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Faculty members, students, staff, and postdoctoral fellows attend a presentation at the 2011 BSCB Retreat.
The Biophysics, Structural and Computational Biology Retreat took place on Monday, October 10, 2011 at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY. There was a great turnout for the event with presentations by postdoctoral fellow's and students from the Dumont, Mathews, Miller, Miao, Kielkopf and Wedekind labs.
In addition to those talks, Dr. Tom Gunter who recently retired from the Biophysics program gave a retrospective talk of the history of the Biophysics program. There was also a Career Panel Discussion featuring Dr. Lea Michel (alumnus, Dr. Kara Bren's lab) from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Dr. Thomas Gaborski who is the President and CEO of SiMPore Inc. as well as Dr. Jack Daiss, Consultant and Chief Scientific Officer at Codevax. The retreat also featured over 20 poster presentations.
Graduate Students, Sarah Amie (far left) and Dejun Lin (third from left) after receiving their Graduate Fellowship Awards.
At this year's opening convocation on October 5, two graduate students from the department of Biochemistry & Biophysics received Graduate Fellowship's. Dejun Lin, a Ph.D. student in the Biophysics, Structural and Computational Biology graduate program, was awarded the Leon L. Miller Graduate Fellowship. This fellowship, established by the Miller family, honors Dr. Leon Miller, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry & Biophysics, for his contributions to science and the School of Medicine and Dentistry. It is awarded anually to a student with interest in developing a biophysics-related research career.
Sarah Amie, a Ph.D. student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology graduate program, was awarded the Elmer H. Stotz Graduate Fellowship. This fellowship, established by the Stotz family to honor Dr. Elmer Stotz, Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Biochemistry, is awarded to a Ph.D. student in biochemistry.
DNA Double Helix
In a new study published today in the journal Nature, scientists discovered an entirely new way to change the genetic code. The findings, though early, are significant because they may ultimately help researchers alter the course of devastating genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and many forms of cancer.
The ability to manipulate the production of a protein from a particular gene is the new miracle of modern medicine,
said Robert Bambara, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. This is a really powerful concept that can be used to try to suppress the tendency of individuals to get certain debilitating, and sometimes fatal genetic diseases that will forever change their lives.
This is a very exciting finding,
said Yi-Tao Yu, Ph.D., lead study author and associate professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Medical Center. No one ever imagined that you could alter a stop codon the way we have and allow translation to continue uninterrupted like it was never there in the first place.
Department Chair, Robert Bambara, Ph.D. and recent Biochemistry & Biophysics Graduates.
The department of Biochemistry & Biophysics held its annual awards ceremony to celebrate those students that received their doctoral degree this year. Awards were also given out to various students and faculty members for their respective research and teaching contributions. The following awards were given:
The department of Biomedical Genetics 23rd Annual Genetics Day was highlighted by the 9th Annual Fred Sherman Lecture. Dr. Fred Sherman, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry & Biophysics has been honored for his contributions to Genetics and Yeast Genetics for the past nine years with a lecture named after him. The NIH has funded Fred for a remarkable 44 years, during which time he has published over 280 papers, with more on the way.
In 1970, Fred initiated the famous yeast course at Cold Spring Harbor, which has trained scores of today's leading investigators. He served as an instructor in this course for 17 years. Fred's many landmark contributions to several fields of molecular biology were recognized by his election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1985.
Dr. Lynne Maquat was elected to join an elite group of exceptional scientists that make up the National Academy of Sciences. Her election was based on her development of the field of nonsense mediated message decay described in detail on her laboratory website. Her accomplishments include leading this area that focuses on mechanisms by which cells recognize and remove flawed RNAs before they can encode defective proteins, publishing in journals such as Cell and Nature, and training highly successful students and fellows. She is only the third faculty member in the University of Rochester Medical Center with this honor and joins Dr. Fred Sherman as the second member of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Academy.
The 2010-2011 Faculty & Student Honors Slideshow can be viewed here
Humans have two routes for DNA replication and repair – a standard route that processes DNA quickly but less accurately, and a high-accuracy route that processes DNA slowly but more accurately.
DNA contains all of the genetic instructions that make us who we are, and maintaining the integrity of our DNA over the course of a lifetime is a critical, yet complex part of the aging process. In an important, albeit early step forward, scientists have discovered how DNA maintenance is regulated, opening the door to interventions that may enhance the body's natural preservation of genetic information.
The new findings may help researchers delay the onset of aging and aging-related diseases by curbing the loss or damage of our genetic makeup, which makes us more susceptible to cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's. Keeping our DNA intact longer into our later years could help eliminate the sickness and suffering that often goes hand-in-hand with old age.
Our research is in the very early stages, but there is great potential here, with the capacity to change the human experience,
said Robert Bambara, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of Rochester Medical Center and leader of the research. Just the very notion is inspiring.
Scientists have discovered a new way genes are regulated that is unique to primates, including humans and monkeys. Though the human genome – all the genes that an individual possesses – was sequenced 10 years ago, greater understanding of how genes function and are regulated is needed to make advances in medicine, including changing the way we diagnose, treat and prevent a wide range of diseases.
It's extremely valuable that we've sequenced a large bulk of the human genome, but sequence without function doesn't get us very far, which is why our finding is so important,
said Lynne E. Maquat, Ph.D., lead author of the new study published today in the journal Nature.
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