There’s No Wrong Way for a Cell to Die: Caspase-Independent Programmed Cell Death Pathways Resulting in Apoptotic Characteristics

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Katalyn Pickett and Dr. John D. Bell, Undergraduate Education Main Text There are a number of ways that cells can die. One way is through apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. This death pathway is characterized by orderly signals and mechanisms that essentially tell the cell to die without “making a mess”. Necrosis, another […]

Does Selenium Alter the Expression of the Large T Antigen in TRAMP Mice?

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Britlyn Orgill and Dr. Merrill Christensen, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, & Food Science Main Text Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in American men. The American Cancer Society predicts that 217,730 cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and that 32,050 men will die from the disease in the year 2010 (1). Since […]

Orange Phenolic Compound Consumption Increases Serum Antioxidant Capacity Independent of Orange Sugar and Ascorbic Acid

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Kfir Orgad and Dr. Tory Parker, Nutrition Department Main Text Recent scientific data has proposed that the oxidation of low density lipoproteins is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, and thus premature death, in America. These studies have shown that people who consume more fruits and vegetables are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease as […]

Real-time, in Vivo, NAD Biosensor

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Jonathan Neubert and Dr. Julianne Grose, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Main Text Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a crucial coenzyme used in the production of ATP and general cellular metabolism. Its structure consists of two nucleotides—pyridine and adenine—joined by a pyrophosphate bond. The pyridine allows the molecule to function as an electron carrier in the […]

Impact of Physical Activity on Core Stability: A Comparative Study of Children in the United States and Rural Ghana

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Amy Nagle and Dr. Wayne Johnson, Department of Exercise Sciences The decline in physical activity and the “obesity epidemic” have created concerns nationwide about the health of American youths. These issues are not only problematic in the social sense (i.e. fostering self-confidence and physical attractiveness), but physical health is important in functional settings, such as […]

Evolution of Nuclear Mitochondrial pseudogenes of Three Genes within Orthoptera (Arthropoda:Insecta)

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Matthew Moulton with Dr. Michael Whiting, Department of Biology Introduction Mitochondria are unique organelles that contain their own genomes. Metazoan mitochondrial genomes typically encode 37 genes (13 protein-coding, 22 transfer RNA, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes) that are used for cellular respiration. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data have proven to be an indispensable tool for […]

An Evalutaion of Robber Fly (Diptera: Asilidae) Diversity in Mongolia

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Tristan McKnight and Dr. C. Riley Nelson, Biology Department The last few decades have seen an explosion of agricultural expansion and mining in Mongolia. These developments—loosely regulated at best—strain the ecological health of the steppe environment with pollution and overgrazing. Robber flies (Fig. 1) are small predators common in most terrestrial ecosystems that may play […]

Function of Novel Nuclear Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 in regulating Inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate Receptor 1 Expression

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Broc McCune and Dr. Laura Bridgewater, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Main Text Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Bmp2) is a well-characterized secreted transforming growth factor. Researchers in the lab of Dr. Laura Bridgewater, Brigham Young University, discovered a novel nuclear variant of Bmp2 (nBmp2)1. Preliminary data indicates that mice not expressing nBmp2 have difficulty regulating intracellular […]

The Cerebral Cortex as an Effect Site for Anesthetic Induced Unconsciousness

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Ryan Martin and Professor David Busath, Physiology and Developmental Biology Main Text General anesthetics are widely used today in medicine. Their molecular mechanisms however, still remain a mystery. For centuries, general anesthetics were thought to be “drugs without receptors” because of the lack of knowledge about their mechanism of action (Hemmings, et al., 2005). While some advances […]