
Lipids, lipids everywhere!
Lipids not only taste delicious (at least in our opinion) but are the major components of biological membranes and play essential roles in most aspects of human biology. In fact, if we look closely at the lipids and membranes of eukaryotes and prokaryotes, we see they contribute to fundamental roles in compartmentalizing cells, stress responses, metabolism, gene regulation, inflammation, and activating both cell protective and cell destructive mechanisms.
As such, the study of lipids and membranes remains a critical and emerging area for cutting-edge research — one that has great potential to impact human health and the understanding and treatment of diseases.
Our symposia at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in Seattle in March will bring together leading investigators in lipid metabolism and membrane function in replication of microorganisms and viruses, communicate novel protein structural information in lipid metabolism and transport, and promote the understanding of membrane structure and biophysics in cell physiology.
Keywords: Enzyme regulation, lipid droplets, lipid domains, membrane structure and tension, sphingolipids, infectious disease.
Who should attend: Lipid and membrane enthusiasts and anyone interested in learning more about lipid metabolism, lipid–protein interactions or membrane structure.
Theme song: “Insane in the Membrane” by Cypress Hill.
This session is powered by Hass avocados, rich in healthy fats.
Speakers
New roles for lipids in microorganisms and viruses
Michael Airola (chair), Stony Brook University
Robert V. Stahelin, Purdue University
Elizabeth Johnson, Cornell University
Eric A. Klein, Rutgers University–Camden
Nihal Altan–Bonnett, National Institutes of Health
Molecular insight into lipid metabolism and transport
Abdou Rachid Thiam (chair), Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris
Michael Airola, Stony Brook University
Angeline Lyon, Purdue University
Eric Ortlund, Emory University School of Medicine
Saskia Neher, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Membrane structure and dynamics
Robert Stahelin (chair), Purdue University
Abdou Rachid Thiam, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris
Sarah Keller, University of Washington
Suzanne Scarlata, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Ilya Leventhal, University of Virginia
The complete list
Learn about all 11 symposia planned for Discover BMB 2023:- Protein Machines and Disorder
- Regulation of RNA
- Organelles, Mechanisms and Phase Properties of Cellular Quality Control
- Lipid Dynamics and Signals in Membrane and Protein Structure
- Frontiers in Carbohydrate Synthesis and Recognition
- Bias In, Bias Out in Data Science
- Cell Signaling — New Tools and Emerging Concepts
- Education and Professional Development
- Biochemistry of Elemental Cycling
- Advances in Organismal and Cellular Metabolism
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Structural Biology, Drug Design and Systems Biology
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in Science
Science highlights or most popular articles

RA patient blood reveals joint innerworkings
Researchers in the Netherlands use mass spectrometry to compare the proteome of plasma and synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis patients and find a correlation. Read more about this recent paper in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.

Hope for a cure hangs on research
Amid drastic proposed cuts to biomedical research, rare disease families like Hailey Adkisson’s fight for survival and hope. Without funding, science can’t “catch up” to help the patients who need it most.

Before we’ve lost what we can’t rebuild: Hope for prion disease
Sonia Vallabh and Eric Minikel, a husband-and-wife team racing to cure prion disease, helped develop ION717, an antisense oligonucleotide treatment now in clinical trials. Their mission is personal — and just getting started.

Defeating deletions and duplications
Promising therapeutics for chromosome 15 rare neurodevelopmental disorders, including Angelman syndrome, Dup15q syndrome and Prader–Willi syndrome.

Using 'nature’s mistakes' as a window into Lafora disease
After years of heartbreak, Lafora disease families are fueling glycogen storage research breakthroughs, helping develop therapies that may treat not only Lafora but other related neurological disorders.

Cracking cancer’s code through functional connections
A machine learning–derived protein cofunction network is transforming how scientists understand and uncover relationships between proteins in cancer.