Exploring Career Options for PhD Students: Planning for Success

Posted on by Lindsey Drake

Earning a PhD opens doors to a wide range of career opportunities across academia, industry, government, and beyond. While many students begin their PhD programs with specific career goals, research shows that career interests often evolve during their training (Brown et al., 2023). Therefore, exploring career options and remaining flexible to opportunities is important. By embracing career exploration and self-assessment, students can identify their best career options and make informed decisions about their next steps after graduation.

The Many Career Options for PhD Graduates

PhD graduates today find themselves in diverse roles, with opportunities extending beyond traditional academia. Career paths include:

  • Academia: Research-intensive faculty positions, teaching-focused roles, or administrative leadership.
  • Industry: Roles in biotechnology, data science, or consulting, often in research or management positions.
  • Government and Nonprofit Organizations: Research or policy roles in agencies such as the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and others.
  • Additional Careers: Science communication, medical writing, marketing, patent law, or entrepreneurship.

During their training, PhD students develop highly transferable skills—critical thinking, project management, data analysis, communication, and problem-solving—that are highly valued across sectors (Sinche et al., 2017). Recognizing the value of these skills can expand career options for graduates.

Continue reading “Exploring Career Options for PhD Students: Planning for Success”

Understanding and Combating Legionella in Water Systems with Viability PCR

Posted on by Anna Bennett

Water plays a vital role in countless aspects of daily life—drinking, cooling, recreation and more. However, the same systems that deliver these benefits can also harbor Legionella, a waterborne bacteria responsible for Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia (1). Legionella thrives in stagnant aquatic environments, many of which are human-made and common in modern infrastructure, like in cooling towers, hot tubs and complex building water systems. In this blog, we explore the risks posed by Legionella, the limitations of traditional detection methods and how advanced tools at Promega are transforming water safety monitoring. 

3D illustration showing legionella pneumophilia bacteria in water
Continue reading “Understanding and Combating Legionella in Water Systems with Viability PCR”

Do Zebrafish Hold the Key to Heart Regeneration? 

Posted on by Shannon Sindermann
Heart regeneration after heart attacks can stop poor health outcomes, read for more research

The human body has an incredible capacity for self-repair. Our skin can regenerate after a small cut, bones can heal after fractures and even the liver can regrow to its original size after 70% is lost or removed (3). However, when it comes to the heart, the story is very different. As Miley Cyrus once sang, “nothing breaks like a heart” – and science agrees. Unlike other organs, the heart has almost no ability to regenerate itself after injuries. In instances like myocardial infarctions, more commonly known as heart attacks, large amounts of cardiomyocytes (CMs)—the cells responsible for heart muscle contraction—are lost and cannot be regenerated, causing the formation of non-regenerative fibrotic scar tissue and, ultimately, decline in heart function (1).  

Continue reading “Do Zebrafish Hold the Key to Heart Regeneration? “

The Greatness of Glycogen: A Central Storage Molecule in Energy Metabolism

Posted on by Simon Moe

Introduction

Glycogen is a fundamental molecule in energy metabolism, serving as the critical storage form of glucose that supports cellular health and energy homeostasis. As a polysaccharide, glycogen is essential for maintaining stable energy levels, particularly during periods of fasting and physical exertion. This article will examine glycogen’s synthesis, storage, and utilization, along with its broader significance in human health and disease. Understanding glycogen’s role can provide valuable insight into energy regulation and metabolic health.

Continue reading “The Greatness of Glycogen: A Central Storage Molecule in Energy Metabolism”

The Benefits of BCAAs: Branched-Chain Amino Acids in Health and Disease

Posted on by Simon Moe

Introduction

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are essential nutrients that play a significant role in muscle metabolism and overall health. Comprised of leucine, isoleucine, and valine, BCAAs cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained through diet. Recent research has highlighted how the metabolic pathways are influenced by BCAAs, such as their ability to activate mTOR signaling, which is vital for muscle protein synthesis (Choi, 2024). Beyond muscle growth, BCAAs may support cognitive function and metabolic health, with ongoing research exploring their broader benefits in disease management. This article explores the diverse roles of BCAAs and their impact on health and diseases

Continue reading “The Benefits of BCAAs: Branched-Chain Amino Acids in Health and Disease”

The Brilliance of BHB: A Key Ketone Body in Metabolic Health

Posted on by Simon Moe

Introduction

β-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the most abundant ketone body, is a crucial molecule that sustains energy production during periods of glucose deprivation. Whether you are fasting, adhering to a ketogenic diet, or simply interested in metabolic flexibility, BHB offers key insights into how our bodies adapt to alternative energy sources. This article will delve into how BHB is produced, the diverse roles it plays, and its implications for health and disease.

