In the Laboratory - Research Projects
On the application form, you will list your top three choices of research projects. Study the research descriptions below to determine what interests you most. Each of the projects listed is designed by a faculty member to provide you with the best summer research experience possible. If you have questions about a specific project (such as techniques you would learn, instrumentation you would use, etc.), email the faculty member listed next to the project title. For general information on the program, contact Dr. Mary Boyd or Dr. Todd Deal.
Synthesis of Three-Ring Spiroketal Units using Gold Salts as Catalysts - Dr. Karelle Aiken
Gold (Au) salts will be used to catalyze the synthesis of a collection of three-ring units containing a special type of carbon skeleton called a spiroketal. Spiroketal units are present in a number of naturally-occurring compounds that have been isolated from marine, fungal and bacterial organisms. These spiroketal compounds exhibit various modes of biological activity, such as inhibition of cell proliferation for treatment of tumors that occur in lung, colon and breast cancer and ulcer activity (against Helicobacter pylori). The chemistry in this project will involve the activation of alkynes (carbon to carbon triple bonds) with the gold (Au) catalyst. The three-ring spiroketal units that would be produced from this project are potential synthetic precursors for naturally-occurring, biologically active compounds and hence, potential precursors for the design of drugs to treat a wide array of diseases.
The molecular physiology of gills and kidneys - Dr. JB Claiborne
We study the physiological systems involved with the regulation of salts, water and pH in aquatic organisms. We do our research on a variety of bony fish and sharks, both at GSU and during the summer at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL.org), a marine laboratory near Bar Harbor, Maine. In a fashion analogous to the mammalian kidney, fish use their gills to transfer ions between their blood and the surrounding water. Our current NSF funded project focuses on the molecular and immunological detection of the RNA and protein(s) which allow these fish to excrete hydrogen and ammonia across the gills. Find out more. Please note: The student participating in this project will spend 8 weeks (roughly June 1 - July 31) in Bar Harbor, Maine at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory.
The Unusual Kinetics of p-Nitrophenylglyoxal - Dr. Michael Hurst
Although the details vary a lot, the kinetics of most chemical reactions are quite similar: they start at a certain rate and then slow down. We have found a reaction which is different. p-Nitrophenylglyoxal is a compound usually used to react with the amino acid arginine, to study arginine in proteins. But at high pH the p-nitrophenylglyoxal acts strangely; it starts very slow, and then speeds up. We have explored this with visible light spectrophotometry, and learned something about how pH, buffer composition, and other factors affect it. We would like an enthusiastic student to join us in exploring what is causing the strange lag in the reaction time. We would be using visible spectrophotometry, nmr, and whatever else we can to to discover the mechanism of this effect. Come on and join us!
A summer experience at the liquid/solid interface! - Dr. David Kreller
Research in our laboratory is focused on physical and chemical processes of environmental importance at boundaries where the surfaces of minerals and other solids are in contact with aqueous solutions. Processes at solid/liquid boundaries are important for several reasons including the facts that they control the reactions, transport and bioavailability of pollutants and underlie technology used to improve ground and surface water quality. The work in our laboratory uses novel experimental methods based on the high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) with multiple channels of detection. REU students joining our research group for the summer of 2008 can expect to receive strong training in both environmental and analytical chemistry.
X-ray Crystallography - Dr. Allison Long
Students will have the opportunity to: learn techniques to grow x-ray quality crystals, study crystallography and x-ray diffraction, cut and mount crystals and collect data, become skilled at determining a compound's three-dimensional structure, critically read journal articles, work up data and collect all the information necessary to publish their results, and write up their results for publication. Training in operation of the x-ray diffractometer is included.
Dissecting symbiosis both literally and figuratively - Dr. Dana Nayduch
My students and I work with symbioses between microorganisms such as bacteria, protozoa and worms and larger hosts such as insects and vertebrates. I have many projects going on in my lab * but recently we are mainly working with either houseflies or *herps* (amphibians and reptiles) and their symbionts. For example, we have looked at housefly/microbe symbiosis by examining: 1. the housefly immune response to bacteria (mainly a molecular biology-based project), 2. the fate of GFP-tagged bacteria in houseflies (a microbiology-based project) and 3. the relationship between Herpetomonas protozoa and houseflies (determining their location when they infect flies, and their fitness effect on flies). We are also working on more field-based projects involving herps, including: 1. Helminth parasites of local tadpoles (including nematodes and Trematodes; in the beginning survey stages with many projects to come) and 2. a stomach nematode parasite of horned lizards (again, a new project with many avenues to pursue). So*if you are interested in any aspect of symbiosis (Parasitology, Mutualism, Commensalism, host-parasite relationships, molecular immunology, etc.), and are ready to do lots of dissections, you would be a good fit for my research team.
When Pigs Fly: Molecular Evolution and Genetics - Dr. Laura Regassa
My laboratory focuses on molecular genetics. We examine the molecular basis for disease in a bacterial pathogen and the biodiversity and evolutionary relationships among spiroplasma bacteria. A summer project could involve characterization of one of the numerous new spiroplasma species that we have discovered or analysis of environmental factors that affect toxin production in a bacterial swine pathogen.
Rational Design of Carbohydrate Mimics - Dr. Karen Welch
The surfaces of mammalian cells are covered with carbohydrate (or sugar) molecules that facilitate cell-to-cell communication by binding to proteins. These communication events promote beneficial processes, as well as disease states such as cancer. My lab uses data mining and computational techniques to find molecules that mimic cell-surface carbohydrates. We then test the most promising mimics in in vitro assays to determine if they inhibit carbohydrate binding to a protein of interest. The goal of this research is to develop new carbohydrate-mimetic molecules to be used in drugs that combat carbohydrate-based disease processes. REU projects may include in vitro assays, as well as molecular modeling and X-ray crystallography studies.
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