Bazzini Lab
Research
Why foundational research?
Exploring the fundamental processes of biology is essential in our quest to understand the secrets of life.
How can the study of research organisms shed light on human health and disease?
Human conditions like cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cardiac disease, and birth defects may appear unrelated, yet they all stem from disruptions in fundamental cellular and molecular processes.
Stowers Institute research focuses on foundational research in organisms, tissues, and cells to understand the many mechanisms underlying human health and disease.
Using diverse research organisms like planarian flatworms, cavefish, and sea anemones, scientists at Stowers are investigating how genomes have both evolved and been conserved throughout the history of life on Earth. Detailed analysis uncovers new insights underlying processes like cell division, cell differentiation, sensory perception, energy storage, memory formation, and regeneration.
Our goal: The creative, innovative exploration of every aspect that makes life possible will ultimately translate to our understanding and ability to develop new strategies to prevent and treat illness and disease.
Our unique funding model allows the freedom to explore the unexpected.
Transformational science requires the transformation of science. Through the unparalleled generosity and vision of our founders, Jim and Virginia Stowers, we have a scientific ecosystem that encourages discovery and innovation. Jim, founder of American Century Investments, and Virginia followed their initial generous investment by establishing a funding model that provides ongoing support of our research through the annual dividends from American Century Investments. Because of this structure, Stowers scientists are uniquely positioned to explore with freedom, and allowed the ability to follow biological avenues that lead to novel discoveries and to share their findings for the betterment of humanity.
Research Areas
Molecular and Cell Biology
All forms of life are composed of cells. From a single-celled bacterium to a Giant Sequoia, from a worm to a human. Biology research at the molecular and cellular level is akin to the study of chemistry at the atomic level. The processes carried out by “molecules” within and between cells, the fundamental building blocks of every organism, are as diverse as the variability of life on our planet. The common yet vastly different functions performed by cells is an area primed for novel discoveries on decoding life’s secrets at the microscopic level. At the Stowers Institute, many of our scientists are dedicated to understanding the molecular and biochemical interactions governing our cells.
Labs working in this area:
Recent news articles about Molecular and Cell Biology
Press Release
14 March 2024
Overeating and starving both damage the liver: Cavefish provide new insight into fatty liver disease
Stowers scientists’ collaboration reveals a genetic basis for starvation-induced fatty liver with a potential therapeutic avenue
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News
31 January 2024
Road to Research: A Q&A with Scientific Project Manager Jason Morrison
"I was familiar with the Stowers Institute’s reputation for scientific excellence and intellectual freedom. I knew that was the type of environment in which I wanted to work."
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News
03 January 2024
Waste not, want not: Silk moths do it differently by recycling
A different meiotic mechanism, likely common to all female species of moths and butterflies, holds chromosomes together until they are ready to segregate.
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News
04 December 2023
Good things come in small packages: A geometry solution for organizing the center of human chromosomes
Centromeres—specific regions of DNA typically located near the center of chromosomes—achieve a common core structure to ensure proper alignment and segregation of chromosomes during cell division.
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Development and Regeneration
Developmental biology research focuses on the means by which all living things develop or grow into their mature forms. We seek to understand every aspect of normal development to identify how and where development can be disrupted. In animals, early development is intricately related to regeneration, the restoration of cells, tissues, organs, or body parts. We examine how cells can differentiate into any of the many types of cells found in an adult organism such as planarian flatworms, leading to a better understanding of development and growth and what goes wrong in disease.
Labs working in this area:
Recent news articles about Development and Regeneration
Press Release
14 March 2024
Overeating and starving both damage the liver: Cavefish provide new insight into fatty liver disease
Stowers scientists’ collaboration reveals a genetic basis for starvation-induced fatty liver with a potential therapeutic avenue
Read Article
News
29 February 2024
Rare Disease Day: A Q&A with Stowers Investigator Jennifer Gerton
"We hope to provide insights into the basic molecular functions of these genes that can someday be harnessed to help people with mutations and their families."
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Genetics and Genomics
Genetics, the study of particular stretches of DNA, is at its very foundation what and who we are. At the Stowers Institute, our scientists are profoundly focused on decoding genes that control specific functions required by all organisms, and understanding the oftentimes unexpectedly harmful impacts caused by mutations in these genes. The regulation of gene expression, or how gene activity is turned on and off at specific times and places, is another major area of study. Genomics, the study of many or all our genes together, is critical for underpinning the structure and function of the genome, how different genes are expressed, and how genes interact in health and disease.
Labs working in this area:
Recent news articles about Genetics and Genomics
Press Release
14 March 2024
Overeating and starving both damage the liver: Cavefish provide new insight into fatty liver disease
Stowers scientists’ collaboration reveals a genetic basis for starvation-induced fatty liver with a potential therapeutic avenue
Read Article
In The News
07 March 2024
What hibernating bears and extreme cavefish are teaching us about preventing blood clots and fatty liver disease
From Tiny Matters Podcast, although we look very different from many of the other creatures on this planet, we’re more connected than you might think. Stowers Investigator Nicolas Rohner discusses what we can learn from cavefish.
