Category Archives: Biochemistry

Oladiji and the Fresh Fervour for FUTA – THISDAY Newspapers

Tunde Akanni

The news of the emergence of our very own Temidayo Adenike Oladiji, FAS, renowned professor of biochemistry, as the first female, new vice-chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure stirred up an uncommon, ecstatic excitement in many of us. As a friend and colleague we now reckon with as a family member, we were more than proud.

But almost immediately, I remembered Ile-Ife. I remembered the ancient community in relation to a similar announcement for the great citadel of learning, OAU Ife, beclouded by strange decibels of confusion. Some folks who claimed to be Ife people wanted an indigene, by all means, to be VC. It didnt matter to them if their preferred candidate who did not make it this time could emerge next time around. They staged marches in their community going as far as the university campus to flaunt their fetish fangs, but the deed had been done and could not be undone. The university councils decision was final!

Beyond resounding condemnations that the unpopular protesters in Ile-Ife attracted to themselves, the historical reality of FUTA countered the ethnic jingoists. The sitting VC then, Prof Joseph Fuwape, hailed from Ile-Ife, but no one ever bothered about that. FUTA had been on the path of greatness and all everyone wanted was for the leadership to sustain this and possibly boost it.

Unfortunately, the Ife violence merchants seemed to have infected some pseudo-scholars, ironically in FUTA. In the same spirit with the minority Ife locals or so it seemed, Professor Oladiji stood condemned as the winner of the just concluded appointment process. Most distastefully, they found sheer illiterate collaborators in some media with passive or absent-minded editing. Otherwise how do you describe such media lapping up same headline with same story far from aligning with the headline? More disturbing really was the fact that even a particular title that had some of its journalists punished for a similar recklessness in the past got caught up with this! You will wonder for eternity why a news organization supposedly run by trained professionals will deliberately position itself in the path of progress of an ambitious university like FUTA.

Who is not in awe of the excellent job of public image management by our good friend and colleague, Adegbenro Adebanjo? What about the indomitability of FUTAs academics, by all means, active researchers combined with the alumni who have been relentless in upscaling the profile of their university globally? Expectedly, the informed voice of ASUU FUTA called out to controvert the earlier rancorous intervention smacking of unmistakable ignorance by folks not familiar with university tradition. How capacity deficient? How else could the council have told the story of how Temidayo Oladiji triumphed over her rivals in the contest for the VCs seat? How much more can we say FUTA needs Oladiji now more than any other time?

From accomplishing groundbreaking researches and winning internationally competitive grants across assorted disciplines of Agricultural Science to trendy engineering feats, FUTA has been recurrent. As a mentor and father to some engineering budding stars including a doctoral student in environmental engineering in England with a Commonwealth Scholarship up his sleeves, I have more than a passing interest in engineering and allied researches in which FUTA has come to distinguish itself. Time, again, has come for the ambitious university to move higher up on the scale of global ranking. And I make this valid claim based on my evaluation of the profile of the energetic, young VC just clocking 54.

Lets do this again together: Born Adenike Temidayo Folayan, the Biochemistry scholar belongs in the category of first generation of what has come to be known as Better by Far University. It was the same generation that produced the incumbent, high performing Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lokoja, Kogi State, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi.

Young Adenike bagged a Second Class Upper Honours degree in Biochemistry in 1988. Notwithstanding the hard-hitting economic policy of the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, Kwara Breweries in Offa could not resist the brilliance exhibited by the young graduate in the course of examining their potential recruits. She was hired immediately. More than 25 years after leaving the brewery for the academia, Prof Oladiji keeps researching about food, gloriously sustaining the good memory of her humble beginning at Offa. Check out the list of research products developed from herbs by the new FUTA boss: AHRI Sweet Basilspices(listing with NAFDAC); Pangas Anti-anaemic supplement (being processed for regulatory approval); Blosorg Supplement (awaiting regulatory approval); Iron-fortified tomato and pepper paste(awaiting regulatory approval)

Since joining her alma mater, the University of Ilorin, as a lecturer, diligent Oladiji, in addition to being faithful to her primary responsibilities of teaching and researching, has served in several other capacities most meritoriously earning her multiple distinctions and research grants. How else could anyone have been sufficiently prepared for VCship?

A Guest Professor at the University of Gambia since 2012, she was at different times a Plenary Lecturer, Uka Tarsadia University in India and a Fellow of the Israeli Agency for International Development Cooperation in addition to being 1989 Federal Government of Nigeria Scholar as well as being a winner of the 1995-97 winner of the University of Ilorin Staff Development Award. It was therefore no wonder she emerged the lead researcher for the over N17 million NNPC Renewable Energy Research Project in 2019. That was even after leading multiple research projects supported by TETFUND.

Though a scientist, Oladiji is as much a public intellectual in a society notorious for partriarchy. In 2019 alone within a very short space of time, she delivered two highly celebrated public lectures. She was the guest speaker at that years valedictory ceremony of the popular Adeola College Offa. Soon afterwards, she did another major address at the Hooding Ceremony of the College of Pure and Applied Sciences of Landmark University, Omun Aran, Kwara State, to mention only two.

