BMB Weekly #43: October 31, 2025

 

Fuel for the finish line: How sperm achieve ‘overdrive’

New research from the Balbach Lab is pinpointing the molecular “switch” that supercharges sperm for their final sprint to an egg — a breakthrough that could reshape infertility treatments and pave the way for safe, nonhormonal male contraceptives.
Read the full article here.

 

 

 

Alex Vecchio from the University of Buffalo will be presenting the lecture titled "Multipurpose Molecules for Structure Determination and Function Modulation of Very Small Membrane Proteins".

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

The Fall BMB Seminar Series will run through December 4, 2025. The complete schedule is available on the BMB Fall 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.

 

No matter how well they are doing, grad students often feel like it’s never enough, and living with that kind of pressure can lead to burnout. While you may not be able to eliminate stress, you can increase your capacity to manage it more effectively. This workshop will explore how small, intentional habits can lead to meaningful progress, long-term success, and a sustainable approach to work and life. Learn more and register here.

This session covers practical ways to use AI for common course management tasks like organizing materials, building content, and managing grading workflows. We’ll provide you with robust examples and prompting techniques you can adapt right away. Learn more and register here.

Join us for MPS speaker Talia Karasov from the University of Utah. The seminar will be held at 4:00 p.m.

Talia’s talk is titled “Bacterial pathogens suppress one another with repurposed phage machinery”. We would like to invite graduate students and postdocs to join the speaker for a lunch and discussion on Monday, November 3rd. Lunch will be provided at 12:00 p.m. in PBL 168. This is a great opportunity to meet our outside speaker in an informal environment. If you would like to participate in the luncheon, please RSVP to Keri Morris at morrisk@msu.edu with any dietary restrictions by Friday October 31, 2025 at 1 p.m. All students and post docs who are interested in this week’s seminar topic are welcome to attend. You do not need to be in the MPS program or affiliated with an MPS faculty member.

Attend this seminar via Zoom. Passcode: 028299

MSU Swing Dance Society will hold their Fall Fling live band event on Saturday November 1st starting at 8PM in Dem Hall. The event is free of charge. Come with or without a partner - no experience necessary! It's a fun way to destress from your work! Learn more here.

The MSU AGEP Learning Community is an informal environment where students from varying disciplines can gather, share their research in a 10-minute presentation, or discover that their graduate toils are not unusual. Those in attendance are privy to information regarding fellowships, career opportunities, even summer internships, pertaining to the group. Learn more and RSVP here.

Join immigration attorneys from Fakhoury Immigration Law Firm for an exclusive workshop for international students navigating the full-time job search process in the United States. Register on Handshake.

If you like games and fun then you will not want to miss MSU Museum’s Unplug, link up, have fun! We have something for everyone to enjoy! Outsmart your friends or opponents in long form strategy games. Or maybe you prefer to grab your friends for a big laugh with quick, fun, and quirky party games. If that isn’t your vibe, test your skills at quick 1-minute games to see if you can be at the top of the leader board or try your luck at the inflatable carnival games! Enjoy your night with friends, food, games, and prizes! Learn more and register here.

 

MSU IT’s Educational Technology Department is excited to announce that applications are now open for the AT&T Excellence in Teaching with Technology Awards. These annual awards highlight successful uses of instructional technology to support student success in any courses at MSU and celebrate the educators responsible for implementing them. Learn more and apply here.

Marking the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence and in celebration of French-American friendship, the Lafayette Fellowship will fund one year of master’s level study in France for up to 30 outstanding American students. Open to both Francophone and non-Francophone candidates, the initiative partners with 15 of the top French higher education institutions that offer programs across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); the humanities and social sciences; and the arts, either in French or entirely in English. In addition to their academic studies, fellows will take part in the French-American Leadership Program, which explores the future of the transatlantic relationship and provides a 360-degree immersion into European innovation, culture, and policy, as well as access to an international network of mentors. Learn more and apply here.

