The Wisconsin Energy Institute spoke with Leta Landucci, an undergraduate researcher in John Ralph’s lab. Leta is from Middleton, Wisconsin, and is a senior studying biochemistry. What did your path to UW–Madison look like? I …
Research
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 …
Crop harvests and bacterial blends
Drive down Wisconsin’s county roads on a crisp fall day and you’ll see farmers maneuvering combines across their fields, harvesting bushels upon bushels of corn. Farmers help ensure a bountiful harvest by applying fertilizers that …
Developing equitable biomarkers for diagnosing metabolic syndrome
Diabetes disproportionately impacts underrepresented minorities, who have a higher prevalence of diagnosis and complication rates of diabetes compared to white individuals. Despite this, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome – the proportion of a population that …
National network for cryo-ET nears completion
In 2020, the National Institutes of Health announced the formation of a National Network for Cryo-ET: four funded centers, with UW-Madison as a hub that also coordinates activities. The network will provide access to and …
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 …
Venturelli R21 to provide major advance for personalized microbiome therapies
Clostridioides difficile, an antibiotic-resistant intestinal pathogen, is the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections in the United States. Treatment of a Clostridioides difficile, also known as C. difficile, infection may include courses of antibiotics or fecal …
Local changes, global effects: Unpacking action at a distance using computers, X-rays and classic biochemistry
When I entered Assistant Professor Vatsan Raman’s office to talk about his group’s latest research study, I didn’t expect that our conversation about proteins would turn toward Rube Goldberg machines. Biochemists like Raman study how …
NIH R24 grant will support user access to cutting-edge biological NMR at NMRFAM
This year has been an important one for the National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison (NMRFAM). The facility’s co-directors were awarded a NIH grant to pioneer innovative methods for solid-state NMR; then, an NSF award …
Computational design of microbial communities
Microbial communities are everywhere in the environment. The interactions among these complex networks of organisms shape the overall community function and metabolism, sometimes in unexpected ways. In a paper published May 31 in Nature Communications, …