Biochemistry of a Burger Have You Renewed Your Membership for 2020?

Vol. 18 / No. 9 / October 2019 THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Biochemistry OF A Burger Have you renewed your membership for 2020? Together, we’ll continue to advocate for science, connect researchers around the world and build a bright future for biochemists and molecular biologists everywhere. Learn more at www.asbmb.org/membership CONTENTS NEWS FEATURES PERSPECTIVES 2 32 62 ASBMB ELECTS OFFICERS AND BIOCHEMISTRY OF A BURGER SERVICE BEYOND SCIENCE COUNCIL MEMBERS A professor among prisoners 40 4 UNDER THE SKIN AND OUT 65 MEMBER UPDATE IN THE WORLD ESSAY What I wish people understood 8 46 about being a trans scientist 12 young scientists win PROLAB awards MEET QI-QUN TANG 10 48 32 RETROSPECTIVE Wolfgang Karl Joklik (1926 – 2019) Q&A: SANDHYA VISWESWARIAH 14 NEW MEMBERS 16 First tooth controls where and when 48 the rest come in 18 JOURNAL NEWS 18 Peptides to the rescue 20 Researchers link new protein to Parkinson’s 21 JBC launches program for early-career scientists 40 22 Better samples, better science 24 JLR virtual issue sheds light on a key risk factor for heart disease ANNUAL MEETING 25 LIPID NEWS 54 Bacterial sphingolipids: HOW SCIENCE TOOK OVER THE TOWN AT THE TIP OF CALIFORNIA Perhaps not as rare as we thought? 58 26 SEARCHING FOR DRUGS ON THE OCEAN FLOOR FROM THE JOURNALS 31 A YEAR OF (BIO)CHEMICAL ELEMENTS For October, magnesium helps the leaves stay green OCTOBER 2019 ASBMB TODAY 1 NEWS THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY ASBMB elects ofﬁcers OFFICERS COUNCIL MEMBERS Gerald Hart Suzanne Barbour President Joan Broderick and council members Matt Gentry Toni M. Antalis Blake Hill President-elect Audrey Lamb Committees welcome new members, name new chairs Wei Yang James M. Ntambi Secretary Takita Felder Sumter Kelly Ten–Hagen By ASBMB Today Sta Joan Conaway JoAnn Trejo Treasurer ASBMB TODAY EDITORIAL EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS ADVISORY BOARD embers of the American co-chair of the 2016 ASBMB Annu- Robert S. Haltiwanger Rajini Rao Society for Biochemistry al Meeting. Yang is an investigator Carla Koehler Chair Co-chairs, 2020 Annual Ana Maria Barral Mand Molecular Biology have and section chief at the National Meeting Program Committee Natasha Brooks elected new ocers and council Institutes of Health, where her lab Kelly Chaćon Cheryl Bailey members, and the society’s commit- focuses on the structural characteri- Chair, Education and Beronda Montgomery Professional Development Bill Sullivan tees have appointed new members zation of proteins involved in DNA Committee Melissa Vaught Binks Wattenberg and leaders. mismatch repair and translesion Daniel Raben DNA synthesis. Chair, Meetings Committee ASBMB TODAY Sonia Flores Ofﬁcers Angela Hopp Chair, Minority Aairs Executive Editor Toni Antalis is Council members Committee [email protected] serving for one year, ree members have joined the Nicole Woiowich Comfort Dorn starting in August, society’s governing council. eir Chair, Science Outreach and Managing Editor Communication Committee [email protected] as president-elect, three-year terms began in August. Terri Goss Kinzy Lisa Schnabel followed by two Chair, Public Aairs Graphic Designer Advisory Committee Antalis years as president Suzanne [email protected] Ed Eisenstein John Arnst and then one year Barbour, a past Chair, Membership Committee Science Writer as past-president. She previously member of the Susan Baserga [email protected] served two three-year terms as Education and Chair, Women in Biochemistry Laurel Oldach and Molecular Biology Science Writter ASBMB treasurer and chaired the Professional Committee [email protected] Publications Committee. Antalis Barbour Development Sandra Weller Ed Marklin Chair, Publications Web Editor is a professor of physiology at the Committee, is Committee [email protected] University of Maryland School of dean of the graduate school and Lila M. Gierasch Allison Frick Editor-in-chief, JBC Media Specialist Medicine, where she is also the a professor of biochemistry and A. L. Burlingame [email protected] associate director for training and biophysics and at the University Editor, MCP Barbara Gordon education and the director of the of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Executive Director Nicholas O. Davidson [email protected] program in molecular medicine and Barbour also has served on the Editor-in-chief, JLR the graduate program in life scienc- Minority Aairs Committee. Kerry-Anne Rye Editor-in-chief, JLR es. Her lab’s research is focused on signaling mechanisms involved in Joan Broderick, For information on advertising, contact Pharmaceutical Media Inc. at 212-904-0374 or [email protected]. vascular disease and cancer. previously a member of the Nominating Wei Yang is serv- Committee, is a ing a three-year term, professor of chemistry also beginning in Broderick and biochemistry www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday August, as secretary. at Montana State PRINT ISSN 2372-0409 She received the so- University. Her lab uses biochemical, Articles published in ASBMB Today reect solely the authors’ views and not Yang ciety’s Mildred Cohn spectroscopic and synthetic approaches the ocial positions of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Award in Biological to elucidate detailed chemical Biology or the institutions with which the authors are aliated. Mentions of products or services are not endorsements. Chemistry in 2017 and served as mechanisms for metal catalysts. 