Perhaps most interesting about Oladiji is her clean triumph over typical Nigerian pettiness bothering on religion and ethnicity. Farouk, a professor of telecommunications based in Dutse once confessed to me how motherly, Oladiji was, to her wife when she was supervising her for a postgraduate programme. She was a mother to our daughter as well as the mother of the baby, my darling wife.

A most cosmopolitan Prof Oladiji also effortlessly deploys basic Islamic greetings to the admiration of many Muslims on account of her sociability and her vast educational exposure across all the continents. My personal interaction with her frankly betrays a personality without airs in spite of being so heavily credentialed at her age.

Its FUTAs turn to benefit from the thoroughness, speed and vigour of the Midas touch of the world class scholar they never had its like before having been brought in from outside FUTA and especially from a university that has remained the envy of others for several years netting awards from local and international quarters. For instance, Unilorin, Oladijis cradle and base till date, remains about the most internationalized university in Nigeria.

I can only enjoin FUTA to harvest the best from one of the best of nations best in the university system.

Akanni, PhD, a British Chevening Scholar, Associate Professor and Acting Head of Journalism Dept, LASU, doubles as the Director of Digital Media Research Centre, LASU.

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Oladiji and the Fresh Fervour for FUTA - THISDAY Newspapers

Blue Devil of the Week: Friend to Students, Enemy of Disease – Duke Today

Name:Amanda Hargrove

Position:Associate Professor of Chemistry

Years at Duke:8

What she does at Duke:In her role as a researcher, Amanda Hargrove, a2020 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowand anAmerican Chemical Society 2022 Rising Star Award winner, heads a lab that studies a specific type of RNA molecule and its potential role in breakthrough therapies.

In every cell, ribonucleic acid, or RNA, plays a critical role in carrying genetic information and directing the formation of proteins. But not all of the RNA molecules do this. The RNA molecules that arent involved in these processes what scientists call non-coding RNA were once thought to be fairly inconsequential. But in recent years, researchers have discovered that these molecules are involved in the process that allows cancer and viruses to spread.

Hargroves lab is studying ways to disrupt the function of this type of RNA and, potentially, find therapies that can better fight cancer and protect against viruses, such as the agent behind Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease and COVID-19.

The idea is that, maybe the reason we dont have as many cancer drugs as wed like is that weve been going after the wrong class of molecules, Hargrove said.

Aside from research, Hargrove is the chair of her departments Diversity, Inclusion and Community Committee and serves aseditor-in-chiefof the journalMedicinal Research Reviews. She also teaches courses, including undergraduate and graduate level courses on organic chemistry and chemical biology as well as a seminar for first-year students meant to give them an early glimpse of authentic scientific research by letting them develop and test their own hypotheses.

You can almost see their gears working, Hargrove said of her students. Its so much fun to watch.

What she loves about Duke:Hargrove appreciates that Dukes brilliant minds arent bound by their academic disciplines. She said collaboration has been a constant part of her Duke experience as faculty are curious and supportive of one anothers work. She remembers feeling this in her earliest days at Duke when colleagues introduced her to a variety of other faculty members who they predicted shed work with at some point.

Hargrove said this collaborative energy has resulted in projects which have seen her team up withcolleagues from the Duke Cancer Institute, the Department of Biochemistry and elsewhere.

I could tell from the beginning that, at Duke, community mattered, Hargrove said.

When shes not working, she likes to:Hargrove loves spending time with her 13-year old son and 8-year old daughter. From watching them practice taekwondo or indulging their recent obsession of baking shows, she finds great joy in spending time with her kids.

One of the great things about having kids and a family is that it gives you an identity thats not related to your job, Hargrove said. If something happens in your job, youve got this whole other role thats more important. It makes dealing with the ups and downs of your job easier to manage.

Best advice received:Hargrove recallsfellow scientist Laura Mahaltelling her that networking is more than building contacts. Its creating a trusted group invested in your success. Mahal said one effective way to build this group is by asking for help and acting on guidance.

Once people give you advice, and they see you take it, theyre invested in your success because they contributed to it, Hargrove said. Thats a good way to build a network that sticks with you and supports you.

Something most people dont know about her:When Hargrove attended Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, she did so with help from a rodeo scholarship. While the Houston-native grew up around rural environments, she never took part in any rodeo-related activities. Instead her scholarship was an academic honor awarded by theHouston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which, in addition to being a Texas agriculture tradition, is also a major supporter of the states top students.

I like telling people about that, but it would have made for a cooler story if Id gotten it for raising cattle or riding horses, Hargrove said.

Most memorable day at work:In November of 2019, Hargrove was working at her desk in the French Family Science Center when she got a text fromBlanton Tolbert, a chemistry professor at Case Western Reserve University. The two had been working on a project to see if a small molecule could bind to the RNA in the EV71 virus to inhibit transmission and eventually kill the virus. Tolbert had just gotten his hands on data that showed thatthe idea worked.

