Lindsey Ching
The vast majority of plants and crops, used both for food and fuel, utilize a type of photosynthesis in which the enzyme RuBisCO catalyzes the primary assimilation of carbon dioxide into sugar, termed C3 photosynthesis. However, certain plant lineages have evolved both biochemical and anatomical alterations, called C4 photosynthesis, that allow the enzyme PEP carboxylase to perform the primary assimilation event of CO2. C4 photosynthesizers have both higher photosynthetic efficiency and lower rates of an energy-intensive process called photorespiration relative to C3 plants, especially under high-stress conditions. As the climate […]
Kristy Tjokro
I am investigating the gene Rpl41 in a mouse model. Rpl41 is a ribosomal protein coding gene of the large ribosome subunit. It is one of 80 highly conserved ribosomal genes. In literature, mutations to the ribosomal protein genes have resulted in drastic phenotypic differences in even heterozygous individuals, many resulting in embryonic lethality. Rpl41 is a highly conserved gene so the existence of our knockout Rpl41 mice is surprising. Rpl41 knockout mice are phenotypically different from wildtype mice in two important aspects. While the knockout ovaries show evidence of […]
Ethan Willbrand
The human cerebral cortex contains ridges (gyri) and indentations (sulci) that other species do not have especially in locations that are expanded in humans such as the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). In PCC, there is confusion regarding sulcal definitions and nomenclature, which affects interpreting sulcal-functional correspondences. Recently, we reduced confusion by performing a systematic investigation of sulcal identification in adult human PCC (Willbrand et al., 2020). We discovered that a new shallow sulcus in PCC, the inframarginal sulcus (IFRMS), is a tripartite cortical landmark identifying a functional region involved in […]
Hunter Thornton
Mosquito-borne diseases are a major burden to public health systems, especially in developing countries. It is estimated that about 3.9 billion people worldwide are at risk of infection with dengue virus, with 50-100 million cases per year1. Nonetheless, safe vaccines and therapeutics for dengue are not available. Transmission occurs through the bite of female Aedes mosquitos infected with one of four antigenically related dengue virus serotypes (DENV1-4). Infection with one serotype may confer temporal protection or, conversely, enhance disease of a subsequent infection with a different serotype, suggesting an important […]
Yuan Lin
Human-induced climate change is a modern environmental challenge that poses serious threats to both natural ecosystems and human society as it exists today. As a result, scientists have examined carbon sequestration in soils as a climate mitigation strategy that could lower greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. This approach involves quantifying rates of carbon removed from the atmosphere by plants, and rates of plant carbon transferred and stored in soil. A key parameter used to determine soil carbon sequestration potential is soil bulk density, defined as the mass of a […]
Amoolya Grandhi
Quantum dot supercrystals hold a lot of potential for future nanophotonics due to their unique optical and electric properties. Quantum dots, which are semiconducting nanoparticles, can act like atoms and arrange into a crystal structure, forming something called a supercrystal. These supercrystals have been found to form interesting shapes such as spheres, rods, and various prisms. However, my research recently found that they can also take the shape of half-spheres or donuts, which has never been documented before. These new shapes both pack differently and likely have unique optical properties […]
Victoria Venardi
This summer, I will be working on developing highly efficient and stable catalysts for the production of propylene oxide (PO), a chemical used in construction, upholstery, and automobiles. The instability of the current industrial amorphous catalyst causes numerous shutdowns per year during production and creates unnecessary waste, including 750 thousand tons of carbon dioxide, and costs $930 million dollars to manufacturers per year. In my research, I will modify current crystalline catalysts to become more stable by avoiding polymerization side reactions that are initiated by small amounts of water on […]
Ashley Yang
Glioblastoma (GB) is the most common and aggressive brain tumor in adults, composed of a microenvironment that suppresses the defense function of T-cells and Natural Killer (NK) cells. Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have recently become a robust form of adoptive cell therapy, also known as cellular immunotherapy. Studies on GB treatment using CAR-NK cells have identified epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRvIII) as a target which distinguishes GB cells from healthy brain cells. Currently, there is a lack of CAR-NK cell mouse models. My project will seek to fill the gaps […]
James Lu
My research project stems from an early observation in our lab where a lytic phage called SHL created plaques (zones of bacterial clearance) with highly variable sizes. This is interesting because it is expected that a homogenous population would produce plaques of relatively similar sizes because they all have the same genetic makeup. Based on past experiments I have conducted and papers in the field, I hypothesized that the variation in plaque size could be the result of subpopulations within the SHL stock that have varying adsorption rates. Over the […]
Marvin Miller
The primary objective of this research proposal is to examine the effect of aging on the lactate receptor GPR81 and metabolic inflexibility. GPR81 gets activated by lactate among the series of short-chain carboxylic acids and reduces intracellular cAMP levels that influence the inhibition of fatty acid transporter and lipolysis (Ahmed, Kashan, et al., p315). Metabolic flexibility is the cells’ ability to shift from one energy source to the next, for example, glucose to fat. With aging, there is a reduction in the ability to shift energy sources. The inability for […]