 

See a modern reimagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello at MSU with a cast of 11 powerful performers and a production and creative team of over 60 artists, designers, and technicians. The MSU Department of Theatre is thrilled to offer free tickets to MSU students for the 2025 - 2026 season! This is your chance to check out world class live theatre! Students can pick up tickets in person with a valid MSU ID at the Wharton Center Ticket Office (before or on the day of the show). For performances held in the MSU Auditorium, tickets may also be picked up at the Auditorium Ticket Office shortly before showtime. More free ticket info can be found here.

MSU IT Educational Technology is excited to offer a variety of valuable resources on D2L Brightspace this November. Join us in learning about D2L BrightSpace essentials including setting up your gradebook and creating a digital hub for your students. Find and register for all learning sessions on the Educational Technology events calendar using this link.

You can find the latest department news over on LinkedIn and BlueSky. Give us a follow and be sure to tag us with research updates, publications, and lab updates to help spread the word!

The MSU Student Food Bank is a resource available to students and scholars who may be experiencing food insecurity. The Food Bank provides free food and other essential items to those in need within our MSU community. Learn more here.

 

The University of Georgia Department of Plant Biology invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in plant synthetic biology for strategic resources research. UGA seeks candidates with expertise in protein and metabolic engineering to advance plant-based discovery, synthesis, or capture of materials and resources of strategic importance. A Ph.D. in plant biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, or a related field is required at the time of appointment, and at least one year of postdoctoral experience is highly desirable. The successful candidate will be expected to develop a vigorous, externally funded research program, contribute to undergraduate and graduate teaching, and actively contribute to departmental and university service. Learn more and apply here.

Michigan State University's Plant Resilience Institute (PRI) is seeking a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral researcher to lead a project focused on discovering a new class of regulatory metabolites and their nuclear signaling mechanisms that govern plant resilience. The project integrates bioinformatics, molecular genetics, protein structural prediction, and experimental validation to investigate their roles in gene regulation and stress response. The postdoctoral researcher will lean efforts in gene characterization, reverse genetics and ligand screening using phenotyping and molecular genetic approaches. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to conceptual advances in plant stress hormone biology, while building tools and resources of broad utility to the plant science community. The successful candidate will join a highly interdisciplinary team led by Dr. Gregg Howe, with collaborators across PRI. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting here.

 

 

Fathi Niazi, F., Yoon, S., Mbacke, K., & Dickson, A. (2025). Undirected Exploration of Binding Pockets with Flexible Topology. Journal of chemical theory and computation, 21(20), 10398–10412. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jctc.5c00825

Hoang, Y., Dufour, Y. S., & Kroos, L. (2025). Segregation of sister chromosomes during the shape change of developing Myxococcus xanthus cells. Journal of bacteriology, 207(10), e0032825. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00328-25

Oliveira, J.dS., Dick, C. F., Pereira Nunes, G. H., Essus, V. A., Schrad, J., Subramanian, S., Abrahão, J., Meyer-Fernandes, J. R., Parent, K., & Cortines, J. R. (2025). Intracellular iron positively modulates the replicative cycle of mimiviruses, increasing virus production. Journal of virology, 99(10), e0102525. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01025-25

Post, G. A., Cholico, G. N., Nault, R., & Zacharewski, T. (2025). Cell type- and species-specific regulation of hepatic lncRNAs by TCDD-activated aryl hydrocarbon receptor. Scientific reports, 15(1), 37322. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-21357-z

Retnadhas, S., Hegg, E. L., & Ducat, D. C. (2025). Plastic-binding peptides as anchors for protein scaffolds on synthetic plastics: opportunities and challenges. RSC advances, 15(48), 41115–41128. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ra06185g

Yu, P., Krah, B. S., Orlando, M. A., Subramanian, S., & Orlando, B. J. (2025). Structural analysis of a Gram-positive type VII ABC transporter induced by cell wall-targeting antibiotics. Structure (London, England : 1993), S0969-2126(25)00391-0. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2025.10.004

Ziyab, A. H., Chen, S., Jones, A. D., & Karmaus, W. J. (2025). Diversity of Metabolomic Findings Regarding Lung Function in Children and Young Adults. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 10.1164/rccm.202508-1935LE. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.202508-1935LE

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