Big Ten lecture series continues with virus researcher from Purdue

Michael Rossmann
Michael Rossmann

The Big Ten National Academy of Sciences seminar series continues with Purdue University's Michael Rossmann at 4 p.m., Oct. 19 in E103 Beadle Center. The seminar and a 3:30 p.m. reception are free and open to the public.

Rossmann is a professor of biological sciences. His lecture topic is "Conformational Changes During the Lifecycle of Flavi and Alpha viruses."

The focus of Rossmann's research is the determination of the three-dimensional atomic resolution structure of viruses. The work includes investigating the way viruses interact with their environment. Rossmann uses X-ray crystallography for high-resolution studies and an electron microscope for lower resolution studies of transient virus complexes.

Rossmann's lab also studies how bacterial viruses package nucleic acid genomes.

Viruses he currently studies include a variety of small RNA animal viruses (such as common cold viruses, polioviruses and coxsackieviruses); more complicated, lipid membrane enveloped RNA viruses (dengue virus and alphaviruses); and small DNA parvoviruses.

More details at: http://go.unl.edu/txw