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umlifesciences.bsky.social
U-M Life Sciences Institute
@umlifesciences.bsky.social
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University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute—exploring biological processes, structures and functions at the finest scale to create impact on a global scale.
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umlifesciences.bsky.social
Read more about the research here:
www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-11...
Photo of Alison Narayan with quote: "It’s an example of really careful observation leading down paths that are even more fascinating than what we could have planned out on paper. We were engineering just for this property of having as much of one enantiomer as possible, and we actually engineered a new mechanism."
November 12, 2025 at 8:39 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
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...
Ashu Tripathi working with the NPDC’s high-throughput mass spectrometry system
October 6, 2025 at 3:55 PM
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...
Photo of Alison Narayan with a quote: Biocatalysis offers a more sustainable way to build molecules, and it can also give us access to molecules that we couldn’t build using traditional chemical methods. But most of the known substrates for these biocatalysts come from nature, which is just a very small subset of the molecules that chemists work with.
October 2, 2025 at 1:26 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
A team from @umich.edu and @cmu.edu has developed CATNIP for chemists — a data-driven open-access platform that removes a major barrier to wider adoption of #biocatalysis, making greener chemistry more accessible.
Read more: myumi.ch/dgp2Z
@narayanlab.bsky.social
@alisonnarayan.bsky.social
Abstract representation of the connections between chemical space and protein space
October 1, 2025 at 3:15 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
In a new @jcb.org study, a team of @umich.edu researchers reveal new details in a complex cellular mechanism that is central to the brain’s ability to learn and form memories.

www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-09...
Hippocampal neuron with its central cell body, branching neurites and dendritic spines
September 26, 2025 at 2:13 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
We've had a great week celebrating our dedicated, innovative postdocs as part of National Postdoc Appreciation Week. And while #NPAW2025 is coming to an end, our gratitude is not! Thank you, LSI postdocs, for your scientific expertise, mentorship, and all you contribute to the LSI community!
Handwritten note on black paper: Thank you for your mentorship and guidance!
September 19, 2025 at 6:49 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
Join us October 9 for the LSI #SciComm Series lecture featuring
Kate Zernike, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins and the Fight for Women in Science."
Details: events.umich.edu/event/137203

Cosponsored by @umisr.bsky.social and the U-M Wallace House
Illustration of a microscope examining female scientists working at a lab bench. Text: LSI SciComm Speaker Series, Kate Zernike, Author & Journalist. "The Exceptions: The Past, Present and Future of women in Science." 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., October 9, 2025, Rackham Amphitheater.
August 25, 2025 at 4:35 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
Congratulations to LSI Research Associate Professor Wenjing Wang, who has been named a MBioFar Award recipient. This award from the U-M Biosciences Initiative recognizes faculty for their "research achievements, academic excellence, and potential to drive scientific breakthroughs." myumi.ch/4mN4n
Portrait of LSI Research Associate Professor, Wenjing Wang.
August 11, 2025 at 3:50 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
#PostdocOpportunity:
The Fung lab is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to explore human structural cell biology using #cryoEM and #cryoET, with a focus on chromatin and nuclear structures during development.
Learn more and apply: careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...
July 25, 2025 at 1:39 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
Scientists have developed a new method for rapid discovery of RNA-protein interactions. Combining the multiplexed method with #cryoEM, @jbquerido.bsky.social & colleagues identified novel interactions between RNA & the LARP1 protein impacting translation initiation.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Photo of Jay Brito Querido with a quote: "This new method allows us to uncover, at unprecedented detail and speed, unique changes in how RNA_binding proteins interact with RNA under different conditions, which is key to understanding how genes are regulated and respond to change."
July 22, 2025 at 3:02 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
In the 2 decades that they've worked together at the LSI, faculty members David Sherman & Janet Smith have published over 40 studies together. They recently discussed how this long-standing cross-discipline collaboration has helped each of their research programs:
www.lsi.umich.edu/news/lsi-mag...
David Sherman and Janet Smith discuss one of their discoveries
July 10, 2025 at 5:49 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
In the most recent LSI Magazine, @umich.edu alum @aefraley.bsky.social describes how she has charted
a unique career path to from the LSI to her own lab at @ethz.ch, where she is focused on "caring for the planet and caring for human health at the same time."
www.lsi.umich.edu/news/lsi-mag...
Cartoon drawing of a scuba-diver collecting marine samples
July 3, 2025 at 5:19 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
LSI Prof. David Ginsburg, one of the nation’s leading scholars in the molecular genetics of bleeding and clotting disorders, has been selected as U-M’s 2025 Henry Russel Lecturer! myumi.ch/w9dm2
Photo of David Ginsburg and text: Congratulations to David Ginsburg, U-M's 2025 Henry Russel Lecturer! This lectureship is the university's highest honor for senior faculty, awarded for exceptional achievements in research, scholarship, and an outstanding record of distinguished teaching, mentoring, and service to U-M and the wider community.
June 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
LSI researchers have uncovered new details of the process that HIV uses to hijack cells’ transportation systems and cause infection. Their findings overturn a decades-old theory and offer a new system for studying viral trafficking and infection.
@science.org
www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-06...
Quote from Somaney Badieyan, first author of the new study: “This opens a new perspective on how the infection is happening. [HIV] is a much more opportunistic hijacker than we previously thought.”
June 19, 2025 at 6:55 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
"Education like this is an opportunity, but it's what we do with that opportunity that matters."
—Joslyn Johnson, Assistant Dean of Student Development & Career Initiatives, welcoming the 2025 Perrigo & Aspirnaut students, who will spend their summers immersed in hands-on research at the LSI.
The newest group of LSI Perrigo and Aspirnaut summer research students gathered for a group photo after receiving their lab coats.
June 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
Last week, U-M Program in Chemical Biology students, alumni & faculty celebrated the program's 20th anniversary!
Alumni came in from across U.S. to present talks about their journey and what they've been able to achieve as graduates of the program.
@alisonnarayan.bsky.social @annamapp.bsky.social
Group photo Program in Chemical Biology alumni Program Director Alison Narayan welcomes the audience to the Program in Chemical Biology's 20th Anniversary celebration Poster session at the PCB 20th Anniversary celebration
June 13, 2025 at 5:26 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
By combining experiments in baker’s yeast and human cell lines with a generative AI tool, @umich.edu researchers have determined how specific genetic mutations found in children with neurodegenerative diseases disrupt an essential cellular process.
Read the full story: myumi.ch/QwVrA
June 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
Thank you to all the presenters and scientists from around the country who attended the LSI's 2025 #CryoEM Workshop and made the event such a successful hands-on learning experience!
Thanks also to our event sponsors, SubAngstrom, @globusorg.bsky.social, @mitegen.com and @structurabio.bsky.social
Group photo of the 2025 Cryo-EM Workshop participants, alongside a list of logos of the workshops sponsors: Globus, MiTeGen, Structura, SubAngstrom, and the Life Sciences Institute
June 9, 2025 at 5:56 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
Congratulations to Natural Products Discovery Core Director Ashu Tripathi, Ph.D., who has been recognized by U-M for his research leadership and significant contributions to the field of natural products chemistry. myumi.ch/8qJnj

