Biochemistry and molecular biology are tremendously applicable to medicine. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that our sciences also underlie important applications in other fields. Much of this applicability stems from the tremendous similarity, at the molecular level, of all organisms, even those that on a macroscopic or even cell biological level seem quite disparate.

The recent bipartisan support for reforming the nation’s immigration system may have long-term effects on laboratories across the country as politicians discuss how America can be a magnet for the world’s top scientists, mathematicians and engineers.

The National Academy of Sciences honored three ASBMB members for major contributions, ASBMB President Jeremy Berg was tapped to lead a new personalized medicine institute, and Robert O. Messing has joined the University of Texas at Austin as vice provost. Read these stories and more in this month's Member Update.

Kuan-Teh Jeang, known as “Teh” among friends and colleagues, died Jan. 27 at the age of 54. Teh had worked at the National Institutes of Health for 27 years was chief of the Molecular Virology Section in the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology.