Dr. Mei Liu, Program Director for the Center for Phage Technology reports, “In February 2016, the Center for Phage Technology (CPT, cpt.tamu.edu) was approached to help develop an emergency phage-based treatment for a patient in the ICU of the UC San Diego Medical Center with an intractable, pan-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infection. In collaboration with the… Read More →
Welcome Our New 2017 NSF REU Students
Bottom to top rows, left to right Megan Welliver, Mandy Truelock, Jeffrey Rodriguez, Victoria Yell Harley Parker, Joyce Rivera, Allyson Li, Anthony Rudd Cameron Atkison, Erin Ruhlman, Emily Desormeaux, Joe LaMartina Mary Bryk, Rebekah Frazier, Jerry Cordero-Sepulveda, Gary Kunkel Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) has graciously been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Co-PI’s… Read More →
X. Zhang’s lab finds two new genes for RNA silencing
miRNAs play critical roles in almost every biological processes in eukaryotes. The tiny RNAs function in cytoplasm to silence target transcripts whereas they are born in nucleus in plants. On the other hand, the factory components that are used to produce miRNAs are made in cytoplasm while they need to be transported into the nucleus to process raw miRNA precursors. HYL1 is one of the core… Read More →
Rafael Almanzar Recipient of the 2017 President’s Award for Academic Advising
During the University Advisors and Counselors Annual Awards Breakfast held on May 2, 2017, Rafael Almanzar was awarded the 2017 President’s Award for Academic Advising. Established in 2004, this award recognizes outstanding individuals who exemplify the qualities and practices of exceptional academic advising and service to students. “In my eyes, this is the most prestigious… Read More →
Dr. Tim Devarenne and colleagues publish genome sequence of the fuel-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii
Writer: Kathleen Phillips, 979-845-2872, ka-phillips@tamu.edu Contact: Dr. Tim Devarenne, 979-862-6509, tpd8@tamu.edu COLLEGE STATION – The genome of the fuel-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii has been sequenced by a team of researchers led by a group at Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The report, in Genome Announcements, comes after almost seven years of research, according to Dr…. Read More →
Our Successful Students at the 20th Student Research Week
Victor Cardenas (MBIO), Nora McGuffey (BICH), Christina Higdon (MBIO/NUTR) and Marvin Wirianto (BICH Congratulations to everyone who participated and placed during the 20th Student Research Week. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was well represented and we are very proud of the hard work that you are all doing. Keep it up and you… Read More →
Pingwei Li’s lab solves the structure of a Zika Virus RNA polymerase
The March 27 issue of Nature Communications will include an important structure from the lab of Prof. Pingwei Li in the Dept. of Biochemistry and Biophyics at Texas A&M. Zika virus (ZIKV) is causing a global public health emergency. ZIKV infection, spread by mosquitos, is linked to severe congenital diseases and high incidence of Guillan-Barré syndrome. Currently,… Read More →
Dr. Jim Hu and Dr. Dave Peterson Recognized for 2016 Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Awards
It’s always a great day when we see our faculty being recognized for all of their hard work. Our entire department celebrates with them in their accomplishments! Dr. Dave Peterson received this years Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award in Administration and Dr. James (Jim) Hu received the Educational Enrichment and Innovation Award. Dr. Peterson has been… Read More →
Molecular interactions in activation of the innate immune response
In conjunction with collaborators at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Jun Yuan Ji’s lab at Texas A&M University Health Science Center, and elswhere, Bio/Bio’s Pingwei Li and colleagues have just published exciting new work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The paper, published online June 2, is entitled “Structural basis for concerted recruitment and… Read More →
Research from Devarenne lab in Nature Communications
On April 6, 2016 the Devarenne Lab published a paper in Nature Communications describing the isolation and characterization of an enzyme from the green alga Botryococcus braunii responsible for the production of hydrocarbons in this alga. This enzyme, known as lycopaoctaene synthase (LOS), initiates the production of a hydrocarbon known as lycopadiene. LOS is unique… Read More →