Infectious disease

Chemistry meets biology to thwart parasites
Margaret Phillips will receive the Alice and C. C. Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology at the ASBMB Annual Meeting, March 7-10 in Washington, D.C.

Decoding how bacteria flip host’s molecular switches
Kim Orth will receive the Earl and Thressa Stadtman Distinguished Scientists Award at the ASBMB Annual Meeting, March 7–10, just outside of Washington, D.C.

Building the blueprint to block HIV
Wesley Sundquist will present his work on the HIV capsid and revolutionary drug, Lenacapavir, at the ASBMB Annual Meeting, March 7–10, in Maryland.

Training AI to uncover novel antimicrobials
Antibiotic resistance kills millions, but César de la Fuente’s lab is fighting back. By pairing AI with human insight, researchers are uncovering hidden antimicrobial peptides across the tree of life with a 93% success rate against deadly pathogens.

AI-designed biomarker improves malaria diagnostics
Researchers from the University of Melbourne engineered Plasmodium vivax diagnostic protein with enhanced yield and stability while preserving antibody-binding, paving the way for more reliable malaria testing.
How HCMV hijacks host cells — and beyond
Ileana Cristea, an ASBMB Breakthroughs webinar speaker, presented her research on how viruses reprogram cell structure and metabolism to enhance infection and how these mechanisms might link viral infections to cancer and other diseases.

Engineered fusion protein targets kiwifruit pathogen
Synthetic protein selectively kills kiwifruit pathogen, offering a promising biocontrol strategy for agriculture. Read more about this recent JBC paper.

Host fatty acids enhance dengue virus infectivity
Researchers in Germany find that viral replication depends on host enzymes that synthesize lipids, revealing potential metabolic targets for antiviral intervention. Read more about this recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper.

Influenza gets help from gum disease bacteria
Scientists discover that a protease from Porphyromonas gingivalis enhances viral spread. Read more about this recent Journal of Biological Chemistry paper.