New research shows that important proteins in the human body need to be positioned correctly at their workstation to do their job. Graduate student Duncan Boren was awarded the 2025 Keegstra and Thomashow Travel Award for this research.

Teaming up with international medical researchers, members of the Michigan State University-Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory, or PRL, look at a human protein called cis-Prenyltransferase, or h-cisPT. This protein makes prenyl chains, building blocks essential to human health.

If this protein is mutated, it can cause eye or neurological disease. By understanding the ways these proteins work, researchers can help combat these health issues. This research was published in Protein Science