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Welcome to the BPS Blog. Our blog provides the unique opportunity to share with the biophysics community worldwide BPS-related news, updates, and biophysics content. The interdisciplinary nature of biophysics provides the opportunity for biologists, physicists, chemists, bioengineers, and others to collaborate and push scientific discoveries. Check back often for the latest news and updates.  

Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease through Biophysics Research Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease through Biophysics Research

Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease through Biophysics Research

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September 21 is World Alzheimer’s Day. Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia, from which 47 million people worldwide suffer. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgement. 

In recognition of World Alzheimer’s Day, we spoke with two Biophysical Society members whose research aims to improve understanding of the mechanisms behind Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Tags: Alzheimer's AssociationAlzheimer's disease#WorldAlzheimersDay#WorldAlzMonthdementianeurodegenerative disease
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9/5/2017
1524

For Microtubule Sliding, One Arm Is Better Than Two

The versatile and dynamic network of the cytoskeleton scaffold would be stagnant and lifeless if not for the tiny nanoscopic machines called molecular motors. Kinesin motors, in particular, have captured the imagination of biologists and physicists because of their ability to transform ATP into anthropomorphic walking patterns on polar microtubule filaments, which make up a significant portion of the cytoskeleton. Recent experiments have shown that kinesin motors can crosslink adjacent microtubules and facilitate sliding between them resulting in cytoplasmic streaming in Drosophila cells. This facilitates faster distribution of molecules and organelles, and determines cell-shape.

 

 

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9/9/2017
1474

On the State of Professional Opportunities for Women in Biophysics

At last year’s BPS meeting, while talking with several of you about how the Committee for Professional Opportunities for Women (CPOW) can better serve the BPS membership, I learned — much to my surprise — that the perception of gender equality and fairness in biophysics varies widely among our colleagues. At one extreme, some expressed disappointment that “not much has changed” since CPOW was formed in 1972; at the other, some declared “mission accomplished.” I suspect that like me, many of you will disagree with both statements, but I cannot guess where on the spectrum a consensus, if there is one, may lie.

To investigate these perceptions, CPOW will host a blog series where members can express their views on the subject by briefly answering these four questions: In your opinion,

  1. What is the current state of gender equality in science and biophysics?
  2. What is the value of having equality and true inclusiveness?
  3. What is one area that needs attention; and
  4. What is the one thing that can be done right away?

We kick off this initiative by publishing below answers from our fearless BPS Past President Suzanne Scarlata. You are encouraged to read and comment on these blog posts, and to volunteer your own answers by emailing them to Laura Phelan at [email protected].

Thank you for your engagement. I look forward to hearing from you,

—Gabriela K. Popescu, CPOW Chair

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9/12/2017
1473

Highlighting Biophysics Research During Sickle Cell Awareness Month

September is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month in the United States. Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects approximately 100,000 Americans and millions worldwide. It is particularly common among people whose ancestors come from Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Cuba, Central America, Saudi Arabia, India, and Mediterranean countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Italy.

To recognize the awareness month, we spoke with BPS member George Em Karniadakis, Brown University, and his collaborators Xuejin Li, Brown University, and Ming Dao, MIT, about their research related to sickle cell disease. Their research was also featured on the cover of the July 11, 2017, issue of Biophysical Journal.

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9/14/2017
1472

Become a BPS Student Leader: Set Up One of the Inaugural Biophysical Society Student Chapters

The Biophysical Society is excited to launch the BPS Student Chapter program this fall, with the first Chapters to be recognized starting in the Spring semester. This program aims to build active student chapters around the globe, increase student membership and participation within the Society, and promote biophysics as a discipline across college campuses through activities organized by the chapters. Students who become officers or participate in the chapters will have an opportunity to take an active leadership role within their institutions and the Biophysical Society, with special opportunities to participate in activities at future Society meetings.

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9/19/2017
1470

Temperature-Adapted Zebrafish Membranes Show Their Stripes

The cover image of the September 19th issue of Biophysical Journal focuses on an imagined “zebrafish,” which was composed of a fluorescence image of a ZF4-derived GPMV with stripe-like phase separated domains, combined with photographs of a zebrafish and a zebra. 

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9/21/2017
1469

Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease through Biophysics Research

September 21 is World Alzheimer’s Day. Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia, from which 47 million people worldwide suffer. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgement. 

In recognition of World Alzheimer’s Day, we spoke with two Biophysical Society members whose research aims to improve understanding of the mechanisms behind Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

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9/29/2017
1468

Rallying for Medical Research so that Young Scientists Can Have Research Careers

The Rally for Medical Research is a truly inspiring event that was established in 2013. Held every September, this event organized on Capitol Hill continues to grow, bringing together national organizations and people in support of Medical Research. The purpose of the rally is to call on the nation’s policy makers to make research funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) a national priority and raise awareness about the importance of research funding.

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10/3/2017
1560

An Optically Induced Electrokinetics Microfluidics Chip

Using florescence molecules for bio-marking of cells is a widely accepted technology. However, the auto-fluorescence on the surface of living cells strongly influences the fluorescence-based detection of labeled molecules and is also harmful to cells. Then again, cell dielectric information can be obtained through non-invasive and label-free techniques, which have been shown as a possible bio-marking method. 

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SAHELI MITRA:

A must read.

Coronavirus Structure, Vaccine and Therapy Development
Brennan Weaver:

Pretty nice read. I wish I could have written something about Pi. It's my 2nd favorite number value. Also, I don't think Pi is as mysterious as everyone thinks it is. It's just a number with a lot of personalities. And I do believe there is a last digit.

Pi Is Encoded in the Patterns of Life
Harel Weinstein:

Just perused the article "From Dynamics to Membrane Organization- Experimental Breakthroughs Occasion a ‘‘Modeling Manifesto’’ in the August 21 issue. While the Perspective is intriguing, the sheer Chutzpah of writing a "manifesto" about a field of modeling with lists of "demands" based on experiments that in many cases are more limited in scope or reality than any physics-based model, is quite astounding. Neither artificial membrane slabs, nor "live cells" imaged under conditions in which cells have a shabby life that doesn't last long (how much of this is due to the mistreatment of the membrane proteins?) share established behaviors that must be matched or else.... No experiment, computational or using imaging, is meant to mimic reality, only to probe it based on models and assumptions that can be falsified.

As to the role of the cytoskeleton, what does this tell us about the membrane itself, or the behavior of membrane proteins as individual molecules in their interplay with the membrane? And since this unrelated scaffold differs greatly between cells, what is the "correct matching standard"? All models are wrong, some (computational, or on the stage of a microscope) are useful, but in my opinion, self-critical, humble, and rigorous scientific reasoning are preferable to a manifesto in order to foster progress.

In Search of…Protein Interaction Partners
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