Sparks literally fly when a sperm and an egg hit it off. The fertilized mammalian egg releases from its surface billions of zinc atoms in “zinc sparks,” one wave after another, a Northwestern University-led interdisciplinary research team has found.
The Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases has revealed the crystal structure of Enterococcus faecalis protein EF1143, a previously uncharacterized protein that is important for the growth of this life-threatening antibiotic-resistant pathogen.
Dipal Patel, a sixth-year Medial Scientist Training Program student, studies a protein called desmoplakin to better understand the causes of diseases associated with sudden cardiac death during athletic events.