Recent News

Scientists have discovered a new pathway that ferries cellular proteins to the cell-to-cell connections that allow neurons to communicate with one another. 

LSI researchers have demonstrated how an extra copy of a gene that is triplicated in human Down syndrome patients contributes to neuronal dysfunction in mice. 

University of Michigan faculty member Vivian Cheung, M.D., is launching an international project to identify the full range of RNA building blocks inside human cells.

"Voices of the LSI" is a quarterly column on the LSI’s work to cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive climate. In this column, graduate student Lauren Hart discusses the need for community connections and expanding our definition of 'community.' 

A team from tLSI has developed a new software tool to help researchers across the life sciences more efficiently analyze animal behaviors. The open-source software capitalizes on artificial intelligence to identify, categorize and count defined behaviors across various animal model systems.

New research from the lab of Peng Li, Ph.D., has uncovered the neural circuit in mice that activates sighing in response to low oxygen levels.

The LSI's newest faculty member, biomedical engineer Connie Wu, Ph.D., will explore new technologies to improve both diagnostic and drug-delivery tools, with clinical and basic research applications. Wu represents the LSI's first joint recruitment with the College of Engineering.

A collaboration between two LSI labs has resulted in a new research tool for manipulating when and where cellular functions are activated, using the power of peptides.

A team of researchers from the University of Michigan and University of Utah has developed a new method for optimizing the tools that nature uses to build chemical compounds.

A new podcast and video series hosted by three faculty members from the University of Michigan, Cornell University and Columbia University explores what the future of cryo-EM will look like, while highlighting the career development and experiences of a wide range of experts in the field

Five questions with Assistant Professor Jay Brito Querido

"Voices of the LSI" is a quarterly column on the LSI’s work to cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive climate. This quarter, Adam Iliff, Ph.D., discusses how his own path to science shaped his involvement with the Aspirnaut Program, which helps connect high school students from under-resourced areas to their futures in STEM.

This fall, for the first time, the LSI is expanding its reach beyond the walls of Mary Sue Coleman Hall with the addition of two new faculty members. Learn how Chelsey Spriggs, Ph.D., and Jay Brito Querido, Ph.D., will advance the LSI's campuswide impact.

Five questions with Assistant Professor Chelsey Spriggs

Janet Smith has been named the Rita Willis Professor of the Life Sciences, representing the first appointment to an endowed professorship at the LSI.

A hormone secreted by fat cells can restrain the growth of liver tumors in mice, according to a new study from the LSI. The findings offer a proof-of-concept for developing therapies against the most common form of liver cancer.

Researchers have developed a method for altering one class of antibiotics, using microscopic organisms that produce these compounds naturally. The findings could lead to more efficient production of antibiotics that are effective against drug-resistant bacteria.

"Voices of the LSI" is a quarterly column on the LSI’s work to cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive climate. This quarter, staff member Natalie Bartolacci, one of the institute's two DEI leads, reflects on what the LSI accomplished during its five-year "DEI 1.0" strategic effort and what lessons we can take into the next phase of our work to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.

LSI Assistant Professor Wenjing Wang discusses the critical importance of supporting graduate students in the lab, and how philanthropic programs at the LSI are helping her students, and her entire research program, to thrive.

Researchers are pursuing a new potential culprit underlying Huntington’s disease, with an award from the Klatskin-Sutker Discovery Fund.

Scientists have identified a new role for a protein complex at the center of a human genetic disorder called Bardet-Biedl syndrome.

"Voices of the LSI" is a quarterly column on the LSI’s work to cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive climate. This quarter, LSI Professor Bing Ye, Ph.D., considers scientific leaders' role in societal change and describes how trainees in his lab have helped expand his education and actions to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.

Researchers have developed an efficient, greener strategy for constructing a common building block of many indispensable medicines and materials, using tools found in nature and sharpened in yeast.

An obscure enzyme that normally operates deep within cells is also playing an unexpected role close to the cell surface—and is even required for cell migration—according to new research from the Life Sciences Institute.

A new study led by the LSI demonstrates that blocking the activity of an enzyme inside fat cells can decrease obesity and related health disorders in mice.