Casey Abbott and Dr. John Hedengren, Department of Chemical Engineering Advances in biomedical research have lead to an increase of experimental data to be interpreted in the context of reaction pathways, molecular transport, and population dynamics. Kinetic modeling is one way employed to interpret this data and is used in the pharmaceutical industry in developing […]
Search Results for: molecular
Identify Novel Mutants Defective in Bract Suppression
Dr. Clinton Whipple, Department of Biology Progress towards research objectives Progress has been achieved in most of the five research objectives. In some cases we have modified our original aims in the light of what can be reasonably expected of inexperienced undergraduates. Details of each aim follow: AIM 1 Identify novel mutants defective in bract […]
Transcriptional Activity of the Novel Nuclear Protein nBmp-2
Dr. Laura Bridgewater, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Biology The goal of this project was to follow up on preliminary data suggesting that nBmp2 directly activated transcription. A few months of follow-up experiments, however, showed that the original transcription data was not reproducible. At that point we turned our attention to two different questions about […]
Secretory phospholipase A2
Dr. John Bell, Department of Physiology & Developmental Biology Abstract of original proposal Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) binds to and hydrolyzes cell membranes. It is important in inflammatory responses and diseases including septic shock, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Normally, cells resist the enzyme’s action, but they become susceptible early during the process of either biochemically-programmed or […]
Co-amplification of Mitochondrial Pseudogenes
Dr. Michael Whiting, Department of Biology Funding was received from the BYU ORCA mentorship program during 2011 to support undergraduates performing research in my lab, under the mentorship of postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and myself. During 2011, this funding provided direct support for 6 undergraduates who are in various stages of completing research projects. The […]
Neurophysiological Substrates of Alcohol Addiction
Dr. Scott Steffensen, Department of Psychology Completion of Academic Objectives Research in my lab is dedicated to the elucidation of brain substrates underlying drug addiction. Elder Boyd K. Packer has stated, “It is my conviction, and my constant prayer, that there will come through research, through inspiration to scientists if need be, the power to […]
Amphibians and Reptiles as Model Systems: Phylogenetic Research for Undergraduates
Dr. Jack Sites, Department of Biology This award provided $20,000 to support of molecular phylogenetic work on a number of projects, including those related to my long-term focus on the “deep history” relationships of squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes), and the second more recent emphasis on phylogeographic (“shallow history”) studies of frogs and lizards. This […]
Development of Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (q-PCR) Assays for the Specific Detection and Characterization of Select Bacterial Pathogens
Dr. Richard Robison, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Biology The Specific aims for the project were as follows Develop q-PCR reactions for specific target genes of bacterial pathogens Primer generation software will be used to design primer and probe sequences that will theoretically perform optimally in PCR reactions. All sequences will be subjected to BLAST […]
Cytokine Signaling in the Microenvironment May Aid in Tumor Development and Progression
Dr. Kim O’Neill, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Studies have indicated that in breast tumors a high number of tumor associated macrophages (TAM’s) is indicative of a poor prognosis. TAM’s in the breast tumor microenvironment generally have a compromised immune response and focus their energy toward tissue repair which leads to angiogenesis, tumor growth, […]
Rational design of the metabolite mimics as Novel Antibiotics targeting SAM-I/II Riboswitches
Dr. Young Wan Ham, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met In our 2009 MEG application, we have proposed structure-based rational design of metabolite mimics based on S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) as novel antibiotics targeting SAM-I/II riboswitches and subsequent development of fluorescence assay to evaluate binding of […]