U-M Life Sciences Institute
@umlifesciences.bsky.social
University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute—exploring biological processes, structures and functions at the finest scale to create impact on a global scale.
If you're in Ann Arbor today, stop by #ResearchPalooza from now to 2:00 pm and learn about the extensive research cores and services available at the LSI — from high-throughput screening and protein production to advanced microscopy. Event details: medresearch.umich.edu/events/resea...
LabGym, an open-source AI software from the @byneuron.bsky.social lab, offering new insights into organisms from fruit flies to Japanese macaques to jaguars. "... LabGym is here to democratize the use of AI for behavior analysis." www.lsi.umich.edu/news/lsi-mag...
Bing Ye@byneuron.bsky.social · 7mo agoWe used the AI-powered tool LabGym to analyze the behavior of Punch 🐒—a Japanese macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo who recently became a social media sensation. (Original video source: @JapanZooStory YouTube Channel) #Punch #PunchTheMonkey #AnimalVideo #labgymbeh @umlifesciences.bsky.social
What to viruses have to do with cancer? Microbiologist @drsprggs.bsky.social explains why her lab is probing the pathways that viruses use to get into a host cell's nucleus, and how this research can shed light on the ways viruses either induce or combat cancer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f_Q...
Hidden Impact: How can viruses cause or treat cancer?
YouTube video by TheLSIatUM
youtube.com
The LSI labs of David H. Sherman and Filipa Pereira have teamed up to boost bacterial production of a long-elusive compound, leading to a potential new treatment for drug-resistant malaria. Read more: research.umich.edu/research-sto...
The deadline to register for the 2026 Cryo-ET Workshop has been extended extended to April 10! Learn more about this hands-on workshop and apply at: myumi.ch/lsi-cryo-workshop-2026 @jbquerido.bsky.social @shyamalm.bsky.social
U-M Life Sciences Institute@umlifesciences.bsky.social · 9mo agoJoin us this summer for U-M's 2026 #CryoET Data Processing Workshop! This four-day workshop will introduce participants to standard image processing packages and all aspects of cryo-ET data processing. Apply by March 20: myumi.ch/lsi-cryo-workshop-2026 @jbquerido.bsky.social @shyamalm.bsky.social
Congratulations to LSI faculty member David Ginsburg, who has received the @isth-official.bsky.social 2026 Outstanding Mentor Award in honor of his "ongoing commitment to cultivate and mentor early career professionals in the thrombosis and hemostasis field."
Hassan Zafar et al.: Breaking barriers: transitioning from X-ray crystallography to cryo-EM for structural studies #CryoElectronMicroscopyCryoEM #StructuralBiology #SingleParticleAnalysis @uvmvermont...#IUCr https://journals.iucr.org/paper?S205979832600080X
Breaking barriers: transitioning from X-ray crystallography to cryo-EM for structural studies
This article describes the transition of the Glass laboratory from X-ray crystallography to single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) for structural studies of ATAD2B, a large AAA+ ATPase- and bromodomain-containing protein involved in chromatin regulation. It outlines practical strategies for protein expression, sample preparation, data processing and model building, offering a comprehensive workflow and troubleshooting guide for new cryo-EM users working with large, flexible macromolecular complexes.
journals.iucr.org
Applications for the 2026 #CryoET Data Processing Workshop are due one month from today! Learn more about this hands-on workshop and apply by March 20: myumi.ch/lsi-cryo-workshop-2026
U-M Life Sciences Institute@umlifesciences.bsky.social · 9mo agoJoin us this summer for U-M's 2026 #CryoET Data Processing Workshop! This four-day workshop will introduce participants to standard image processing packages and all aspects of cryo-ET data processing. Apply by March 20: myumi.ch/lsi-cryo-workshop-2026 @jbquerido.bsky.social @shyamalm.bsky.social
Join us this summer for U-M's 2026 #CryoET Data Processing Workshop! This four-day workshop will introduce participants to standard image processing packages and all aspects of cryo-ET data processing. Apply by March 20: myumi.ch/lsi-cryo-workshop-2026 @jbquerido.bsky.social @shyamalm.bsky.social
In a new "Look to Leadership" column, LSI Director Roger Cone discusses the importance of using programs such as the Aspirnaut Summer Research Internship to provide life-changing opportunities for future scientists. myumi.ch/Nrqrk
While everything feels flash-frozen in Michigan, it's a great time to plan for U-M's 2026 #CryoET Data Processing Workshop! This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to standard image processing packages used to analyze cryo-ET data. Apply by March 20: myumi.ch/lsi-cryo-wor...
#Postdoc job opportunity: The Pereira lab at the LSI is seeking a postdoctoral researcher help develop cutting-edge experimental and computational approaches to accelerate #NaturalProduct discovery. Learn more and apply: careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...
