Dr. Bhanu P. Jena has been awarded the 2007 Basic Biological Science Award, sponsored by the American Society of Animal Science. Jena was received the award in July during the ASAS annual meeting, in San Antonio, Tex.

Dr. Jena, George E. Palade professor and distinguished professor of physiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, is a pioneer in modern cell biology who has made landmark contributions greatly affecting animal biology and human medicine. Dr. Jena has made the monumental and pioneering discovery of a new cellular structure called the porosome, the universal secretory machinery in cells, and elucidated its structure, chemistry and function. Dr. Jena's extraordinary discovery of the porosome in neurons and in growth hormone secreting cells of the pig pituitary gland, as well as the molecular mechanism of cell secretion, will significantly affect livestock growth and development.

Cell secretion is a fundamental life process involved in neurotransmission and the release of hormones and digestive enzymes. Defects in cell secretion result in numerous debilitating diseases including growth defects, diabetes, neurological disorders and digestive diseases. Thirty years of studies by Dr. Jena led to the discovery of the porosome, the secretion machinery of cells and elucidation of the general molecular machinery and mechanism of cell secretion.