BMB Weekly #3: January 16, 2026

 

How viruses know what’s theirs

Learning from nature's packaging experts could lead to anti-virals, gene therapy, and the next generation of RNA-based therapeutics. Prof. Kristin Parent teamed up with researchers at SDSU for a new study, which leveraged MSU's cryo-EM new instruments.
Read the full article here.

 

 

 

Nina Lin from the University of Michigan will be presenting the lecture titled "Understanding and harnessing the power of microbial communities: Systems and synthetic biology approaches".

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

The Spring BMB Seminar Series will run through April 23, 2026. 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.

 

 

In this session we will discuss cooperative learning principles and how these can be implemented when working with students in recitations, labs, or in class projects. Participants will be able to participate in a short cooperative learning experience and take what they learned to apply to their disciplinary teaching contexts. Learn more here.

In this 3-hour workshop, plans for time management and working with others will be the main focus. Participants will create academic timelines for their PhD work at MSU and discuss technologies and habits that can help them stay on task. Participants will also discuss how to manage the stress that often pervades the life of PhD students and share strategies for overcoming writer’s block and procrastination. Learn more and register here.

In this 3-hour workshop, the focus will be on writing processes and practices. Every PhD program at MSU requires comprehensive exams, dissertation proposals, and dissertations. In the workshop, participants will explore and share their current writing practices and be given practical writing and revision strategies. During the latter half of the workshop, participants will develop a plan for developing and completing their dissertations. Learn more and register here.

Created for MSU students, UNWIND is a monthly series from the MSU Museum that offers a chance to relax, recharge, and reset. From art and music to movement and mindfulness, each event is designed to help you take a well-deserved pause.

Are you ready to ring in the new year with style and fun? Celebrate the new year with us at  MSU Museum’s New Year Silent Disco! Whether you want to show up in style, dress comfy, or just come, and jam out. Grab a headset, pick a channel that your vibe with, and ring in the new year on this unforgettable night! When you need a break from dancing, make sure to grab some food, try to win some prizes and capture the great memories at our photo wall. Come celebrate the new year and the new Museum on this night of music, dancing, and fun! Learn more and register here.

Please join us on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 for Transnational Voices, a monthly interactive experience-sharing session led by Leadership Fellow Kunti Adhikari. The project aims to connect international graduate students with transnational scholars to learn from their lived experiences across national, linguistic, cultural, and academic contexts. This month, we'll have Dr. Jungmin Kwon, associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education joining us. Learn more and register here.

Join us for the next Beyond the PhD seminar featuring Dr. Josh Lensmire, an MSU alumnus (Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology, Class of 2021) and Senior Staff Scientist at Immunartes.

Gain practical insight into:

• What working at a biotech startup actually looks like
• How PhD skills translate to industry roles
• How to prepare for an industry career
  

A graduate student networking session w/ Dr. Lensmire will follow the seminar in BPS 1425. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Learn more here.

 

This fellowship will allow a graduate student to draft research manuscripts and research proposals while gaining hands-on experience in scholarly writing, literature synthesis, data interpretation, and the preparation of grant-ready research documents, as well as possibly other research activities designated by the supervisor. Learn more and apply here.

The Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD) is excited to announce that their scholarship application is now open through January 30, 2026. Ten scholarships honor MSU students with disabilities who demonstrate leadership, academic excellence, and resilience. Recipients will be honored at the RCPD Awards Reception on April 17. We encourage you to share this opportunity with eligible students you advise. Learn more and apply here.

In addition, all Spartans are invited to nominate students, faculty and staff, and alumni for three awards that recognize meaningful efforts to advance belonging and inclusion. Recipients will also be honored at the RCPD Awards Reception. Learn more and make a nomination here.

 

A variety of exciting and educational opportunities will be offered to the MSU community in celebration of the legacy of Dr. King and historical events that took place in our nation and on our campus. MLK questions can be directed to Florensio Hernandez. View the calendar here.

Move your way to 5K! UHW is hosting a training site for the 8-week Blue Cross® Winter Warm Up program. Training culminating with a 5K Walk/Run event at Hawk Island County Park on March 21. Participants can score a 50% off coupon on a SPARTANfit Comprehensive Fitness Assessment. Learn more and register here.

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.

 

Looking for Your Next Step? Check Out the Postdoc Opportunities Board

This free online resource connects you with postdoc positions at 18 world-leading institutions across 11 states. Explore openings and access advice to help you find the right postdoc position to thrive and succeed. Start your search today and take the next step in your career! Learn more 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.

 

 

Hayes, N., Merkurjev, E., & Wei, G. W. (2026). Predicting protein-nucleic acid flexibility using persistent sheaf Laplacians. Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP, 10.1039/d5cp04098a. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5cp04098a

Moss, D. H., Pear, O., Guío, J., Libonati, A., Ducat, D., Bay, R. K., & Khakhar, A. (2026). Uncovering the Design Rules for Sustainable Growth of Mineralized Mycomaterials. ACS synthetic biology, 10.1021/acssynbio.5c00713. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.5c00713

Nirmal MB, Pearce ME, Liu CT, Finkel JM, Darrow KS, Vo TV. Deletion of Elongator Protein 1 (Elp1) relieves heterochromatin defects in a Pol II mutant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. (2025) Genetics. 2025:iyaf258. https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyaf258

Wang, Q., Wang, Q., Melani, R. D., Liu, Q., Nurmi, P., & Sun, L. (2026). Extensive Backbone Cleavage Coverage of Intact Proteoforms in a Mass Range of 10-70 kDa by Integrating Electron, Collision, and Photon-Based Fragmentation Techniques during an Electrophoretic Time Scale. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 10.1021/jasms.5c00384. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.5c00384

Yu, P., Krah, B. S., Orlando, M. A., Subramanian, S., & Orlando, B. J. (2026). Structural analysis of a Gram-positive type VII ABC transporter induced by cell wall-targeting antibiotics. Structure (London, England : 1993), 34(1), 145–156.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2025.10.004

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