He didnt wait for an email, he just texted me a picture of the result and said Did you see this? Hargrove said. It was so exciting. I actually printed out that chart and carried it around in my backpack for a year.

Something unique in her workspace:On Hargroves desk, theres a large metal H-shaped basket that is slowly filling up with champagne corks. Each cork has a name and a date on it. The corks are from the bottles opened to celebrate each paper and successful Ph.D. defense for students Hargrove works with.

Mentoring students and post-docs is one of my favorite parts of the job, Hargrove said. When something great happens for them, its just the very, very best.

Lesson learned during the pandemic:Hargrove gained a new appreciation for how important it is for a university to put the needs of its people at the forefront. While the research and educational missions are essential, the pandemic underscored the value of making sure the students, faculty and staff at the heart of those missions are healthy and safe.

It was really impressive to me how much people could come together, the Duke community in particular, Hargrove said. I did feel really grateful to be in this community. I dont think there was a better place to be a faculty member during something like that.

Is there a colleague at Duke who has an intriguing job or goes above and beyond to make a difference?Nominate that personfor Blue Devil of the Week.

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Blue Devil of the Week: Friend to Students, Enemy of Disease - Duke Today

Chemistry & Biochemistry | California State University, Long Beach

Chemistry & Biochemistry | California State University, Long Beach

Jump to Content Jump to Resources

We welcome Dr. Julie Wahlman as our newest faculty member. She will teach Organic Chemistry and conduct research in Organometallic chemistry. She joins us from the University of Utah as a former NIH Ruth Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellow.

Dr. Fangyuan Tian was awarded a prestigious NSF CAREER award for "Surface Chemistry of Crystalline Coordination Networks." It will be used to study electron transfer processes in 2D frameworks.

Dr. Elena Grintsevich was awarded a prestigious NSF CAREER award to support work in biochemistry on "Isoform-Dependent Redox Regulation of Actin."

Nishi Rauth (l) and Miguel Palma (r), both from Dr. Bhandari's (mid) lab, won the Glenn Nagel Undergraduate and the Don Eden Graduate Research Awards, respectively, at the 34th Annual CSUPERB symposium.

Biochemistry undergrad research students Nishi Rauth (l), Jordan Cook (mid), and Madeleine Phan (r) from the Bhandari, Schwans, and Dawson labs received best poster awards at the ABRCMS Virtual Conference 2021.

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Chemistry & Biochemistry | California State University, Long Beach

It felt like a turning point: Cal Poly professors recount the impact Kristin Smart has had on campus over 26 years – Mustang News

Phil Bailey has seen many things happen during his 53-year tenure at Cal Poly: the changing of Cal Polys name as California Polytechnic State University, the opening of the Robert E. Kennedy Library and the 1990 Poly Royal riots.

But one aspect of Cal Polys history that has been on his mind for the past 26 years is the disappearance and murder of former Cal Poly student Kristin Smart.

Smart was a freshman at Cal Poly when she went missing while walking to her dorm from an off-campus party on May 25, 1996. She was last seen with Paul Flores, another Cal Poly student, and was reported to be heavily intoxicated.

Paul Flores and his father Ruben Flores were arrested in April of 2021 and have been charged with the murder and accessory to the murder of Smart, respectively. After a preliminary hearing held in San Luis Obispo, the trial has been moved to Monterey County and is scheduled to begin May 31.

For Bailey, one of the longest employed faculty members at Cal Poly, Smarts disappearance was a catalyst for changes regarding student safety at Cal Poly.

After 26 years, the story of Smart is still alive in San Luis Obispo. Billboards with her face can be found throughout the county, her name is frequently found in headlines and news stories and with an impending trial for her murder, Smarts name echoes through the community.

For many students on campus, these are the only ways they learn about Smart, a person who was legally declared dead in 2002 before some students were born.

However, there is a group of about 57 faculty members that were employed at Cal Poly when news struck that Smart was missing, and still work on campus to this day.

Bailey began teaching as an assistant professor at Cal Poly for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1969. He later became the dean of the College of Science and Mathematics in 1983, and it was while he held that position in May of 1996 that he said he learned of a student unaccounted for.

That student was Kristin Smart.

Bailey said that it took a couple of days to hear about her disappearance, probably early in the week following her disappearance when he read about it in the newspapers and heard it on the radio.

It was really, really of a concern to the campus and it really influenced to some extent how we did things for a while, Bailey said. It shook the campus.

Biological sciences emeritus professor Chris Kitts was in his first year teaching at Cal Poly and said that he wasnt paying much attention to the campus community due to the workload of a new professor, but he said he still remembers a feeling of worry that ensued on campus.

Like Bailey, Kitts said he first found out about a missing student via local news, as well as hearing about it across campus. The same was for music professor Alyson McLamore, who first read about Smarts disappearance in the Tribune and heard conversations in the hallways about it the Thursday and Friday after she was reported missing.

