Biophysics News

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks cells that help the body fight infection, thus making the human body more vulnerable to other infections and diseases. Until this day, HIV remains a global pandemic of large proportions. Upon infection, inactive or latently infected cells capable of reactivating following treatment removal remain the major barrier to curing HIV.

Shriyaa Mittal obtained her doctoral degree in biophysics and quantitative biology from the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in Summer 2020.

To maintain normal brain function, the extracellular levels of necessary neurotransmitters, such as glutamate—a major chemical signal responsible for communication between brain cells– have to be kept low to avoid excessive stimulation of receptors and nerve cell damage, a pathological process otherwise referred to as excitotoxicity.

In order to infect cells, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, needs to insert itself into the membrane of human cells. New molecular models show what parts of SARS-CoV-2 are critical for that interaction, revealing new potential drug targets.

Chaoyi Jin graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) with a doctoral degree in biophysics and quantitative biology in August 2019. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Nanjing University, China.

At the time that COVID-19 continues to pose a global health emergency, researchers around the world are working diligently for solutions that would prevent or limit the infection. University of Illinois researchers led the scientific community at more than one front in the development of innovative approaches to fight the pandemic.

The life and outstanding contributions of Christiaan Sybesma, one of the greatest biophysicists of all times and a former faculty member of Biophysics and Botany (now Plant Biology) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, were recently highlighted in an article published in Photosynthesis Research.

Weak interactions between proteins in the cell play a critical role in biological processes. Weak interactions are very common and can add up in the cell, leading to signaling, chaperoning and other important activities. They also generate a spatio-temporal heterogeneous cytoplasm.

Govindjee paid tribute to his mentor Eugene I. Rabinowitch in an article recently published by Photosynthesis Research. "He was, first and foremost, a great human being, a friend to all, a top leader in science, and a person who constantly thought and strived for peace in this world," said Govindjee in describing Rabinowitch.

Alex Moffett graduated with a PhD in Biophysics and Quantitative Biology in August 2019. For the past five years, he had been researching how plants use the growth hormone brassinosteroids to control the growth of their cells.