BMB Weekly #2: January 13, 2023

 

Congratulations to the Winners of the Snow Person Decoration Contest!  Many thanks to all who participated in the 1st BMB Snow Person decorating contest this past December! 10 labs jumped into action and provided fun, clever, and creative snow people for our competition: the TerAvest, Hegg, Hsu, Kuo, Henry, Arnosti, Kroos, Martinez-Hackert, Orlando, Vielle labs. There were 5 categories for voting: Creativity, School Spirit, Most Research Related, Funniest/Humorous, and Best Overall. And the winners were……….drum roll please: Creativity: Hsu Lab School Spirit: Henry Lab Most Research Related: Hsu Lab Funniest/Humorous: TerAvest Lab Best Overall: Orlando Lab Fun was had by all with lots of sweet treats, homemade hot chocolate, and prizes! Many of the Snow People displays are still up so if you have the chance please stop by and see them in person. Pictures of all are posted outside the 212 office too. Happy New Year! Looking forward to the 2nd Annual BMB Snow Person contest in December 2023! ~ Billy and Leslie

 

 

Giulia Palermo from the University of California, Riverside will be presenting "Dynamics and mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas9 through the lens of computational methods."

To join us on Zoom, click this link. Password: bmbseminar

The Spring BMB Seminar Series will run through the end of April. The complete schedule is available on the BMB Spring Seminar Series website. If you are interested in meeting with any of these speakers please email Leslie Williams, glady@msu.edu. Many speakers are planning to visit in-person. A zoom option will continue to be offered for all seminars.

 

Join the MSU Community, January 12-20th, in celebration of the legacy of Dr. King and historical events that took place in our nation and on our campus.
Link to 2023 MLK Event Calendar
The celebration kicks off on Thursday, January 12, 2023 with the 43rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Unity Dinner which takes place at the Kellogg Center Hotel & Conference Center. Pre-registration is required and does fill up.  More details and registration can be found here.

This training will be a very detailed presentation geared toward users who are new to the Graduate processes in Campus Solutions within the last 6 months. However, all are welcome for a refresher! For participation accommodations or questions, please email gradwrsp@grd.msu.edu. Learn more and register here. 

The Council of Graduate Students is pleased to announce that the 15th Annual Graduate Academic Conference will take place on February 18, 2023, at the MSU Union. We are now accepting abstracts for poster and oral presentations and applicants to participate in the famous Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition!  Abstracts & registration are due by January 31, 2023. Learn more here. 

The GAC is a forum for graduate students to gain experience communicating their research to a non-specialized audience. Our adjudicators are MSU Alums (many graduate school alums!)  with wide-ranging professional backgrounds who provide feedback that can help students fine tune their presentation skills.

As a presenter, you will benefit from constructive feedback that will help you learn to better communicate your research to generalized audiences as you progress in your research. You will also be able to network with your peers across disciplines as well as with your audience of judges and other interested professionals attending the conference! As an attendee, you will be able to view the great work being done by student researchers as well as have access to workshops geared to help all graduate/professional students!

Click here for more information. 

 

Nominations are being accepted for the 2023 MAGS Excellence in Teaching Award competition. This Teaching Award is very competitive, so we are looking for exceptional PhD and Master’s students with great demonstration of teaching competence and knowledge of pedagogy, innovative teaching/instructional design, and effective mentoring skills and commitment to teaching professional development. Students must be nominated by faculty/deans. Learn more here. 

The L’Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship program honors female scientists at a critical stage in their careers with grants of $60,000 each. Since 2003, they have awarded 95 postdoctoral women scientists nearly $5 million in grants. They are seeking five exceptional female scientists looking to advance their research and serve as role models for the next generation of girls in STEM. Learn more and apply here. 

The Julian Samora Research Institute at MSU is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for:

• The Julian Samora Endowed Scholarships (Graduate/Undergraduate) for 2023-2024
• The P. Lea Martinez Endowed Scholarship Fund (Graduate) for 2023-2024

Learn more here. 

The Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University will annually award multiple undergraduate and graduate fellowships under the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program funded by the U.S. Department of Education for students pursuing the study of Asian languages and Asia area studies at MSU. Learn more here. 

Danone North America (“Danone”), is excited to announce that it is now accepting applications for the 2022-2023 Danone North America Gut Microbiome, Yogurt and Probiotics Fellowship Grant. In its 11th year, Danone will award two $25,000 grants to graduate students interested in exploring the gut microbiome, probiotics and yogurt to better understand how they help support and maintain human health and wellness. Learn more and apply here. 

The Intelligence Community (IC) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program offers scientists and engineers from a wide variety of disciplines unique opportunities to conduct research in a wide range of topics relevant to the Intelligence Community. The research is conducted by the Postdocs, while working in partnership with a Research Advisor and collaborating with an advisor from the Intelligence Community. Learn more and apply here. 

 

The ITA Program is currently scheduling advising appointments for international graduate teaching assistants interested in taking ITA support courses in Spring 2023. Learn more here. 

To help field questions, Global Safety has developed a guide with recommended steps and resources. This is available as a PDF and on the Global Safety website at www.globalsafety.msu.edu/positive-COVID-19. The first step is to call ISOS for guidance.

