Phosphorus

Meet the newest faculty member of the Biochemistry Department: Dr. Thelma Escobar! Learn about her research at the intersection of epigenetics and immunology, studying how– on the molecular level–  the body can remember previous exposure to a pathogen. It turns out that cells, like the scientists who study them, inherit more than just DNA from their parents.

Vaccination is the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Current vaccines are safe and effective, but biochemists are already testing second-generation vaccines designed to be more stable and more potent.Join hosts Grace & Norah as they sit down with Brooke Fiala, one of the scientists designing the next generation COVID vaccines: protein nanoparticles. We discuss what these vaccines are at the molecular level, what distinguishes them from existing vaccines, and how an amazing woman who started off as a dishwasher came to the forefront of this vaccine design program.

An interview with Ph.D. candidate Sidney Lisanza regarding his work designing new proteins to modulate the immune system, helping the body to fight off disease. We also spoke about his experience as a black biochemist and the vital work of making science more welcoming to black scientists like himself.

Imagine a world in which a sweet treat is not necessarily a sugary one–– a world in which sweet-tasting proteins could take the place of sugar and mitigate the many health risks of sugar overconsumption. Designed proteins could make that sweet fantasy a reality. That is the goal of graduate student Robby Divine, our guide to the fascinating intersection of food science and biochemistry.

Regenerative medicine is an area of translational research with a tantalizing promise: that our bodies could be convinced to heal themselves–– that damaged or diseased tissues could be replaced not with synthetic facsimiles, but with real, living cells. Professor Andrea Wills and Professor Hannele Ruohola-Baker are two of the scientists leading regenerative medicine research in the Department of Biochemistry. I sat down with these brilliant women to discuss the exciting research going on in their labs.

In remembrance of the late Dr. Davie, we are rereleasing an interview with him from 2019.

Graduate student Sam Witus shares his exciting work on BRCA1. Women with harmful mutations to BRCA1 have a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer, but how the protein normally acts to suppress cancer is still the subject of debate. Sam answers my questions about how BRCA1 functions in the cell and discusses his personal connection to his research.

Motivated by the current outbreak of the novel 2019 coronavirus, I interviewed Dr. Lexi Walls, who recently completed her graduate work at UW studying coronavirus spike proteins. She's still on the job, now solving structures of the novel 2019 coronavirus proteins. So if you're alarmed or curious about the current epidemic, join us on the front lines of coronavirus research to inoculate yourself with a little knowledge.

In honor of its seventieth birthday, today we look back on the origins of Biochemistry Department. I sat down with two emeritus faculty, Dr. Earl Davie and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Edmond Fischer, and learned what it took to turn the five-professor foothold of an emerging field into a full-fledged academic department enjoying a golden age of biomedical science.