Kitts said that many conversations were held among faculty concerning the safety on campus in the wake of a missing student. These conversations carried beyond campus, as Kitts said Smart would be discussed at faculty social gatherings as well.

To Kitts, the disappearance and murder of Smart was the beginning of a new awareness on campus.

From my perspective, since I just got here, it felt like a turning point, Kitts said.

Like many other professors told Mustang News, McLamore said that not much information was released regarding Smarts disappearance which led to suspicions and rumors wafting through campus.

I cant say [the campus reaction] was horror, it was more puzzlement, McLamore said. You know, this is strange, this is weird, I wonder where shes gone.

Prior to coming to the Central Coast, psychology professor Laura Freberg had spent much of her life in city environments. She grew up in Los Angeles, but later moved to New Haven and New York City in the 1970s. She described New Haven at the time as a war zone and everyone she knew in New York City had been mugged.

Freberg said that she never quite lost that city girl, even after moving to San Luis Obispo to teach at Cal Poly in 1985. To this day, she said she is more cautious because of her city experiences.

While she said that living in San Luis Obispo is much safer than the urban war zones she described living in, she still never felt completely safe when walking on Cal Polys campus at night.

So you have these kinds of instinctive, burnt into your soul safety things, but I still dont like being at Cal Poly at night, Freberg said. I never have.

What makes Cal Poly feel unsafe for Freberg is how dark the campus is at night and its remoteness.

Kitts said that the concern for safety on campus at night is something that still pervades the campus.

[Smarts] story does get brought up when were talking about doing things late at night, Kitts said. I think everybody sort of has that on the back of their mind.

While Freberg has always felt unsafe on campus, San Luis Obispo has had a reputation of being a safe town, yet Freberg said that San Luis Obispos tendency to brush safety issues aside and Cal Polys need to maintain this elusive safety has been a hindrance to the conversations surrounding student safety and the true experiences of students.

She said that after Kristin Smarts disappearance, Cal Poly student Rachel Newhouse was raped and murdered by Rex Krebs in 1998, who was later found guilty for the abduction, rape and murder of Newhouse and Cuesta College student Aundria Crawford. Freberg said that prior to discovering Newhouse, missing posters for her were posted all over Cal Polys campus. Right before open house, though, all the posters were removed. She said she does not know who removed them.

Because heaven forbid that we express any kind of dismay about our safety to the incoming students and their parents, Freberg said. I think in dealing with a situation [of student safety], hopefully they dont come up, but if they do, I think we owe it to everybody to be a little more sensitive to kind of honoring our community.

Aerospace engineering professor Faysal Kolkailah said that it is important that the university establishes safety measures for its students, such an increased presence of police walking on campus.

Life is very, very, very, very important, Kolkailah said. We shouldnt really do anything short from making sure that we are protecting the life, the honor, the dignity of our students Our students on campus should be able to feel safe walking [on campus].

Industrial and manufacturing professor Tao Yang said that one way Cal Poly can increase their safety measures is by implementing cameras on campus. Camera surveillance on campus is one way to help solve crimes, Yang said, and the university should learn from Smarts case and the lack of surveillance of her disappearance.

How much time money and energy were wasted? Yang said.

He suggested that students advocate for such measures for their safety, like cameras and increased lighting, utilizing Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) to enact the change.

Let the students decide where to put the lights or cameras, Yang said. Its a student campus. Students should have more voices to speak up.

Kolkailah has been working at Cal Poly since 1984 and has had three daughters attend Cal Poly. He said that whenever they were studying on campus late at night, he ensured that either he would be there to walk them to their cars or make sure someone else would do it.

But Kolkailahs diligence for safety did not just extend to his daughters.

To him, all of his students over the past 38 years are his grandkids, and with that is his desire to ensure their safety as well.

All of the kids at Cal Poly [are] my daughters or my sons, Kolkailah said. Im 73 years old, so I look at all my students as grandkids. I wouldnt let any of my grandkids, at home or at school, walk alone from the library to their car at night.

Bailey and his wife Christina Bailey, faculty and chair emeritus in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, housed over 20 unrepresented and low-income Cal Poly students after their own four children left the house. When Smart disappeared, they were hosting two young women and had a heightened concern for their safety.

When she went out I said, you be careful and I want to know where you are, Bailey said.

He said that his concern, like Kolkailah, also extended to his students. Although he had always been concerned with his students safety, the disappearance of Smart increased it.

In my lab, I went around, especially to all the women in [the] lab, and I said, do you have a safe way home? And if they didnt, I either took them home or paired them up with somebody, Bailey said. But it was scary. I mean, we didnt want anything to happen to anyone else.

Like Bailey and Kolkailah, many professors echoed the same piece of advice for their students: never walk alone, especially when its dark.

For Kolkailah, remembering the early moments of the Smart case is not hard.

