Ohio ranks first in the Midwest and fourth-best nationally in the biosciences, according to a 2008 Business Facilities Magazine report. And, while Ohio annually produces more than 18,000 bioscience graduates, the labor needs of the industry remain unmet, especially in the growing specialty of bioinformatics.
Ohio State’s Graphics and Visualization Research Group embodies the proverb that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” These researchers specialize in scientific visualizations — the science of translating data analysis into cutting-edge renderings.
A treatment, or perhaps even cure, for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or autism could lie in managing a specific family of proteins that control messages sent to the brain.
The next generation of surgeons — many who grew up playing video games — are using real-time, interactive computer simulations to learn delicate surgical techniques required for operations on the human skull.
Stacie Traylor delivered her tiny baby five weeks prematurely because of complications from gestational diabetes. Concerned doctors at Adena Regional Medical Center in Chillicothe, Ohio, informed Stacie that little Emilie had suffered a collapsed lung.
When eukaryotic genes are expressed, precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) must first be processed to become mature mRNA. One step of the maturation process is constitutive polyadenylation: the attachment of a poly(A) tail to mark and protect the end of mRNA.
Two Ohio State University astronomy researchers have established an international reputation for using X-rays and supercomputers to search the vast depths of space to identify elusive black holes. Now, they and their interdisciplinary colleagues are repositioning their scientific methodology to peer into the human body to enhance cancer therapy and diagnostics (theranostics).
Samuel Shepard, Ph.D., a researcher in the University of Toledo bioinformatics lab of Associate Professor Alexei Fedorov, recently developed an algorithm for the prediction of certain genomic sequences, known as exons and introns, using midrange sequences of 20-50 nucleotides in length.
The first human genome took 15 years and about $3 billion to complete. Soon, doctors at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital will be able to sequence two human genomes in just over one week for a fraction of that cost.
Chenglong Li, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy at The Ohio State University, is using computational chemistry to help develop a genetically targeted drug that could surpass current approaches to treating a type of aggressive brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).