 

The Kaguni lab at Michigan State University seeks a talented and highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to determine the cryo-EM structure of a protein-DNA complex formed in the process of replication initiation using Escherichia coli as a model system (https://bmb.natsci.msu.edu/directory-pages/faculty/jon-m-kaguni/current-research.aspx). The individual will also obtain training in nucleic acid enzymology, and molecular genetics. The postdoc is expected to participate in seminars, journal clubs, weekly lab meetings, and prepare and submit manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

The Kroos lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University is seeking a postdoctoral research associate to work on mechanisms of signaling and gene regulation in bacteria. A highly motivated individual is sought to conduct biochemical, genetic, and microscopic experiments on mechanisms of signaling and gene regulation in Bacillus subtilis and Myxococcus xanthus. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link. 

The Research Associate will be using molecular modeling and molecular simulation to investigate ligand binding and release processes. Analysis of these transition paths will yield valuable information to further collaborative drug design projects. Duties include: conducting and analyzing molecular simulations, communicating research in conference presentations and manuscripts, and serving as a mentor to undergraduate and graduate students. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link. 

The Quinn lab in Biochemistry at Michigan State is looking for two responsible and capable undergraduates to help maintain and perform experiments on coral reef aquaria. The lab is using the coral Galaxea fascicularis as a model organism for the study of coral response to climate change. We have live corals in the lab that need to be cared for and experimented on. Job duties including measuring temperature, pH, salinity and other aspects of the aquarium water, monitoring, growing and maintaining corals in good health, and experiments with corals under different temperature regimes. In the Quinn lab the student will also be involved in general lab duties and experiments with molecular biology and microbiology techniques. The job will require about 10-15 hours per week, but sometimes less. Students must have taken a biochemistry lab course. Any experience with coral reef aquaria is a bonus. Please email quinnrob@msu.edu for more information.

The Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Michigan State University (MSU) seeks mid-career applicants for a tenure-stream position at the Associate or Full Professor level focusing on the biochemistry and engineering of plant metabolism. Of particular interest are pathways and metabolites with long-term potential for medical, industrial, or agricultural applications. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link. 

We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher, Research Associate, to study the molecular, physiological, and omics responses to drought in the field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) to uncover the genes and pathways that control acclimation to drought and use them to engineer drought resistant plants. Field pennycress is an overwintering biofuel crop related to both canola and arabidopsis. The goal of the project is to investigate genetic versatility, especially metabolic versatility, against drought to inform future plant metabolic engineering and breeding efforts. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link. 

The Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry Branch of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) in College Park, Maryland seeks a temporary researcher with a Doctoral degree to participate in our food safety research program. To support its mission, the FDA is developing and implementing non-targeted screening approaches using liquid chromatography/highresolution mass spectrometry (LC/HR-MS) for food safety purposes. Learn more about the job posting and how to apply at this link. 

 

Chen, J., Wang, R., Hozumi, Y., Liu, G., Qiu, Y., Wei, X., Wei, G. (2023). Emerging Dominant SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Journal of Chemical
         Information and Modeling, 63(1), 335-342. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01352

Merz, K. M., Wei, G. W., & Zhu, F. (2023). Editorial: Machine Learning in Bio-cheminformatics. Journal of chemical information and
         modeling, 63(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01496

Raicu, A. M., Kadiyala, D., Niblock, M., Jain, A., Yang, Y., Bird, K. M., Bertholf, K., Seenivasan, A., Siddiq, M., & Arnosti, D. N. (2023).
         The cynosure of CtBP: evolution of a bilaterian transcriptional corepressor. Molecular biology and evolution, msad003. Advance
         online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad003

Sharkey T. D. (2023). The discovery of rubisco. Journal of experimental botany, 74(2), 510–519. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erac254

Sun, M., Zhang, C., Sui, D., Yang, C., Pyeon, D., Huang, X., & Hu, J. (2023). Rational Design and Synthesis of D-galactosyl Lysophospholipids
         as Selective Substrates and non-ATP-competitive Inhibitors of Phosphatidylinositol Phosphate Kinases. Chemistry (Weinheim an der
         Bergstrasse, Germany), 29(2), e202202083. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202202083

Tsai, C. H., Chuang, Y. M., Li, X., Yu, Y. R., Tzeng, S. F., Teoh, S. T., Lindblad, K. E., Di Matteo, M., Cheng, W. C., Hsueh, P. C.,
         Kao, K. C., Imrichova, H., Duan, L., Gallart-Ayala, H., Hsiao, P. W., Mazzone, M., Ivanesevic, J., Liu, X., de Visser, K. E.,
         Lujambio, A., Lunt, S. Y., Kaech, S. M., Ho, P. C. (2023). Immunoediting instructs tumor metabolic reprogramming to support
         immune evasion. Cell metabolism, 35(1), 118–133.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.12.003

Tsai, H. C., Lee, T. S., Ganguly, A., Giese, T. J., Ebert, M. C., Labute, P., Merz, K. M., Jr, & York, D. M. (2023). AMBER Free Energy
         Tools: A New Framework for the Design of Optimized Alchemical Transformation Pathways. Journal of chemical theory and
         computation, 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00725. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00725

Valdes-Garcia, G., Heo, L., Lapidus, L. J., & Feig, M. (2023). Modeling Concentration-dependent Phase Separation Processes
         Involving Peptides and RNA via Residue-Based Coarse-Graining. Journal of chemical theory and computation, Advance
         online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00856

Ying, S., Scheible, W. R., & Lundquist, P. K. (2023). A stress-inducible protein regulates drought tolerance and flowering time
         in Brachypodium and Arabidopsis. Plant physiology, 191(1), 643–659. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiac486

 

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College of Natural Science | BMB Weekly | Vol. 56, No. 2