How can you forget that? Kolkailah said. And as I said, it makes me even more worried about my grandkids and my kids at home here and also on campus. I worry about the students Im teaching that something can happen to them, boys or girls. Now, thats not a good feeling.

Smarts disappearance is something thats weighed on Kolkailah over the past 26 years.

We lost this beautiful young lady, Kolkailah said. My heart goes for her parents, her family, her loved ones. Im not kidding, sometimes I get tears in my eyes.

Bailey, too, said that Smarts disappearance is something that has been on his mind for the past 26 years. During his tenure, he said her disappearance has led to an increased awareness on campus, and the lack of resolution for her case has kept her name alive.

I can just tell you that 25-26 years later, most of us [Kristin Smart is] at the front of our minds, Bailey said. How can we have not gotten her back?

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It felt like a turning point: Cal Poly professors recount the impact Kristin Smart has had on campus over 26 years - Mustang News

Biochemistry in Everyday Life – News-Medical.Net

The impact of biochemistry has been seen most notably in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. However, biochemistry plays a fundamental role in everyday life, affecting different aspects of society from retail, food, cosmetics, and fashion to healthcare.

Biochemistry has been involved in the development of many products and processes used every day. These include the discovery and improvement of medical products, cleaning products and DNA recombinant technology which can be used to make important molecules such as insulin and food additives.

Biochemical and binocular knowledge has also assisted the quality and quantity of food production through improved agrochemicals, the development of crops with enhanced resistance to pests and disease, and the preparation of foods that improve human health, which includes pre- and pro-biotics and antioxidants.

Biochemistry can be considered to contain several branches. These include Enzymeology; Endocrinology; Molecular biology; Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering; Immunology; Structural Biochemistry; Neurochemistry; and Cell Biology. Each of these disciplines concerns a different component of biochemistry.

Increasingly, the global food system is under strain, with an increase in the prevalence of polarised obesity and poverty, and increased dependence on chemical fertilizer and pesticides, poor quality foods, environmental degradation, and the loss of biodiversity. As such, many practices are being revised and regenerated. These practices are informed by biochemistry.

Biochemistry is used to enhance plant growth, yield, and quality as a consequence of optimizing fertilizer components. Crop improvement has also been improved by way of increased tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, alongside augmented nutritional value.

With knowledge of the mechanism of action of fertilizers, such as nitrates, the use of fertilizer can be optimized to improve plant growth quality. An example of this is the increasing use of biochemical fertilizers including nitrogen fixes, phosphorus potassium, sulfur solubilizers, and various fungi such as mycorrhiza, and Trichoderma, as well as small molecular iron chelators called siderophores that are produced by microbes.

This is thought to ameliorate the effect of intense use of chemical fertilizers, which cause water contamination, depleted nutrients, and soul deterioration.

Biochemistry plays an important role in nutrition and health and is considered to be a powerful unsustainable tool for the improvement of health, reduction of poverty, and hunger in the world. Through the use of sustainable biochemistry, the commercialization of biochemical techniques is considered to be a powerful way of reducing brook global poverty and hunger and improving nutritional delivery across the world.

Biochemistry in agriculture. Image Credit: PopTika/Shutterstock.com

The most notable way in which biochemistry has affected nutrition is through crop improvement using several biochemically-informed techniques. Since 1996, genetically modified crop varieties have been developed through the introduction of genes or genetic elements with desirable functions.

Despite concerns, genome editing tools have recently emerged as a new form of technology and have been successfully used to modify crop genomes without evidencing the use of foreign gene introduction across a variety of species. Although they have only been used relatively recently, they have greatly improved crop yield and quality.

Characteristics of crop improvement include improved nutritional and functional quality, particularly for staple crops that satisfy high demand, such as maize, wheat, potato, and rice. For example, 20% of the world's population over one billion people - is dependent on rice cultivation as an energy supply. Gene technology has been used to improve, for example, glutinosity in rice varieties. A high-amylose and low-viscosity rice variety was produced by knocking out SBEIIb, a gene for the starch branching enzyme, using CRISPR/Cas9.

To circumvent the issue caused by cold storage of potatoes in transport, TALEN technology was used to remove a gene encoding for vacuolar invertase, which catalyzes the breakdown of sucrose into glucose and fructose. This prevents the accumulated reducing sugars that cause high levels of a potential carcinogen compound, acrylamide, produced when they react with free amino acids when cooked.

Biochemistry is also applied in the context of food contamination, with biochemistry aiding in determining detailed food chemistry. Related to this, biochemistry is essential in nutrient value tests, which can define the percentage or concentrations of nutrients in various types of foods consumed. Moreover, through a complex understanding of the macromolecular, vitamin, and mineral content of food, food can be used strategically to improve the quality of life. For example, knowledge of the effects of high quantities of sugar and fats enables doctors and nutritionists to advise patients on their dietary choices.

