New early career seminars launching Fall 2021

Tight shot of gloved hand holding a Petri dish.
The School of Molecular & Cellular Biology is pleased to announce two new seminars from the Departments of Microbiology and Cell & Developmental Biology. Both series are focused on bringing early career scientists to campus. Speakers from historically marginalized communities are encouraged...

Cholesterol metabolite induces production of cancer-promoting vesicles

Headshot of Erik Nelson
Scientists working to understand the cellular processes linking high cholesterol to breast cancer recurrence and metastasis report that a byproduct of cholesterol metabolism causes some cells to send out cancer-promoting signals to other cells. These signals are packaged in membrane-bound...

Congratulations to the 2021 student award winners!

Blue and orange confetti flies in the air.
The School of Molecular & Cellular Biology is pleased to announce the winners of its 2020-2021 student awards, fellowships, and scholarships.These awards recognize academic achievement, research accomplishments, and excellence in teaching.We’re proud to have so many outstanding students....

Investigating the role of Brd4 in diet-induced obesity

Headshot of Lin-Feng Chen
A new study, published in JCI insight, looks at how Brd4, a regulator of the innate immune response, influences diet-induced obesity. The researchers believe that Brd4 could be used as a target for obesity and insulin resistance.

Jie Chen receives campus award for graduate student mentoring

Headshot of Jie Chen
Congratulations to Jie Chen, professor of cell and developmental biology, who was honored with the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring. The award recognizes faculty members for their sustained excellence in graduate student mentoring, innovative approaches to graduate advising...

Piecing together the LanCL puzzle

Removing the phosphate group from kinases can activate them, which can be problematic. LanCL adds glutathione to these kinases, after which they became deactivated.
Researchers from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, including several faculty in the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, in collaboration with scientists at Oxford University have published a paper in Cell reporting the function of LanCL proteins. These proteins...