Formally and informally, in lecture halls and online portals, by email and phone, and even on city buses, biochemistry faculty advance greater understanding of COVID-19 and ways to prevent the disease from spreading. Read more in the spring 2022 issue of Grow magazine.
pandemic
SARS-CoV-2 research featured in Grow magazine
As part of the global effort to understand SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19), CALS scientists have pivoted their existing research projects, launched entirely new studies, and banded together to share knowledge and resources. Experts in the Department of Biochemistry are the linchpins of many of these efforts.
Unpacking SARS-CoV-2
Less than a year after he joined the Department of Biochemistry, Robert Kirchdoerfer BS’06 and his nascent coronavirus research program were thrust into the spotlight. The new assistant professor was quickly becoming known around the UW–Madison campus as “the coronavirus guy,” a linchpin of efforts at the university to understand the severe acute respiratory syndrome …
Resilience: How COVID-19 challenged the scientific world
Tim Grant’s first day at the Morgridge Institute for Research was anything but typical. On the morning of March 16, 2020, he opened his email inbox to find several messages from fellow Morgridge scientists. Many said they weren’t coming into the office and wouldn’t be able to meet him for a welcome lunch. After a …
NMRFAM co-directors awarded EAGER grant to study COVID-19
Professors Katie Henzler-Wildman and Chad Rienstra, co-directors of the National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison (NMRFAM), have been awarded a grant to study coronavirus proteins of direct relevance to COVID-19.
Undergraduate research continues despite COVID-19 restrictions
Despite COVID-19 restrictions on in-person campus operations, undergraduate students continue to further research in Biochemistry faculty labs. In particular, computational work is well-suited to being conducted remotely. This brand of telecommuting, coined “tele-science” by Associate Professor Aaron Hoskins and carried out largely by undergraduate students across the department, is vital to research in biochemistry. “All …
Research Restart Phase One
Researchers return to working in-person as COVID-19 restrictions shift.
SARS-CoV-2 spike alignment tool
A new bioinformatics tutorial developed in the department will assist researchers in understanding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike glycoprotein sequence while performing multiple sequence alignments with closely related SARS coronaviruses spike sequences.
Biochemist Sgro develops COVID-19 coloring book
Are your children tired of coloring bunnies, flowers, or comic characters? Are you seeking a diversion with a scientific bent? Now is your chance to familiarize yourself and your captive youth audience with trimeric spike proteins and other intricacies of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through art. Thanks to Jean-Yves Sgro, senior scientist in UW–Madison’s Department of …