Rice production. Image Credit: pran/Shutterstock.com

Biochemistry is used in biotechnological applications in the textile industry. Enzymes are used routinely to bleach and wash textiles, and to change the property of clothing, for example changing the appearance of denim or preventing shrinkage of fiber types, such as wool and cotton. Increasingly, microbial involvement in the fashion industry has begun to take hold, avoiding the use of traditional chemical processes which are associated with high levels of pollution.

Spider silk, for example, is noted for its strong flexible and lightweight properties; however, it has not been possible to farm spider silk on an industrial scale in the past. However, by using fermentation bioreactors, genetically engineered bacteria can be used to produce this in large quantities. Due to knowledge of the material properties of the silk on a molecular level, this affords significant control over the final product relative to traditional materials. Moreover, this use of technology addresses the problem of sustainability as the silk is produced in the absence of animal or petroleum material.

Spider silk. Image Credit: Pablesku/Shutterstock.com

In fact, biochemically-mediated approaches have the potential to impact climate change, which is increasingly being recognized as a large challenge facing society worldwide. Biochemical knowledge has been used to identify solutions such as algal biofuels, carbon sequestration, and more efficient industrial processes, which can help protect the environment and enhance economic opportunities.

Biochemical research can also be used to understand the basic biological processes as well as complex and elegant mechanisms for harnessing energy and converting it into a form that can be used. By understanding these processes, the development of advanced biotechnology products has been achieved, which enables the production of novel types of bioenergy such as biochemical photovoltaics.

Through the identification of natural products that occur from biochemical reactions, products have been developed that enhance human health. This research has been fundamental and has increased public understanding of the importance of good nutrition and disease.

This article touches on a few examples of biochemistry in everyday life. Biochemistry continues to address the challenges faced by society worldwide, improving and influencing aspects of our lives.

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Biochemistry in Everyday Life - News-Medical.Net

Moving biochemistry and molecular biology courses online in times of disruption – DocWire News

This article was originally published here

FASEB J. 2022 May;36 Suppl 1. doi: 10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R5451.

ABSTRACT

When the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid pivot to online instruction, a team of faculty teaching biochemistry and molecular biology courses created a resource to help other educators approach online education. The group, comprised of educators with experience teaching hybrid and fully online courses, described their strategies in areas like course design, promoting engagement, and assessing student performance. Each topic has a dedicated webpage with brief recommendations, along with a curated list of links to relevant reading, videos, and resources. The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) supported the project by hosting the resource on their website (https://www.asbmb.org/education/online-teaching). At this time, I was transitioning into a position focused on curriculum redesign; one key goal was to introduce discussion sections into a biochemistry course for majors. Drawing from the teams ideas to promote online engagement, I designed many of these activities using a collaborative whiteboard tool. These activities have now been successfully implemented both online and in-person, and offer flexibility to instructors and students as we continue to develop engaging activities for hybrid and blended courses.

PMID:35556720 | DOI:10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R5451

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Moving biochemistry and molecular biology courses online in times of disruption - DocWire News

New discovery has potential to stop inflammation at the "growing end" – News-Medical.Net

Redness, swelling, pain - these are signs of inflammation. It serves to protect the body from pathogens or foreign substances. Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Cologne were able to show that inflammatory reactions of an important sensor protein proceed in a specific spatial direction. This finding has the potential to conceivably stop inflammation at the "growing end", and thus bring chronic inflammatory diseases to a halt. The study has now been published in the journal "Science Advances".

If bacteria or viruses attack living cells or other foreign substances appear in them, the danger sensor with the abbreviation NLRP3 is activated. "The protein deposits in the brain that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, the so-called amyloid- plaques, can also set NLRP3 in motion," says Prof. Dr. Matthias Geyer from the Institute for Structural Biology at the University Hospital Bonn, referring to earlier studies. As these previous studies by the researchers show, this reaction increasingly fuels itself: The inflammatory reaction triggered by NLRP3 promotes the further deposition of amyloid- plaques and contributes significantly to the disease process.

Once activated, several NLRP3 proteins attach to each other and in this way form the nucleus for a thread-like structure at which more and more proteins gather.

The reaction kicks in as soon as about a dozen of the NLRP3 molecules are present."

Prof. Dr. Matthias Geyer, Institute for Structural Biology, University Hospital Bonn

In theory, an infinite number of NLRP3 molecules can join together and extend the thread-like structure - scientifically called a "filament" - further and further. Inga Hochheiser from Prof. Geyer's team has now been able to show the direction in which this filament grows and continues to expand. "We were able to gain these insights using cryo-electron microscopy. This method makes it possible to observe protein molecules with up to 80,000-fold magnification and thus make them directly visible," says Hochheiser.

In tiny steps, the scientist drizzled NLRP3 isolated from cells onto a sample carrier and flash-froze this mixture. This provided the researchers with a kind of "still image" under the cryo-electron microscope. The emerging thread-like structure of NLRP3 molecules arranged side by side was thus visualized. "These individual images made it possible to understand how the filaments elongate, just like in a film," says Hochheiser. As the molecules fall differently on the sample carrier when drizzled, they can be seen from different perspectives under the microscope. These different views can be combined on the computer to create a three-dimensional image. The results showed that the filaments only form in one direction. "This allowed us to visualize part of the inflammatory apparatus and literally read the direction of growth," says Prof. Geyer, who led the study and is a member of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 and the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Life and Health" at the University of Bonn.

