November 5, 2020
In Memoriam: Professor Betty Ida Roots
The University of Toronto Community lost an eminent scholar on October 24th with the passing of Professor Betty Ida Roots, PhD, DSc, FRSC. She served the University in a number of roles; as Professor at U of T from 1969, Assistant Chair of Zoology beginning in 1972, Associate Dean of Science at UTM…
September 29, 2020
Preparing to Push: Epigenetic analysis of uterine muscle cells reveals molecular basis of term labour
Answers to some questions in science require the development of new technologies; molecular biologists once examined selected pieces of DNA and the proteins that bound them, but advances in computation and instrumentation mean biologists can now determine where proteins bind across the whole…
September 4, 2020
Breaking barriers: Quebec platelet disorder
A decade after the discovery that Quebec Platelet Disorder is caused by a tandem duplication, the Mitchell laboratory and collaborators demonstrate that this causes the additional copy of the duplicated PLAU gene to be on the opposite side of a CTCF genomic boundary. As a consequence, the extra…
July 26, 2020
Building excellence in research and teaching: CSB’s new Chair Nicholas Provart
Professor Nick Provart likes building things; he even used his carpentry skills to expand his children’s treehouse while working from home (without losing any fingers). As the new Chair of the Department of Cell & Systems Biology (CSB), he now has the opportunity to build up the academic…
July 26, 2020
Innovative problem solving leads to 2020 Dean’s Outstanding Technical Service Award for Lisa Matchett
Congratulations to Lisa Matchett for receiving the 2020 Dean’s Outstanding Technical Service Award. The award recognizes staff members whose excellent contribution to technical services has improved teaching and research. Using innovative problem solving as a Teaching Lab Technician, Lisa has…
June 22, 2020
Cell biology meets engineering in collaborative XSeed grant for Professor Sergey Plotnikov to study wound closure in fruit flies
CSB Professor Sergey Plotnikov has been awarded XSeed funding to identify protein targets that can accelerate wound healing. The XSeed program catalyzes cross-disciplinary partnerships between investigators from the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering and other faculties. The grant was…
May 26, 2020
Parasitic plant study by Professor Shelley Lumba reveals unexpected pathway to germination of witchweed seeds
The crop fields of sub-Saharan Africa have fallen under a spell cast by the witchweed Striga hermonthica. Every year, this parasitic plant targets and destroys over eight billion dollars worth of staple crops, leading the UN to declare Striga infestations as a major impediment to poverty…
May 6, 2020
CSB researcher awarded Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
We are pleased to announce that Dr Ian Tobias has won a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue research at Professor Jennifer Mitchell’s laboratory in Cell & Systems Biology. He will study how growth of stem cells differs between species. Dr Tobias will examine regions of DNA called…
May 5, 2020
Prof Vince Tropepe’s lab using zebrafish as a vertebrate model for Usher Syndrome-linked blindness
CSB Chair Vincent Tropepe has received funding from Fighting Blindness Canada to conduct research using zebrafish to study Usher syndrome, a genetic condition that results in hearing and vision loss. Loss of vision in Usher syndrome is the result of retinal degeneration, but the mechanism through…
May 5, 2020
CSB neurobiologists identify switch that turns muscles on and off during sleep
CSB Professor John Peever, CSB PhD grad Zoltan Torontali and CSB RA Jimmy Fraigne have demonstrated a new link between arousal and muscle paralysis in mice using behavioral, electrophysiological, and chemogenetic strategies in a paper in Current Biology. During REM sleep, muscle paralysis is…