Marriott lab finds uses for bioluminescent protein

LUMP protein

Professor Gerard Marriott’s lab has found amazing applications for a new type of genetically encoded fluorescent protein that is found in a symbiont populating the light organ of the ponyfish. The uniquely low mass and long fluorescence lifetime of the protein make it potentially useful as a biosensor to carry out rapid, quantitative and proteome-wide analyses of specific protein interactions, or to screen for drugs designed to disrupt a specific protein complex in a living cell.

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Lee and Murthy fight drug-resistant microbes

bacteria

Professors Luke Lee and Niren Murthy are leading a team, with Dr. Riley of the School of Public Health, to develop tools to quickly spot and identify drug-resistant pathogens. Their project will receive $5.8 million over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) as part of the agency’s effort to develop diagnostics to rapidly detect antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

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Healy designs heart-on-a-chip

heart chip

Researchers in Professor Kevin Healy’s lab have taken a major step toward fast, accurate drug-toxicity testing with a sophisticated organ-on-a-chip using live, beating heart tissue.

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Synthetic biology could be boon to space travel

RSJ space image

Research from Professor Adam Arkin and postdoc Amor Menezes shows that genetically engineered microbes could help make manned missions to Mars, the moon and other planets more practical. This is the cover story for this month’s Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

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