An effective virus must successfully attach to a receptor on a host cell and inject its genetic material into the cell so that new viruses can be produced. Its ability to infect the host cell is highly dependent on both the binding capability of its capsid proteins as well their ability to modify their conformation …
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability characterized by sensory and communication deficits. Recently, diagnosis of ASD has increased, and it is now estimated to affect 1 in 68 children. The symptoms of autism begin to appear during the first three years of life, which coincides with the development of learning ability and a …
Abstract The distribution of vector-borne diseases such as Zika virus continues to expand, leading to epidemics across a variety of geographical locations, but monitoring the spread of these diseases for public health purposes is made difficult by a lack of instrumentation. With the assay we are developing and testing, there is no need for special …
Observations of exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system, have exploded in the last 20 years, to the point where we know now of thousands of exoplanet systems. One of the great mysteries to come out of these discoveries has been the great diversity in types of planetary systems seen. Up until we started discovering …
The Galápagos Islands are home to many diverse species, but not all have diverged as extensively as Darwin’s finches. What could be preventing diversification in the Succinea land snails?
The initial discovery We are investigating the potential of protein toxins naturally produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Brewer’s/Baker’s yeast) to inhibit the growth of the human pathogen Candida glabrata. These toxin producers are known as killer yeasts to those who study them. We have tested over 15,0000 interactions between our killer yeasts and 130 isolates of …
By improving current bioremediation techniques for the removal of trichloroethylene from groundwater we can improve efficiency, improve safety, and treat spills closer to the source.
Tendons are collagen-rich musculoskeletal tissues that function to anchor muscle to bone, and transfer mechanical force between the two. Unfortunately, tendon injuries are common and tendons have poor self-healing capacity, resulting in long-term dysfunction. There are few treatment options, motivating the need for engineered tendon replacements and regenerative therapies using stem cells. However, there is …