antigen tests to detect antibodies, says first author Filipp Frank, an assistant professor in the department of biochemistry at Emory University. Further, these data allow us to look one step ahead and predict test performance against almost any variant that may arise.

The study used a method called deep mutational scanning to evaluate all possible mutations in the N protein in a single, high-throughput experiment. Researchers then measured the impact of the mutations on their interaction with antibodies used in 11 commercially available rapid antigen tests and identified mutations that may allow for antibody escape.

Accurate and efficient identification of infected individuals remains a critically important strategy for COVID-19 mitigation, and our study provides information about future SARS-CoV-2 mutations that may interfere with detection, says senior study author Eric Ortlund, a professor in the department of biochemistry. The results outlined here can allow us to quickly adapt to the virus as new variants continue to emerge, representing an immediate clinical and public health impact.

Findings show that its relatively rare for variants to have mutations to the N protein that allow them to evade diagnostic tests, but there are a small proportion of sequences that could affect detection. Researchers, public health officials, and test manufacturers can use these data to determine if a diagnostic test needs to be evaluated for its ability to detect these mutations or to inform future test design.

Considering the endless cycle of new variants, the data from this study will be useful for years to come, says Bruce J. Tromberg, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and lead for the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech program at National Institutes of Health.

While many variants of concern contain multiple mutations to the N protein, the study authors note that their method does not evaluate how multiple mutations could affect diagnostic antibody recognition, representing a limitation of the study.

Support for the project came from NIBIB as part of the RADx initiative.

Source: Emory University

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Will rapid COVID tests be able to detect new variants? - Futurity: Research News

Biochemistry

BU investigator wins highly competitive awards to study the role of proteases in regulation of cellular defenses – News-Medical.Net

Mohsan Saeed, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), has received a five-year, $2 million R35 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, as well as a five-year, $2.5 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It is extremely rare for an early-stage investigator to win these highly competitive awards during the same funding cycle.

Human cells respond to foreign agents such as pathogens and toxins by initiating a strong innate defense response that creates a protective environment in the cells and incapacitates the invading pathogens and foreign substances. The initiation, activation and resolution of this innate defense response is a carefully regulated process designed to avoid both hyperactivation and underactivation of the immune system, either of which can lead to tissue damage, organ dysfunction and microbial diseases.

With his R35 award, Saeed and his colleagues hope to generate new knowledge about the role of proteases (enzyme which breaks down proteins and peptides) in the regulation of cellular defenses and inform the development of strategies to improve the performance of innate defense mechanisms against escalating microbial and environmental threats.

Enteroviruses are human pathogens that replicate in multiple organs and cause a variety of diseases, including gastroenteritis, pneumonia, myocarditis and encephalitis. Currently, little is known about how enteroviruses alter the biology of infected cells. Using his R01 grant, Saeed plans to clarify the role of enteroviral proteases in changing the host cell environment during infection.

Saeed received his MPhil in microbiology from Quaid-e-Azam University, Pakistan, where he studied the molecular epidemiology of polio-like viruses in patients suffering from paralysis. He then joined the University of Tokyo, receiving his PhD in pathology, immunology and microbiology. During his doctoral studies, he developed novel cell culture systems for the study of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and investigated various aspects of this virus in diverse in vitro and in vivo settings.

He then entered the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. Charles M. Rice at the Rockefeller University, New York, for his postdoctoral training. Although his research in the Rice Lab mainly focused on HCV, he also gained expertise with a number of other positive-strand RNA viruses, including enteroviruses, flaviviruses and alphaviruses. In addition, Saeed developed a novel "viral degradomics" technique that allows an unbiased identification of cellular proteins cleaved during viral infections.

Saeed joined BUSM in 2019; his group explores the role of viral and host proteases in disease mechanisms of positive-strand RNA viruses at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL). In early 2021 when COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, his lab pivoted to SARS-CoV-2 research and has since made contributions to the molecular understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 establishes infection in various tissues and interacts with the human innate and adaptive immune systems.

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BU investigator wins highly competitive awards to study the role of proteases in regulation of cellular defenses - News-Medical.Net

Biochemistry

8 Jobs To Pursue With a Biochemistry Degree | Indeed.com

By Indeed Editorial Team

Published April 13, 2021

If science is your favorite school subject, consider a biochemistry role. This lab-based science studies why certain substances cause reactions in the cells of various living beings. There are many specialties you can pursue within this degree that can ready you for careers like biochemists, chemical engineers or professors. In this article, we review what biochemistry is, tips for becoming a biochemist and the different roles you can pursue with a biochemistry degree.