2 ASBMB TODAY OCTOBER 2019 NEWS Matthew Gentry, formerly chair of Celia Schi er of the University of Massachusetts the Public A airs Advisory Committee, is Medical School and Nicholas Tonks of Cold Spring a professor of molecular and cellular biol- Harbor Laboratory have been named to the Nominations ogy at the University of Kentucky College Committee. of Medicine. His lab studies the role of Terri Goss Kinzy of Western Michigan University Gentry signal transduction machinery, namely has been named chair of the Public A airs Advisory phosphatases and E3 ubiquitin ligases, in Committee. Ronald Wek of Indiana University School of neurodegenerative disease and biofuels research. Medicine was appointed to the committee. Robert Haltiwanger of the University of Georgia, a Committees co-chair of the 2020 ASBMB Annual Meeting, was elect- Kevin Campbell of the University of Iowa College of ed to the Publications Committee. Medicine was appointed to the Awards Committee. Nicole Woitowich of Northwestern University was Christopher Heinen of the University of named chair of the Science Outreach and Communica- Connecticut School of Medicine, Margaret Kanipes tion Committee. John Tansey of Otterbein University, of North Carolina A&T State University and Saumya Christina Marvin of the University of Wisconsin–Madi- Ramanathan of Fisk University were named to the son and Amy J. Hawkins of University of Utah have been Education and Professional Development Committee. appointed to the committee. Edward Eisenstein of the University of Maryland, a Chad Park of the University of Arizona has been current member of the Membership Committee, has been named to the Student Chapters Committee as the south- named chair of that committee. He previously served on west regional director. the outreach committee. Peter Kennelly of Virginia Poly- Chad Slawson of the University of Kansas Medical technic Institute and State University, a past member of Center and Blanton S. Tolbert of Case Western Re- the Education and Professional Development Committee, serve University have been appointed to the Meetings has become past chair of the Membership Committee. Committee. Joseph Provost of the University of San Diego, also a past Vahe Bandarian of the University of Utah and Ruma member of the EPD, has been appointed to the Member- Banerjee of the University of Michigan Medical School ship Committee. have been named to the Minority A airs Committee. ASBMB symposia program call for submissions The ASBMB symposia program aims to provide niche segments of the scienti c community with opportunities to present unique, cutting-edge science and engage in active networking opportunities. Help advance your eld by planning an ASBMB symposium. Proposal deadline: Nov. 1 www.asbmb.org/SpecialSymposia/ Proposals/ OCTOBER 2019 ASBMB TODAY 3 MEMBER UPDATE Member update By ASBMB Today Sta Hartl wins Janssen award Franz-Ulrich Hartl of the Max Planck Institute of and revealed how defects in this Biochemistry won the 2019 Dr. Paul Janssen Award process may contribute to a variety for Biomedical Research along with Arthur Horwich of disorders ranging from metabolic of Yale School of Medicine. to neurodegenerative diseases.” e pair, who were honored with the American e late Paul Janssen had a Hartl Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s hand in developing more than Tabor Research Award in 2013 and the Albert Lasker 80 medicines, four of which remain on the World Basic Medical Research Award in 2011, are known Health Organization’s list of essential drugs. Johnson around the world for their pioneering studies of the & Johnson established the award in his name in 2004. cell’s protein-folding machinery. ASBMB members who have won the Janssen award “Drs. Hartl and Horwich combined their in the past include Nobel laureate Yoshinori Ohsumi brilliant insights and elegant approaches to overturn (2016) and Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer the dogma of their day about the process of protein Doudna (2014). folding,” David Julius of the University of California, Hartl was elected to the National Academy of San Francisco, chairman of the selection committee, Sciences in 2011 and is a member of the editorial board said in a statement. “eir studies revolutionized our for the Proceedings of the National Academy understanding of how proteins achieve their shape of Sciences. Pew award for Zhang Sumter named dean at Winthrop Xin Zhang, an assistant professor Takita Felder Sumter, a professor of of chemistry and of biochemistry and chemistry at Winthrop University in molecular biology at Pennsylvania State South Carolina, assumed the role of dean University, has been chosen to join this of the College of Arts and Sciences in July.

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