Read Article
Neuroscience
The human brain, composed of 86 billion neurons involved in nearly one quadrillion synapses or signals, orchestrates everything we do. The study of neuroscience encompasses not only the brain but also our sensory systems and how neurons and glia communicate information between the brain, spinal cord, and nervous systems that influence behavior and memory. Stowers’ scientists are actively pursuing the bases underlying neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, in addition to addressing the dual nature of amyloids in disease and in the creation of memory.
Labs working in this area:
Recent news articles about Neuroscience
In The News
08 March 2024
Making memories: Stowers Institute studies how body makes memories
From KMBC, Scientists at the Stowers Institute are asking how the human body can make a memory? A lab seeking the answer recently received a financial boost from a well-known name.
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In The News
08 March 2024
Stowers Institute Scientific director receives award for 'paradigm-shifting' work in memory research
From KSHB, one of the area's top scientists, Kausik Si, Ph.D., from the Stowers Institute received a coveted award for his "paradigm shifting" work to understand how our memory works and how that defines us.
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Press Release
21 February 2024
Stowers Scientific Director Kausik Si receives coveted award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Scientific Director Kausik Si from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research alongside Investigator Lukasz Joachimiak from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center received CZI's Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Awards grant for their project titled, “Tuning memory by altering amyloids.”
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Systems Biology
Systems biology is the comprehensive study of how genes, cells, and tissues interact through complex signaling mechanisms. Our scientists seek to understand the bases for a vast array of biological systems and to uncover how these circuitries can go awry in human disease. Techniques used at the Stowers Institute include computational, modeling, and AI approaches to investigate these complex mechanisms.
Labs working in this area:
Recent news articles about Systems Biology
Press Release
14 March 2024
Overeating and starving both damage the liver: Cavefish provide new insight into fatty liver disease
Stowers scientists’ collaboration reveals a genetic basis for starvation-induced fatty liver with a potential therapeutic avenue
Read Article
In The News
24 October 2023
Why Some Men Can't Make Sperm
From Newsweek, the mysteries of why some men can't produce sperm are now closer to being solved by scientists. They have shed light on what might be going wrong in the process of sperm generation, according to a new study published in the journal Science Advances.
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Evolutionary Biology
From the appearance of the very first cell, every form of life on our planet shares a common ancestor: DNA. How, over the course of billions of years, did such diversity arise? And, what can we learn from our more evolutionary distant relatives? At the Stowers Institute, our scientists examine fundamental processes over a wide range of research organisms on different branches on the evolutionary tree of life to understand the similarities and differences in the mechanisms governing human health and disease.
Labs working in this area:
Recent news articles about Evolutionary Biology
Press Release
14 March 2024
Overeating and starving both damage the liver: Cavefish provide new insight into fatty liver disease
Stowers scientists’ collaboration reveals a genetic basis for starvation-induced fatty liver with a potential therapeutic avenue
Read Article
In The News
07 March 2024
What hibernating bears and extreme cavefish are teaching us about preventing blood clots and fatty liver disease
From Tiny Matters Podcast, although we look very different from many of the other creatures on this planet, we’re more connected than you might think. Stowers Investigator Nicolas Rohner discusses what we can learn from cavefish.
Read Article
What do fish and snails have to do with human health?
To understand the mysteries of biology, we look to species beyond the focus of typical biomedical research. By interrogating the unknown, we may ultimately understand the origins of some of the most complex and currently incurable diseases like cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
Research Organisms at StowersRecent news articles about our research
Press Release
14 March 2024
Overeating and starving both damage the liver: Cavefish provide new insight into fatty liver disease
Stowers scientists’ collaboration reveals a genetic basis for starvation-induced fatty liver with a potential therapeutic avenue
Read Article
In The News
08 March 2024
Making memories: Stowers Institute studies how body makes memories
From KMBC, Scientists at the Stowers Institute are asking how the human body can make a memory? A lab seeking the answer recently received a financial boost from a well-known name.
Read Article
In The News
08 March 2024
Stowers Institute Scientific director receives award for 'paradigm-shifting' work in memory research
From KSHB, one of the area's top scientists, Kausik Si, Ph.D., from the Stowers Institute received a coveted award for his "paradigm shifting" work to understand how our memory works and how that defines us.
Read Article
In The News
07 March 2024
What hibernating bears and extreme cavefish are teaching us about preventing blood clots and fatty liver disease
From Tiny Matters Podcast, although we look very different from many of the other creatures on this planet, we’re more connected than you might think. Stowers Investigator Nicolas Rohner discusses what we can learn from cavefish.
Read Article