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Nobel laureate Jacques Monod This interview was first published in October 1, 2026 issue of Under the Microscope published by The Protein Society. It is reprinted here with the author’s permission. Jacques Monod was born in 1910, earned his PhD from the University of Paris in 1941, joined the Pasteur… Read More

Genetic testing can identify mutations linked to disease, but discovering a variant doesn’t always reveal what it means for a patient. Many genetic changes are classified as variants of uncertain significance, and even variants predicted to be harmful can disrupt proteins in very different ways. A new… Read More

Anne Karpay, PhD The Karpay Award Committee is now soliciting applications for the 2027 Dr. Anne Karpay Award in Structural Biology. This award was established in 2010 to commemorate Dr. Anne Karpay, whose studies focused on membrane protein structural biology under the guidance of Professors Chuck Sanders… Read More

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptors (IP3Rs) control calcium (Ca²⁺) signals by tightly regulating the spatial and temporal release of Ca²⁺ from stores within the endoplasmic reticulum into the cytosol of the cell while bound to IP3. Ca²⁺ is an important second messenger ion that has roles in a variety of physiological… Read More

Juleen Dickson, CSB Cryo-EM Staff Scientist The Microscopy Society of America (MSA) recently held its annual Microscopy and Microanalysis Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The conference showcased exciting efforts to build microscopy STEM networks across the state, with the CSB’s Cryo-EM Staff Scientist Juleen Dickson leading the charge. Read More

Biological membranes are highly dynamic and varied structures which contain compact ordered domains or “rafts” of lipids and proteins within the otherwise disordered membrane “sea.” These lipid rafts serve as functional microdomains that cluster specific receptors and signaling molecules to influence membrane trafficking, signaling pathways, neurotransmission, and membrane fluidity. However,… Read More

Every day, the DNA of living organisms is exposed to damage from normal cellular processes, environmental toxins, and even some medicines. Among the most dangerous forms of damage are interstrand DNA crosslinks (ICLs), chemical bonds that effectively staple the two strands of DNA together and prevent cells from reading, copying,… Read More

Green Team members left to right: Borden Lacy, Georgia Caso, Karen Davis, Gabrielle Fortier, Lily Van Ye, Sam Insignares (photo by Chelsea Hamilton) For most labs, lunch is the most sacred part of the day—a time to fuel up after a long morning of experiments, rant about the latest failed… Read More

The use of computational tools to provide a clinical diagnosis of genetic variants of unknown significance (VUSs) of rare diseases, in which the diagnosis is mainly informed by gene-phenotype association databases and DNA scoring methods, has been limited. Tools such as GERP, SIFT, and Polyphen have been shown to differentiate… Read More

Alex Waterson, PhD, Research Professor, Pharmacology and ChemistryFesik Lab Targeted protein degradation (TPD) represents an emerging class of therapeutics that selectively degrades disease-relevant proteins. For example, targeted degradation of oncoproteins in a tumor can inhibit tumor growth while minimizing the toxic side effects of traditional chemotherapy. The degradation relies… Read More