In a paper published in Nature Chemical Biology, Assistant Professor Vatsan Raman describes a new computation-guided method to optimize the design of split protein systems that can be used to monitor and regulate biological activity.
Split protein systems are biochemical tools that can be used to monitor and regulate biological activity. A protein of interest is broken into two inactive pieces that, under user-defined conditions, can rejoin to form a functional protein. However, it can be difficult to engineer a split such that the protein will reconstitute effectively only under...
Biochemistry Professor Katie Henzler-Wildman and her team of researchers have published findings on the structure and dynamics of EmrE, utilizing a new method to determine the protein’s structure in greater detail than had been previously available. EmrE is a membrane protein that may provide key insight into antibiotic resistance, a rising public health concern.
The Department of Biochemistry is pleased to announce Benjamin Minkoff as the winner of the 2020 Boyer Award for Postdoctoral Excellence in Biochemistry. The award recognizes and rewards excellence in research accomplishments in the Department of Biochemistry.
Minkoff was part of a team of researchers who invented a new technique to perform protein 'footprinting,' or ‘protein painting.’ The technique, called Plasma-Induced Modification of Biomolecules (PLIMB), uses a machine invented by the team that allows researchers to gather data on protein structure, assembly, and interactions...
Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?
I grew up in western Michigan, attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then MIT for grad school with Robert Griffin at the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. My PhD is in Chemistry (specializing in Physical Chemistry) but I also got an education in practical engineering there by building a variety of instrumentation, especially NMR probes along with machinists, electronics technicians, and physicists in the facility.
John W. Suttie, celebrated scientist and professor of Biochemistry and Nutritional Sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison, died on December 21, 2020 in Green Valley, Arizona, at 86. He was a nationally recognized and influential researcher, scholar, and advocate for the scientific community, and to his peers and colleagues, a cherished friend, storyteller, collaborator and pioneer.
Biochemistry Professor Aaron Hoskins has been selected as a 2021-2022 Vilas Associate, awarded by the Office of Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education. The Vilas Associates award recognizes new and ongoing research of the highest quality and significance.
Hoskins’s research focuses on RNA splicing, a biological process requiring assembly of large RNA-protein complexes, or spliceosomes, from dozens of individual components. RNA splicing is fundamental and essential to gene expression in all eukaryotes, from plants to humans.
Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?
I grew up in southern California near Huntington Beach where I spent a lot of time in the ocean. I went to UC Davis. After graduating I worked as a technician for Gilead Sciences and after that I decided I wanted to live in Burlington, Vermont so I did my PhD at UVM.
Where did you carry out your postdoctoral research?UCLA
As a child, who was your biggest influence?My grandfather, who worked on box cars for the Santa Fe railroad in Chicago
It is with great sadness that we announce Biochemistry Professor Emeritus John Suttie died on December 21, 2020 in Arizona, where he had been living for the past several years. John was a faculty member in Biochemistry from 1961-2001 and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He was known scientifically for his outstanding work on blood clotting including the metabolism and mode of action of vitamin K; he was also a great mentor and dedicated teacher. We will miss him dearly. A full written tribute from the Biochemistry community will be shared on our website in the coming days.
Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?
I grew up in the country in central Indiana surrounded by corn and soybean fields and spent most of my time playing in barns. I went to elementary school in Dayton, IN (a town of about 600 at the time). For college, I went to Purdue and then to MIT for grad school with JoAnne Stubbe.
Where did you carry out your postdoctoral research?I had a joint postdoctoral position with Jeff Gelles and Melissa Moore at Brandeis U. and UMass Medical School.
Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?
I was born in Denver, CO, 1956 and grew up in Boulder, CO. My entire educational track is as follows: Columbine Elementary School (1967); Centenial Junior High School (1971); Boulder High School (1974); University of Colorado (1 year); Carleton College (BA, Chemistry, 1981); University of Minnesota (PhD, Biochemistry, 1989); Carnegie Mellon University (postdoctoral fellow); University of Wisconsin (Assistant Professor, 1993).
Where did you carry out your postdoctoral research?...
The year 2020 marked an important and impressive occasion for two Emeritus Professors in the Department of Biochemistry. Both Julius Adler and Hector DeLuca celebrated their 90th birthdays.
The Department was hoping to celebrate Adler and DeLuca with a reception earlier this year, but COVID-19 halted those plans. Instead, we’ve asked former lab members and alumni to help us honor them by sharing some of the anecdotes and messages of appreciation you would have heard in person.
So grab some refreshments, pull up a chair, and read on as our Biochemistry friends regale us with...
Ann Palmenberg, Roland Rueckert Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Virology, has been named a 2020 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for her discovery and application of viral Internal Ribosome Entry Sites (IRES). She is one of three University of Wisconsin–Madison professors to receive the honor.
Read more from UW News
Read more about Ann Palmenberg from the Quarterly
Jill Wildonger has been named the first recipient of the Jean V. Thomas Professorship, a newly established endowed professorship in the Department of Biochemistry. The professorship recognizes Wildonger’s contributions as a researcher, her excellence as an educator, and her contributions to the governance of the university.
Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?
I was born in New York City. When I was a baby, my family moved to Bogota, Colombia. After six years, we moved to Caracas, Venezuela where I stayed until I went to college at UW-Madison. Both of my parents were Sephardic Jews. Their parents emigrated from Syria during World War I when the Ottomans began to draft Jews into the military. My father’s parents went to NYC. My mother’s parents emigrated to Colombia.
Bill Reznikoff has been elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for deciphering the molecular details of transposition by studying a model bacterial transposon.
Understanding transposition, or the movement of DNA from one location to another, is critical to basic science.
Transposons, the elements that move from one location to another, produce mutations that are useful for creating defined defects in a wide variety of bacteria including those found humans, animals and plants. These defects provide key insights on how the organisms work.
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