Biochemistry is the combination of chemistry, physics and biology. Biochemistry professionals study how these different elements of science affect various living beings and organisms. Many students looking to explore the chemical processes that take place within a living system typically major in biochemistry. Most of the careers you can earn in this degree vary according to your preferred responsibilities and work environment. This degree allows you to specialize in a wide variety of fields, including chemistry, biology and research.

To become a biochemist or to work in the biochemistry field, you must have impressive scientific skills, knowledge and capabilities. You can earn these qualifications by taking the proper courses and gaining relevant experience in your field. Follow these tips to become a successful biochemist:

Earn a high school diploma: You should first graduate high school with your diploma or a GED. Try to take courses like physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology to familiarize yourself with the basic scientific concepts you may later go in-depth on in your bachelor's program.

Get a bachelor's degree: Most employers require biochemistry candidates to earn at least a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, biology, chemistry or another related field.

Select elective courses: Many programs offer elective courses depending on the area of the biochemistry field that you'd like to pursue. You can take courses that help you advance your education further into the medical, biotechnology or veterinary master's degree programs.

Participate in lab work: A majority of biochemistry careers take place in a laboratory. You may complete lab work during your courses to familiarize yourself with the tools and overall lab atmosphere. You can also pursue an internship in a lab to gain hands-on lab training and experience.

There are a wide variety of fields you can pursue, such as forensic science, chemistry and biology, after you earn a biochemistry degree. Common jobs people with biochemistry degrees typically pursue include:

National average salary: $51,544 per year

Primary duties: A forensic science technician assists forensic scientists in criminal investigations to perform tests and report their results. Common job responsibilities include collaborating with law enforcement at crime sciences to collect DNA, running DNA profiling and chemical analysis tests, testifying as an expert witness in court and handling hazardous and contaminated pieces of physical evidence safely and responsibly.

Related: Learn About Being a Forensic Science Technician

National average salary: $63,734 per year

Primary duties: Forensic scientists process various pieces of evidence to help law enforcement prosecute suspects in criminal cases. Other responsibilities include interpreting blood spatter patterns at crime scenes, tracing drugs and other illegal substances in tissues and bodily fluids, managing and preserving crime scenes until the necessary personnel arrives and conducting post-mortem investigations on crime scene victims.

National average salary: $63,908 per year

Primary duties: A chemical engineer uses their advanced knowledge of mathematics and different areas of science to enhance the processes used in chemical experiments. They also work to find solutions to problems that scientists in the chemical industry may regularly undergo. Other key job duties include building, proposing and implementing plans to reach chemical companies' goals, increasing the quality and efficiency levels of chemical processes and compiling and analyzing data gained from on-site visits.

Related: Learn About Being a Chemical Engineer

National average salary: $65,066 per year

Primary duties: A biochemistry professor works for a university, college or other academic institution teaching students about different elements of biochemistry. Their main duties include providing lectures, administering tests, quizzes and assignments, conducting office hours to address students' questions about the lectures, overseeing lab experiments students conduct and developing syllabi that reflects the program's required curriculum.

National average salary: $79,272 per year

Primary duties: A biochemist conducts studies and experiments on the composition and functions of different life forms to determine how various chemical processes affect them. Other key job responsibilities include designing and executing scientific experiments, analyzing and recording large data sets and results, making recommendations on chemical processes based on their findings and refining chemical compounds for medical professionals or the public to use.

National average salary: $80,831 per year

Primary duties: A biologist studies plant life and other organisms to make discoveries about their behaviors, compositions and habitats. They also conduct research on these living beings to determine how other beings or organisms affect their environments. Other job duties include identifying, studying and classifying animals, plants and ecosystems, taking samples and measurements of organisms, learning more about organisms' diets and behaviors and maintaining detailed and accurate records related to their scientific research.

National average salary: $94,755 per year

Primary duties: A medical scientist conducts research on human illnesses and diseases to uncover ways to improve the health of humans. Other job responsibilities include conducting studies to investigate human diseases and potential treatment methods, analyzing medical data and samples to determine causes and dangers of certain chronic diseases or pathogens, building and testing various medical devices and writing research grant proposals for funding applications from private funding and government sources.

National average salary: $111,143 per year

Primary duties: A research scientist conducts experiments on different scientific concepts to prove or disprove certain scientific theories or insights. Other job responsibilities include proposing innovative scientific research ideas, spearheading data collection processes and efforts and publishing important findings in scholarly and academic journals.

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8 Jobs To Pursue With a Biochemistry Degree | Indeed.com