News

University of Colorado Boulder researchers have discovered that a protein-coding gene called Schlafen11 (SLFN11) may induce a broad-spectrum cellular response against infection by viruses including HIV-1. The new research, which was recently published in the journal PLOS Pathogens , found that SLFN11's antiviral potency is highest in non-human primate species...

If an anti-aging regimen that involves telomeres – part of the human chromosome – sounds too good to be true, it probably is, says Jens Schmidt, a postdoctoral fellow in the Cech Lab at CU Boulder’s BioFrontiers Institute . “There are all these products out there that say ‘hypercharge your...

The University of Colorado Boulder has received a $1.1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop next-generation vaccines that require no refrigeration and defend against infectious diseases with just one shot. If successful, those advancements could radically transform the difficult task of dispensing life-saving immunizations in...

Tubulin, a protein found in your cells, quietly lends itself to many life processes. It sorts itself into long chains, forming tubes that provide scaffolding for living cells. A versatile shapeshifter, tubulin can arrange itself into different structures during different types of cell behavior. Tubulin gained prominence for medical applications...

By Jacqueline Wentz This July I attended the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Conference on the Life Sciences in Boston. It was four days long, packed with talks, poster sessions, and unnecessary amounts of coffee. At the conference, I presented a poster on my latest research examining a...

The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, or iGEM, is an annual synthetic biology competition that pits teams from schools from all over the world against each other with the goal of winning one of many possible awards. CU Boulder has been a participant for the last couple years, 2015 being...

Humans have used Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast in baking, brewing and winemaking for millennia. New research from the University of Idaho and the University of Colorado Boulder reveals another way that yeast species can help our species: by demonstrating how viruses interact with their hosts, and how hosts may evolve to...

Innovator Award winner brings to light the electrical changes in cells Electric voltage powers life: Our brains use electrical transients to process every thought and every heartbeat arises from voltage changes in heart cells. Traditional measurements of voltage inside cells involve scientists making tiny wires and impaling cells, exactly the...

By Tess Eidem, Ph.D. Last week I had the privilege to attend the Advocating for Science Symposium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I heard Mr. Corb’s and other science advocates’ message on how to use our diverse skills to move science forward. The mission of the two-day symposium...

by April Goebl Attending Evolution, the premier international conference for evolutionary biology, had a big influence on my recently spawned, yet still vague, choice to pursue a career in evolutionary biology. Held in Austin, Texas this year and the largest conference in its field, Evolution is a joint event for...