Continue reading “The Brilliance of BHB: A Key Ketone Body in Metabolic Health”

A Diabetes Drug, Metformin, Slows Aging in Male Monkeys

Posted on by Johanna Lee

Aging is a natural process that occurs in all living creatures, seemingly inevitable and inescapable. Yet, it is a collective dream of humanity to somehow avoid the deterioration caused by old age, including declining brain function, chronic illnesses, and organ failure. For decades, scientists have been exploring ways to slow down the aging process in the hope of extending lifespans and improving the quality of life. Now, we may be closer than ever to finding an answer. It’s called “metformin”.

Continue reading “A Diabetes Drug, Metformin, Slows Aging in Male Monkeys”

Genetic Symphonies: Building Hox of Life 

Posted on by Riley Bell

Like the recipe book for life, every living creature has DNA. DNA contains genes, which contain instructions for making proteins. There are many types of important proteins that impact the way our body functions. Transcription factors (TFs) are a special protein that controls what other proteins are made by directly interacting with DNA to turn genes “on” or “off.” 

The newest art installation at our Biopharmaceutical Technology Center Institute (BTCI) brings this concept to life. “Genetic Symphonies: Building Hox of Life” uses a human skeleton to showcase how TFs turns on Hox genes by flipping the switches in the correct order. Hox proteins are a special TF that function during growth and development—and all mammals have them. There are 13 groups of Hox TFs (Hox1-Hox13) and unlike other proteins, Hox TFs must be made in a certain order for proper development to occur, starting with Hox1 and ending with Hox13. 

In this interactive exhibit, the user is a TF and must turn on Hox genes by flipping the switches in the correct order on a control podium. Every switch (Hox gene) you flip will be accompanied by light and sound (Hox proteins), representing the production of Hox TF proteins. If you successfully turn on all 13 light switches in the correct order, then the entire skeleton will be lit up, orchestrating your own developmental symphony. 

Continue reading “Genetic Symphonies: Building Hox of Life “

Hot Off the Seep: Novel Cyanobacteria with Hefty Implications for Carbon Cycling

Posted on by Anna Bennett

Cyanobacteria, microscopic photosynthetic bacteria, have been quietly shaping our planet for billions of years. Responsible for producing the oxygen we breathe, these tiny organisms play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and are now stepping into the spotlight for another reason: their potential to both understand and potentially combat climate change. 

Image of Volcano Island (Baia di Levante) in Italy where the cyanobacterial strains were isolated. Image contains rock formations and a body of water in the foreground with more rock formations in the background.
Baia di Levente. Marine, volcanic seeps in Italy where UTEX 3221 and UTEX 3222 were discovered. Image credit: Adobe Stock.

Recently, researchers discovered two new strains of cyanobacteria, UTEX 3221 and UTEX 3222, thriving in a marine volcanic seep off the coast of Italy. While cyanobacteria are virtually everywhere there is water and light—from calm freshwater ponds to extreme environments like Yellowstone’s hot springs—this particular habitat is remarkable for its naturally high CO₂ levels and acidic conditions. For these newly identified strains, a geochemical setting like marine volcanic seeps have likely driven the evolution of unique traits that could make them valuable for carbon sequestration and industrial applications. 

Continue reading “Hot Off the Seep: Novel Cyanobacteria with Hefty Implications for Carbon Cycling”

Cracking the Undruggable Code: Top 10 Key Takeaways

Posted on by Sara Millevolte

For decades, the concept of “undruggable” targets has presented one of the most significant challenges in drug discovery. At our recent virtual event, Illuminating New Frontiers: Cracking the Undruggable Code, leading researchers and industry experts gathered to showcase cutting-edge technologies and fresh perspectives that are expanding the boundaries of therapeutic development. Over three engaging days, participants explored groundbreaking advances in targeting RAS signaling, leveraging protein degradation and induced proximity strategies, and exploring RNA as a therapeutic target.

Target engagement of RAF dimer inhibitor LXH254 at RAF kinases, in complex with KRAS (blue). RAF inhibitor LXH254 engages BRAF or CRAF protomers (orange), but spares ARAF (red). Unoccupied ARAF is competent trigger downstream mitogenic signaling (lightning bolts). Red cells in the background are fluorescently labeled RAS proteins, expressed in live cells.
Continue reading “Cracking the Undruggable Code: Top 10 Key Takeaways”