"The technical challenge was to find the transitions in the thread-like structures and make them visible in the image," says Prof. Dr. Elmar Behrmann from the Institute for Biochemistry at the University of Cologne. "The new findings now allow us to target the growing end of the inflammatory response using antibodies or drugs," Hochheiser explains. This brings the researchers closer to their goal of stopping the further build-up of the inflammatory apparatus and thus counteracting chronic inflammation.

In addition to the Institute of Structural Biology and the Institute of Innate Immunity of the University Hospital Bonn, the Institute of Biochemistry of the University of Cologne and The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne (Australia) are involved in the study. Measurements were carried out at the research center caesar in Bonn and at the Rudolf Virchow Center at the University of Wrzburg. The study was funded by the Else Krner-Fresenius Foundation and the German Research Foundation.

Source:

Journal reference:

Hochheiser, I.V., et al. (2022) Directionality of PYD filament growth determined by the transition of NLRP3 nucleation seeds to ASC elongation. Science Advances. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn7583.

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New discovery has potential to stop inflammation at the "growing end" - News-Medical.Net

Photo gallery Students and campus all dressed up for commencement – University of Wisconsin-Madison

1 Soon-to-be-graduate Makenna Ley poses on Bascom Hill with her gown and decorated neurobiology and biochemistry motarboard hat while Liza Spellman take photos. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

2 Red and white tulips bloom in front of Bascom Hall. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

3 Its a hot day! Sophomore Michael Nichols takes a photo of poli sci graduate Canaan Odeh on Bascom Hill. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

4 First-year audiology graduate students, from left to right, Vee Stanarevic, Jenny Lucke, Serena Helman, and Kelly Schneider along with Mia the dog enjoy a picnic on Bascom Hill on May 11. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

5 Soon-to-be-graduate Canaan Odeh poses while wearing his graduation gown with the numerals 2022 while sophomore Michael Nichols directs his photo. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

6 Soon-to-be industrial engineering graduates Dingsheng Tao (left) and Nicholas Tam (right) pose with the numerals 2022 while wearing their graduation gowns on Bascom Hill. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

7 Soon-to-be industrial engineering graduate Dingsheng Tao poses with the numerals 2022 while Nicholas Tam takes his photo. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

8 Art supplies are ready for creative graduates at the Wheelhouse Studios Cappy Hour event. Photo by: Althea Dotzour

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Photo gallery Students and campus all dressed up for commencement - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Steering committee of pulmonary and primary care experts aims to reduce time to diagnose complex lung diseases – Yahoo Finance

American College of Chest Physicians

William Lago, MD

Family Medicine Physician, Wooster Family Health Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Wooster, OH.

Andrew H. Limper, MD

Annenberg Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director Thoracic Disease Research Unit, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN.

Bridging Specialties: Timely Diagnosis for ILD Patients

Composed of pulmonologists, primary care physicians, and a nursing professional, the steering committee will work to create materials that will aid in reducing the time it takes to reach a diagnosis for interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) like pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

GLENVIEW, Ill., May 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) and Three Lakes Foundation are announcing a steering committee of experts in the fields of pulmonary medicine and primary care medicine to lead an initiative called Bridging Specialties: Timely Diagnosis for ILD Patients. Composed of pulmonologists, primary care physicians, and a nursing professional, the steering committee will work to create materials that will aid in reducing the time it takes to reach a diagnosis for interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) like pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

Affecting about 400,000 people in the United States, ILDs comprise a group of diseases that cause lung inflammation and/or permanent scars and are frequently misdiagnosed as more common lung diseases. Some studies show that reaching an appropriate diagnosis for rarer lung diseases can take upwards of several years.

Members of the Bridging Specialties: Timely Diagnosis for ILD Patients steering committee include individuals from leading medical institutions, health systems and organizations across the country:

Daniel F. Dilling, MD, FCCP, Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL.

Andrew Duggan, MPH, Patient Engagement and Innovation Leader, Boston, MA.

Jessica Glennie, APRN, MSN, Nurse practitioner, Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.

Timothy Hernandez, MD, Family Medicine Physician, Chief Executive Officer of Entira Family Clinics, San Antonio, TX.

Corey D. Kershaw, MD, FCCP, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.

Tejaswini Kulkarni, MD, MPH, FCCP, Assistant Professor, Director, Interstitial Lung Disease Program, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.

William Lago, MD, Family Medicine Physician, Wooster Family Health Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Wooster, OH.

Andrew H. Limper, MD, FCCP, Annenberg Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director Thoracic Disease Research Unit, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN.

Anoop M. Nambiar, MD, MS, FCCP, Professor of Medicine, Founding Director of the UT Health San Antonio Center for Interstitial Lung Diseases, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX.

