Meeting Brings Together Scientists Working at the Interface of Life, Physical and Computational Sciences

On February 18, Ph.D. student Jacob Hunter Steele received a travel award at the 67th Annual Biophysical Society (BPS) Meeting. Steele, who is currently a biochemistry Ph.D. student in Yuhong Wang’s lab, joined the program at the University of Houston during the Fall 2020 semester after receiving his B.S. in biochemistry from Florida Gulf Coast University. He received the award to help him pay for travel expenses to present his research poster titled “Mutagenesis of Escherichia coli for sm-FRET & FIRMS Study of Domain IV EF-G Studies.”

His research focuses on furthering the understanding of Elongation Factor G (EF-G) mediated translocation events, which occur during the translation of mRNA into the ubiquitous proteins required for the continuation of biological life. Steele utilizes two unique techniques in his research project to study EF-G: single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (sm-FRET) and force induced remnant magnetization spectroscopy (FIRMS).

BPS is an annual interdisciplinary meeting which aims to bring together leading scientists from around the world who work at the interface of life, physical and computational sciences. The five-day meeting boasts an average of around 5,000 attendees a year and prides itself on its ‘small meeting feel.’ The 2023 BPS meeting was held in San Diego, California, February 18-22.