In the news

A new smart platform invented by Purdue University researchers to wirelessly monitor subsoil health could change the landscape of agricultural sensing systems. The invention addresses a critical need in agriculture nationwide: the efficient use of water, fertilizers and pesticides.

The Biomolecular Design Seed Grant awards research projects that accelerate collaborative research in the molecular biosciences at Purdue University. In the first year of this grant, two research projects have been selected. The projects are “AI-guided design of compact CRISPR-associated transposons for programmable gene insertion” submitted by Leifu Chang, Daisuke Kihara, and Ruqi Zhang and "A structured-conditioned, Small-Molecule-Driven Framework for Protein Design” submitted by Ramaswamy Sub

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has published research about a Purdue University virus-mimicking platform technology that targets bladder cancer cells with mRNA therapies.

It was long thought that fat in the brain played no role in neurodegenerative diseases, but Purdue University researchers are challenging that assumption. The research findings, published in Immunity, show that excess fat in the brain’s resident immune cells, called microglia, impairs their ability to combat disease. This insight opens a path to lipid biology-based neuroimmune therapies that could treat diseases like Alzheimer’s by enhancing microglial function and neuronal health. This work was

A new Purdue-developed technology drastically improves water quality, addressing contamination in both residential and industrial applications with an energy efficient, ambient temperature solution. Testing has shown that this technology can effectively destroy a variety of hazardous chemicals ranging from fuel additives to pharmaceuticals at scale.

Ramaswamy Subramanian, the Gerald and Edna Mann Director of the Bindley Bioscience Center, professor of biological sciences (College of Science) and professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering (College of Engineering), is being honored for seminal contributions to structural biology, enhancing atomic-level understanding of diverse biological processes, and for leading the development of scientific infrastructure in India and the U.S.

The Aryal lab, in collaboration with Dr. Schaser (Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences) and Dr. Ferreira (Bindley Bioscience Center) has published a study titled "Multiplatform Lipid Analysis of the Brain of Aging Mice by Mass Spectrometry" in the Journal of Proteome Research. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of lipid alterations in the aging mouse brain and their potential links to neurodegenerative diseases. By employing multiple mass spectrometry-based lipidomic approaches, including Desorption Electrospray Ionization (DESI), a technique developed at Purdue, this research reveals age-dependent changes in lipid composition and their spatial distribution across different brain regions. The findings offer new insights into how lipid dysregulation may contribute to age-related neurological disorders.

The shared culprit in a slew of diseases — cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes — is molecules our cells have made incorrectly. Think of them as proteins gone wrong. Whether the cause is genetic or environmental, these proteins are improperly folded, fail to do their job and can accumulate in the body with devastating results. By looking for missteps in the intricate process of folding proteins, a project at Purdue University is paving the way for a new generation of therapeutics that strike at the root of these diseases.

The Aryal lab, in collaboration with the Kihara and Sherman labs at Purdue University, has published a study titled "Proteomic Analysis of Unicellular Cyanobacterium Crocosphaera subtropica ATCC 51142 under Extended Light or Dark Growth" in the Journal of Proteome Research. This research explores how cyanobacteria, key players in global carbon and nitrogen cycles, adapt their metabolism to prolonged light or dark conditions. By analyzing the cellular proteome of Crocosphaera subtropica 51142 beyond typical diurnal cycles, the study provides insights into how these photosynthetic bacteria integrate circadian and environmental cues to regulate essential processes like nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis.

Proteins are cellular workhorses, executing important tasks based on their specific functions. However, misfolded, mutated, inactive or overactive proteins are often the culprits behind disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers need a greater understanding of how aging drives protein dysfunction to develop strategies to slow or even reverse these diseases.