Recent News

Connectivity between reproductive cells — or germ cells — in males serves as a quality assurance mechanism by making clusters of cells more sensitive to damage.

How a network of proteins and long noncoding RNA work together to push fat cells into fat-burning mode

International research team reveals why some species of cetaceans evolved sleek, muscular bodies while others grow to massive sizes

Research sheds new light on long-lasting changes that painful stimuli can exert at the level of a neural circuit — changes that can have a powerful impact on behavior.

After 12 weeks of taking an anti-asthma drug, a subset of patients with type 2 diabetes showed a clinically significant reduction in blood glucose during a clinical trial.

A long-term collaboration reveals the critical role played by the RNA binding protein LARP1 for mTORC1-mediated translation of an important class of mRNAs, including those that encode ribosome proteins.

After a file cleanup unearthed a 1970s Tang commercial staring LSI Professor Emerita Rowena Matthews, we reached out to her for the backstory.

How a new type of rapid-response defense mechanism  helps protect cells from environmental stress while giving slower, well-known protection systems time to act

New cryo-EM research reveals 3-D snapshots of how a key biological machine unfolds a ribbon of protein through its central channel.

Researchers have captured the first cryo-electron microscopy snapshots of a cellular target for Type 2 diabetes in action.

LSI Director Roger Cone named to an additional role as the university's first vice provost and director of the biosciences initiative.

The LSI is pleased to welcome structural biologist Michael Cianfrocco, Ph.D., to its faculty as an assistant research professor.

A new study sheds new light on how the motor protein myosin V knows where to release a yeast vacuole, when transporting it from the mother cell into a new bud.

An unexpected mechanism of glucose sensing in skeletal muscles contributes to the body’s overall regulation of blood sugar levels.

LSI researchers have developed a clear picture of a critical mechanism in the budding process that sends materials from the inside of the cell to far-flung places in the body.

The LSI's newest faculty member, Alison Narayan, Ph.D., is the first recipient of a Klatskin-Sutker Discovery Fund award, which will fuel the development of a library of bioactive molecules to support the search for new antibiotics, antivirals and anti-parasitic agents.

Alicia Buisst recently toured the LSI with members of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Michigan, visiting to learn about the research of faculty member Ivan Maillard, whose work the society supports. In this personal essay, she connects the drive of basic science research to her journey as a blood cancer patient.

Postdoc Laura Mike, Ph.D., is targeting bacteria’s need to scavenge iron from its human host in order to survive.

An international research team is changing the understanding of the key cellular and molecular events that trigger graft-versus-host disease, an often-fatal complication of bone marrow transplants.

Researchers have mapped the  complex chemistry involved in creating several types of bioactive compounds that are naturally produced inside bacteria. 

LSI scientists identified a molecular switch that triggers a stem cell’s progeny to commit to generating only differentiated cell types by giving up its “stemness.”

LSI Director Roger Cone receives named professorship honoring the pioneering botanist Asa Gray. 

A round-up of media stories about LSI research and researchers from 2016.

How fly fishing can help explain a new frontier of drug discovery

The new receptor protein has unusual characteristics that suggest potential future applications ranging from sunscreen to scientific research tools.