RESEARCH FELLOW | U-M Careers
careers.umich.edu
Researchers in the Li and Wang labs have developed a new tool for real-time control of cell surface receptor activity in specific cells, enabling scientists to investigate how activating precise neuronal signals can drive brain function and behaviors. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @ummni.bsky.social
Research from the Sherman and Pereira labs at the LSI was selected for @commschem.nature.com 2025 Editors' Highlights. "This work ... highlights how chemical biology can access new structural and pharmacological space from complex microbial metabolites.” Read more: www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Communications Chemistry@commschem.nature.com · 10mo agoExplore some of our favourite articles published in Communications Chemistry in 2025: www.nature.com/collections/... #ChemSky
Why does a fruit fly’s brain development matter? Cell biologist @byneuron.bsky.social describes how model organisms like fruit flies can help us untangle the complexities of neural networks, and the hidden impacts of this research on human health: youtu.be/I6kRYWCdD7k?...
Hidden Impact: What can fruit flies teach us about brain function?
YouTube video by TheLSIatUM
youtu.be
As 2025 draws to a close, LSI Director Roger Cone reflects on the accomplishments of the past year, the uniqueness of the LSI, and what makes leading the institute "one of the best jobs in science." www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiOi...
U-M Life Sciences Institute 2025 Highlights
YouTube video by TheLSIatUM
youtube.com
How can woodrats weighing less than half a pound survive rattlesnake bites that would hospitalize, or even kill, a full-grown human? LSI researchers have uncovered a genetic clue that points to the source of the tiny rodents' potent immunity. www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-12...
This genetic trick gives woodrats an evolutionary advantage against rattlesnake venom
LSI researchers have uncovered a clue explaining how woodrats have evolved potent immunity to rattlesnake bites.
lsi.umich.edu
Do you know any outstanding high school or undergraduate scientists who would like the chance to immerse themselves in the role of a full-time researcher? We are accepting applications for our 2026 Perrigo and Aspirnaut summer research programs.
Thrilled to share my recent work from the Pereira and Sherman Labs at @umlifesciences.bsky.social, out now in Communications Chemistry! We applied metabolic engineering, semi-synthesis, and biocatalysis to expand access to the antimalarial natural product premarineosin A. I suggest you check it out!
Metabolic engineering and late-stage functionalization expand the chemical space of the antimalarial premarineosin A - Communications Chemistry
Premarineosin A, a potent and selective antimalarial natural product, is a promising yet underexplored scaffold due to its limited availability and synthetic complexity. Here, the authors employ metab...
doi.org
Rivero-Ríos, Sutton, Weisman and colleagues show that PI(3)P coordinates SNX17- and SNX27-dependent protein recycling for long-term synaptic plasticity. rupress.org/jcb/article/... 📕 From The Year In Cell Biology: rupress.org/jcb/collecti... #CellBio2025
Research from the Weisman and Sutton labs has been selected as one of @jcb.org most impactful papers of 2025. You can read more about the study here: www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-09...
Journal of Cell Biology@jcb.org · 12mo agoOur annual collection highlights 13 of the year's most impactful papers that have garnered exceptional interest from our readership. Explore cutting-edge findings spanning the diverse spectrum of cell biology 👉 rupress.org/jcb/collecti... #CellBio2025 @ascbiology.bsky.social
This #GivingTuesday, you can directly impact our ability to conduct groundbreaking research for the advancement of human health and well-being. Join us in catalyzing new discoveries and propelling scientific progress across the life sciences! maizeraise.umich.edu/schools/Univ...
Happy Thanksgiving from the LSI! We are extra thankful for our collaborative scientists, staff and students who make discovery possible every day (and for the PPE that keeps us safe, and even festive, in the process)! 🦃
Researchers from the @narayanlab.bsky.social have unlocked a novel mechanism for transforming molecules. Their findings, described in a new @nature.com study, open new ways to develop important molecules with fewer wasteful byproducts. nature.com/articles/s41...
Synthesis of enantioenriched atropisomers by biocatalytic deracemization - Nature
A new method for deracemization of atropisomers is described which leverages a P450 enzyme-mediated process involving bond rotation for enantioenrichment.
nature.com
From MBoC... Lois Weisman ( @umichnews.bsky.social ) reveals how one protein’s teamwork — or lack of it — could hold clues to treating childhood neurodegenerative disease. 🔗 www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10....
Why does it matter what a protein looks like? @umich.edu structural biologist Janet Smith explains why her lab aims to uncover protein structures and describes the hidden impacts of structural biology on drug discovery and human health: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKVG...
Hidden Impact: Why we study protein structure
YouTube video by TheLSIatUM
youtube.com
Pediatric oncologist @johnprensner.bsky.social has teamed up with the LSI's Natural Products Discovery Core to explore thousands of #NaturalProducts in search of new treatment paths for #DIPG, a deadly childhood brain cancer. Learn more about the project: research.umich.edu/research-sto...
✨ Save the Date! ✨ LSI SciComm Speaker Series welcomes Kate Zernike, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins and the Fight for Women in Science. 📅 Thursday, Oct. 9 ⏰ 10:00 a.m. 📍 Rackham Amphitheatre 📖 Book-signing after the talk! @umlifesciences.bsky.social
Prof. Alison Narayan (@alisonnarayan.bsky.social) discusses the motivation behind CATNIP, a data-driven platform that makes biocatalysis more accessible to chemists. The tool, developed by Narayan's lab and collaborators at @cmu.edu is described in a new @nature.com study: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
