Culture and Identification of Bone Marrow Hematopoietic Cells

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Joshua Hauser and Dr. Sandra Burnett, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Successfully culturing and identifying bone marrow cells is a critical skill when doing stem cell, or hematopoietic research. This skill was especially important in Dr. Sandra Burnett’s research lab, with whom I conducted this research. Since the proper culture and identification of the cells was […]

Estrogen and Breast Cancer: Understanding the Complex Interaction One Gene at a Time

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Victoria Harris and Dr. Chin-Yo Lin, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Estrogen is a steroid hormone that acts in the body in both beneficial and detrimental ways. It plays a crucial role in many human processes including coagulation, bone formation, and development of sexual organs. However, estrogen is also associated with the proliferation of breast cancer. […]

The Investigation of X-Ray Diffraction Patterns from Human Hair in Correlation with Dietary Habits

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Savannah Gore and Professor Beverly L. Roeder, Department of Biology Eating disorders, namely anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), are a serious problem affecting 1-5% of high school and college age women in the US. Unfortunately, the diagnostic methods used to determine if an individual is suffering from AN or BN are, for the most part, […]

Sinorhizobium meliloti Adaptation in Alfalfa Bacterial Pathway of Infection

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Jacob Erickson and Dr. Joel Griffitts, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Bacterial infection has been fought against successfully since the discovery of penicillin, and since then other antibiotics. Despite this, bacterial strains continue to mutate and find resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Gaining an understanding the genetic process of infection within bacteria will aid in the […]

Bone Ashing to Measure the Effects of Vitamin K in Bone Mineral Density in Rats

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Michael Draney and Dr. Robert Davidson, Nutritional Sciences Millions of people throughout the world suffer from osteoporosis. It is a degenerative disease that is characterized by increased bone fragility and decreased bone mineral and bone density. Although limited research has been done linking vitamin K and bone health, vitamin K may inhibit bone loss due […]

Confirming Artificial Fungal Endophyte Inoculation of Maize by AFLP and SEM

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Alan Chambers and Dr. Brad Geary, Plant and Animal Sciences Plant microbe interactions have been shown to enhance plant growth (Nassar, 2005) and it is well established that fungal endophytes affect beneficial phenotypes like resistance to drought or insects (Bacon 1997). Plants have been selected for beneficial phenotypic traits for thousands of years, but selection […]

The Role of Specific Estrogen-responsive Genes in Breast Cancer Development

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Laura Castillo and Dr. Chin-Yo Lin, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Estrogen plays a role in the reproductive maturation of females, including breast development. It is also known that estrogen affects the development of malignant breast tumors. Estrogen works by binding to specific estrogen receptors found in the cytoplasm or near the nuclear membrane. […]

FeuP Importance in the Symbiotic Infection in Sinorhizobium Melliloti

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Rebecca Carlyon and Dr. Joel Griffitts, Microbiology and Molecular Biology How does infection work? How do bacteria know where they are to function within a host? These processes are vital for understanding both disease-causing and beneficial bacteria. For example, infection in alfalfa by a bacterium called Sinorhizobium meliloti is advantageous for the legume. Rhizobia infects […]

Organizing BYU’s Fungi Collection

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Tess Blackwelder and Dr. Leigh Johnson, Integrative Biology The Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum at Brigham Young University houses many biological collections for study and display. Among the collections of insects, plants, fish, and mammals, there is also a fungi collection. This was donated to BYU by mycologist Kent McKnight (former BYU faculty) several […]