#084 - Ying Lu: How Cells Recycle Protein and Prevent Alzheimer's

About this episode

Ying Lu discusses the mechanisms of protein degradation and its implications for diseases like Alzheimer's.

Ying Lu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. His work combines physics, biochemistry, and quantitative methods to understand the fundamental mechanisms of biological processes, particularly protein degradation. In this episode, we discuss why curiosity is the most powerful engine for scientific breakthroughs, from the discovery of CRISPR to modern weight-loss drugs. We explore the cell’s sophisticated quality control system, where a "barcode" tag called ubiquitin marks unwanted proteins for destruction by a nanoscale "shredder." Professor Lu explains how failures in this system are linked to diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer, and how his research could lead to new therapies that either inhibit or boost this process to restore health. For more information about this episode, visit our website: https://www.discoveringacademia.com/episodes/ying-lu This presentation is a service of Discovering Academia, and all information presented is for commercial and informational purposes only. Discovering Academia provides no assurances as to the accuracy or completeness of the information presented and possesses no actual knowledge of any…

People in this episode

Hosts: Brent Valentine, Keller Kramer

Guest: Ying Lu

Topics covered

• protein recycling
• Alzheimer's disease
• biochemistry
• scientific breakthroughs
• cell biology

Keywords

• protein degradation
• ubiquitin
• cell quality control
• Alzheimer's
• cancer
• therapies
• scientific curiosity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard Medical School

Products: CRISPR

More episodes of Discovering Academia

• #088 - Marion Nestle: Food Politics, Industry Influence, and the Fight for Public Health · June 4, 2026 · 47 min
• #087 - Robert Langer: Inventing the Future of Medicine · April 29, 2026 · 37 min
• #086 - Richard Miller: There Is No "Mechanism" of Aging · November 25, 2025 · 1h 15m
• #085 - Steven Austad: Riding Lions and Unlocking the Secrets of Aging · November 6, 2025 · 1h 9m
• #083 - Homa Bahrami: Super-Flexibility, Agile Organizations, & The Evolution of Silicon Valley · May 30, 2025 · 1h 6m
• #082 - Amber Boydstun: Media Storms, Social Media, and the Battle for Your Attention · May 23, 2025 · 1h 8m