Mary Beth Scholand, MD, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Diseases, Director, Interstitial Lung Program, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

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While interstitial lung diseases do not affect a substantial amount of the population, those touched by the disease are impacted tremendously, says steering committee member and pulmonologist, Dr. Andrew H. Limper. Any delay in receiving a diagnosis is time that could be dedicated to finding a treatment therapy that can improve their quality of life. I look forward to the work of this committee helping to shape how patients with ILDs are diagnosed and treated in the future.

Starting with data-gathering surveys sent to both primary care physicians and pulmonologists, the committee will evaluate the findings to develop tools that can be used to aid in diagnosing complex lung diseases.

Having experts from both pulmonary and primary care medicine as members of the steering committee is critical, says steering committee member and Family Medicine physician, Dr. William Lago. Patients first see their family medicine or primary care clinicians and, all too often, the most complex lung diseases present in ways that are indistinguishable from more common conditions like asthma and COPD. Bringing together experts in both fields will yield the best results in creating a path to diagnosis.

Select members of the steering committee and representatives from CHEST and Three Lakes Foundation will be on-site (booth 2003) at the 2022 American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Francisco to provide additional details on the steering committee and the joint collaboration. To learn more about the initiative, visit the Three Lakes Foundation website or the CHEST website.

About the American College of Chest Physicians The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) is the global leader in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chest diseases. Its mission is to champion advanced clinical practice, education, communication and research in chest medicine. It serves as an essential connection to clinical knowledge and resources for its 19,000+ members from around the world who provide patient care in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. For information about the American College of Chest Physicians, and its flagship journal CHEST, visit chestnet.org.

About Three Lakes Foundation Three Lakes Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to serving as a catalyst for uniting research, industries and philanthropy in pulmonary fibrosis. We connect entrepreneurs, advocates and institutions to an innovation ecosystem that will transform our approach to improve time to diagnosis and accelerate new therapies. To learn more, visit threelakesfoundation.org.

Contact:CHESTLaura DiMasildimasi@chestnet.org224-521-9482

Three Lakes FoundationMarita Gomezmaritagomez@crispsolution.net630-936-9105

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ea95a17f-2ab7-4c31-9c40-7a14b3415411

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/39c028ad-14dc-477d-bd7a-212ef5451dc9

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9d395027-b16e-4f6d-bfa4-af2a12f72149

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Steering committee of pulmonary and primary care experts aims to reduce time to diagnose complex lung diseases - Yahoo Finance

Biology Professor Greg Pask Receives Perkins Award for Excellence in Teaching – Middlebury College News and Events

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. Faculty, staff, and students honored Greg Pask, assistant professor of biology, with the Perkins Award for Excellence in Teaching at a ceremony in Bicentennial Hall on May 4. The annual award is presented alternately to a faculty member from mathematics or thesciences.

Earlier this year, student majors and minors in the science departments were asked for nominations for the award. The winner was chosen by a selectioncommittee.

The selection committee reviewed the letters and members were deeply impressed by the level of detail students provided to describe the myriad impacts our faculty have on students in the classroom, the research lab, and beyond, said Associate Dean of Sciences Rick Bunt, who introduced Pask. While all those nominated this year were worthy of recognition, this years awardee truly stoodout.

Pask, an insect neurobiologist, studies the powerful sense of smell insects use to locate food, find mates, and communicate with others. His research focuses on the chemical language of ants and the specific genes involved in detecting socialcues.

He earned his bachelors degree in chemistry from Muhlenberg College, his PhD in biochemistry from Vanderbilt University, and completed postdoctoral work in entomology at the University of California, Riverside. Bunt noted that Pask combines all of his academic skills in his study of chemical signaling in insectswork that has earned support from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation. His research has resulted in 11 peer-reviewedpublications.

Bunt pointed out that Pask, who arrived at Middlebury in 2020, wasted no time diving into the campus community. Greg has already made quite a mark on students through his commitment and dedication to teaching excellence in the spirit of Professor LlewellynPerkins.

Students Benjamin Morris, Daphne Halley, and Aiden Masters each offered glowing remarks at the ceremony in support of Pask. The Perkins family was represented by Catherine Harris and Andrew Perkins onZoom.

Created in 1993, the Perkins Award is provided by the Professor Llewellyn R. Perkins and Dr. Ruth M.H. Perkins Memorial Research Fund, and it was made possible by a gift from Ruth Perkins, Middlebury Class of 1932, in memory of her husband, Llewellyn, who taught at Middlebury from 1914 through1941.

Their children, Marion Perkins Harris 57, a science teacher, and David Perkins, a physician, augmented the fund and expanded the scope of the award to honor their mother, Ruth, as well as their father. The award supports the recipients faculty development. It is presented in even-numbered years to a member of the mathematics or computer science department, and in odd-numbered years to a faculty member who teaches in the naturalsciences.

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Biology Professor Greg Pask Receives Perkins Award for Excellence in Teaching - Middlebury College News and Events