Biomolecular Sciences at St. Olaf College

05/11/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS! I hope the end of your semester is wrapping up well. Tonight I bring you an interesting approach to fighting cancer: viruses. The article linked below describes how some viruses are being designed to infect cancer cells, killing the cancer cells and ramping up the immune system to fight off the remaining cancer tissue. The article also discusses the development of these therapies in the recent past and the interest pharmaceutical companies are currently showing in new applications.

Encouraging trial results spur interest from researchers and drug giants.

05/05/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS. Today I bring you an exciting advancement in Developmental Biology, as reported in Nature News. Researchers followed the cellular development of frog and fish embryos and examined gene expression in these cells. Hopefully it can shed light into the development of conditions such as autism or cancer.

The path to a mature organism is much more dynamic than previously thought.

04/26/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS! It has been a while, but tonight I bring you a development in virology/molecular genetics that is pretty exciting. The attached article from Nature News discusses the sequencing of the RNA genome of the flu virus. In summary, the ability to sequence the RNA strand rather than its DNA analog allows modifications to the RNA nucleotides (which may be significant to viral pathology) to be identified. Worth a read!

Direct sequencing of RNA molecules such as virus genomes should help to unpick role of mysterious chemical modifications.

04/03/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS. I hope everyone's Spring Break was restful. Tonight I bring Nature magazine's March's Top Science Images. As always, there is a fascinating photo relating to biomolecular science: an amazing piece of immunofluorescence of a lymph node. I highly recommend you check it out!

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04011-9

03/19/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS! I just stumbled across Nature's top science images of February, and I wanted to share. There is some biomolecular science included, but it also includes interesting developments from other fields as well (even an image of a single atom!). Enjoy!

The month’s sharpest science shots — selected by Nature’s photo team.

03/04/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS! Have you been swept up in the excitement of CRISPR? Tonight I bring an important development in the world of CRISPR-mediated genome editing. The linked news article on Science's website (based on research published in Nature) explains how David Liu's lab at Harvard is making CRISPR-mediated genome editing more practical by increasing the number of locations that can be feasibly targeted. Read the link for more details!

Modifying enzyme used by CRISPR brings four times more DNA within reach of its molecular scissors

02/20/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS, tonight I have another exciting development in the fight against cancer. The linked article from Science demonstrates how scientists are using stem cells to "track down" and kill brain cancers. The article explains how brain cancers emit signalling molecules that attract stem cells to their location. Although this is normally beneficial for the tumor, scientists are using this chemical trail as a map that recruits altered skin stem cells (containing an anti-cancer agent) to the site of tumors and metastases!

New method could attack aggressive cancers like glioblastoma

02/13/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS I wanted to let you know about an exciting event being held this Thursday: Ole STEM! It provides a forum where students can network with alumni, faculty, parents, and friends who have pursued careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Dr. Geraldine Richmond of the University of Oregon will be the main speaker. Thereafter, "lightening" talks from alumni and parents and a dessert reception will be held. For more info about Dr. Geraldine Richmond and the schedule for the night, check out the link below:
https://wp.stolaf.edu/pipercenter/major-events/career-exploration-alumni-connections/ole-stem/

02/02/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS! It has been a while, but I have some interesting news in the world of science and medicine. As reported in the journal Science, researchers at Stanford University found that injecting CpG DNA and an antibody against the the immune signalling molecule OX40 directly into tumors in mice lead to the elimination of both injected tumors and tumors distant from the site of injection. This means that the therapy might be able to kill metastases in addition to solid tumors. Worth a read!

Source:

Immune-rousing molecules fight several types of cancer

01/20/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS! Tonight I wanted to share some exciting news in cancer identification. Some researchers from Johns Hopkins developed a way to identify cancerous DNA (DNA shed from cancer cells) and protein markers in patients' blood. It was able to achieve a success rate of about 70% for 8 common cancers. Importantly, these were identified before the cancer had spread in the tested patients! Very interesting article:

Combining DNA and protein markers brings researchers closer to a universal cancer screening test

01/10/2018

Hello St. Olaf BMolS! I hope your Winter Break went well and Interim 2018 is starting out smoothly. Our first article of 2018 is about progress in the study of Alzheimer's Disease that was recently described on the Science website. For background info, Alzheimer's Disease progresses in part by the accumulation of extracellular beta-amyloid plaques (aggregates of misfolded protein fragments) and by Tau protein deposits that accumulate intracellularly, causing neuronal cell death. In summary, the researchers found reason to believe that Tau "infection"/accumulation is passed from infected to uninfected neurons, such that the Tau protein is passed across synaptic clefts of connected neurons. They based this evidence on the presence of Tau infection in distant (but connected) areas of the brain. Definitely worth a read!

Source:

New study links the most highly connected brain areas to the biggest tau buildups

12/15/2017

Attached is a link to the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) 2017 BioArt competition winners. The images are taken from research pertaining to research done in diverse categories like mercury poisoning or lung disease. They are great to look at and include quick summaries to guide your reading!

Link: http://www.faseb.org/Resources-for-the-Public/Scientific-Contests/BioArt/Past-Winners/2017-BioArt-Winners.aspx