Newswise — BETHESDA, Md., April 2, 2016 — The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will hold its annual meeting April 2 – 6 at the San Diego Convention Center. The meeting will be held in conjunction with the Experimental Biology conference, at which five other sponsoring societies and multiple guest societies also will hold their annual meetings.
Below are descriptions of featured presentations by undergraduate students and faculty members of primarily undergraduate institutions. For a day-by-day schedule of the ASBMB annual meeting, visit http://asbmb.org/meetings/AM2016/program/.
Giving science students a head start on grant writing and peer reviewResearch funding is increasingly difficult to secure, and scientists today spend far more time writing grant proposals than did their predecessors. On top of that, scientists devote much of their time, without being compensated for it, to improving the research literature by peer reviewing the work of other scientists. Given the importance of persuasive, accurate writing and thoughtful, fair peer review, St. Mary's College of Maryland has begun helping undergraduates attain the skills they will one day need as independent researchers and stewards of the scientific community.
Professors Pamela Mertz and Craig Streu designed and implemented a two-semester writing assignment sequence for biochemistry students. During the first semester, the students work in teams to research specific proteins using bioinformatics resources. In the second semester, the students work in teams to write mock grant proposals to support their research endeavors. The assignment sequence requires that students write multiple drafts, provide and incorporate peer feedback, and give oral presentations. "This synergistic writing sequence can be used as a model to instill critical thinking, communication, teamwork and research skills in students that will benefit them in future experiences," Mertz said.(Poster C409 662.4: Sunday, April 3, 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. PDT)
Crowdsourcing antibiotics — and changing lives in the processThe Small World Initiative recruits college and high school students to hunt for new antibiotics produced by soil bacteria. Founded in 2012 at Yale University to crowdsource the drug-discovery process and encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, the program has since been implemented at 109 schools across the globe. One of those schools is National University in San Diego. Led by Professors Ana Maria Barral and Huda Makhluf, NU’s implementation caters to working adults, many of whom never have conducted scientific research and never have imagined themselves doing so. “To make students … aware of the challenges and excitement of science and give them the possibility to live it from the beginning to its culmination in a public presentation is a huge value,” Barral wrote in an essay about her students’ experiences. “Our society needs citizens who know and appreciate science, and the world needs more awareness of the antibiotic crisis.”(Poster C444 655.13: Sunday, April 3, 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. PDT)
Measuring the retina to better understand dry macular degenerationDry macular degeneration is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in individuals over age 50 in the developed world. The disease is brought on by the gradual death of retinal pigment epithelial cells, which leaves behind characteristic crystalline deposits in the macula. At Loyola Marymount University, undergraduate researcher Brandon Klein has investigated the use of retinal imaging technology to directly predict visual outcomes in patients with dry macular degeneration. Using ocular coherence tomography, Klein collected measurements of retinal thickness in eyes afflicted with the disease. Using those measurements, he then developed mathematical models to predict patient visual acuities. Klein says he hopes his findings will provide a mathematical framework for understanding the pathophysiology of this blinding disease and improve treatments for it. (Poster C117 819.4: Monday, April 4, 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. PDT)Student makes fast, portable biosensor that detects uranium in water samplesLast fall, we learned that two U.S. aquifers contain levels of uranium that exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level. Almost 6 million people rely on those aquifers for drinking water, and farmers use it to irrigate their crops. Uranium also frequently contaminates private wells, making the detection and monitoring of the heavy metal a priority for landowners. High levels of uranium can lead to kidney damage and other toxicity. At the Metropolitan State University of Denver, an undergraduate researcher set out to help improve uranium monitoring. Susan Jett created a biosensor that uses DNA to identify uranium in water samples. Jett’s device allows rapid, specific, portable and environmentally friendly detection of low levels of dissolved uranium using an electrical sensor similar to commercial blood-glucose monitors used by diabetics. Jett hopes that her method of detection will be used one day for water evaluation and medical diagnostic applications.(Poster C222 841.2: Monday, April 4, 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. PDT)Undergrad finds hardy microorganism that withstands road salt’s effectsWhen winter storms hit, most of us don’t think much about the substances that jurisdictions and residents use to treat slick roads and sidewalks. We just want to get where we’re going and get there safely. In Michigan, though, a science student has thought long and hard about those deicing substances – and what they might do to the microorganisms with whom we share public spaces. Melissa Sleda, an undergraduate at Lawrence Technological University in suburban Detroit, collected soil near a sidewalk on campus that had been treated with salt. When she gave the soil a close look, she found a mighty hardy bacterium still going about its business. She spent a semester studying this bug, going so far as to sequence it genes to identify it. (Poster C300 1105.2: Tuesday, April 5, 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. PDT)
Media Registration Free registration is available to credentialed representatives of the press, and an onsite newsroom will be available for media. Detailed instructions for individuals who wish to request press passes are available on the website.
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About the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyThe ASBMB is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization with more than 12,000 members worldwide. Most members teach and conduct research at colleges and universities. Others conduct research in various government laboratories, at nonprofit research institutions and in industry. The Society’s student members attend undergraduate or graduate institutions. For more information about ASBMB, visit http://www.asbmb.org.
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