@umichpharmacy.bsky.social
Photos of eight faculty members recognized with a Research Faculty Award, including Natural Products Discovery Core Director Ashu Tripathi
June 4, 2025 at 2:59 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
We will close out the 2025 Saltiel Life Sciences Symposium with talks from @toettch.bsky.social, Pulin Li and @changyanglinghu.bsky.social.
View the full schedule and speaker bios here:
myumi.ch/lsi-symposiu...
Photos of Jared Toettcher, Pulin Li and Changyang Linghu with the titles of the talks they will present at the 2025 Saltiel Life Sciences Symposium: "Towards light-guided physiology: Optogenetics and biosensors to probe tissue-scale patterning," "How do cells create tissue-scale patterns," and "Tools for multiplexed and scalable observations of cell physiology"
May 27, 2025 at 3:34 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
After a poster session featuring research from across U-M's research community, @michaelzlin.bsky.social will present his lab's research on optical control of endogenous proteins, followed by Li Ye's presentation on spatial and cellular targets of drug actions.
myumi.ch/lsi-symposiu...
Photos of Michael Lin and Li Ye with the titles of the talks they will present at the 2025 Saltiel Life Sciences Symposium: "Optical control of endogenous proteins" and "Decipher spatial and cellular targets of drug actions"
May 27, 2025 at 3:29 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
The symposium's morning sessions will continue with research talks from Omar Abudayyeh, @danweihuangfu.bsky.social and @justinmcrocker.bsky.social, covering topics from programmable technologies for genome editing to AI and synthetic biology.
myumi.ch/lsi-symposiu...
Photos of Omar Abudayyeh, Danwei Huangfu and Justin Crocker, with the titles of the talks they will give at the 2025 Saltiel Life Sciences Symposium: "Programmable technologies for biology, genome editing, and mRNA therapies," "A stem cell approach to human genetics: From CRISPR screens to genes, enhancers and diabetes risk variants," and "Engineering evolution: AI, synthetic biology, and high-throughput insights into developmental networks."
May 27, 2025 at 3:24 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
The 2025 Saltiel Life Sciences Symposium is this Thursday (5/29)!
@brangwynnelab.bsky.social will start us off with the Mary Sue and Kenneth Coleman Lecture at 9:00 AM, followed by talks from @jamesknunez.bsky.social at 9:55 and @leonardomorsut.bsky.social at 10:25.
myumi.ch/lsi-symposiu...
Photos of Clifford Brangwynne, James Nuñez and Leoardo Morsut with the titles of the talks they will give at the 2025 Saltiel Life Sciences Symposium: "Tools for probing the assembly and function of ribosomes," "Editing the epigenomes of human cells with CRISPR," and "Synthetic signaling applications to control patterning and morphogenesis in developmental systems"
May 27, 2025 at 3:18 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
LSI Professor Carole Parent (@caroleparentlab.bsky.social) discusses her lab's new study in Nature Cell Biology, which reveals how DNA secretions help the immune system’s first responders reverse their own inflammatory response.
Read the study: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Portrait of Carole Parent with text: “The way I view it is that these cells are programmed to use everything they have to defend the body, including their own DNA.”
May 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
umlifesciences.bsky.social
New research led by @caroleparentlab.bsky.social reveals how the immune system’s first responders can reverse their own inflammatory response by shedding tiny pieces of their identity.
Read more: www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-05...

@umichresearch.bsky.social
Fluorescent imaging shows neutrophils secreting DNA as they travel to sites if injury
May 22, 2025 at 7:32 PM