Understanding the growth characteristics and adaptive responses of psychrophilic organisms to varying environmental conditions is crucial for clarifying their ecological niche and potential applications in biotechnology. Psychrophilic organisms exhibit a preference for growth at 4ºC. Chlamydomonas malina originates from the Beaufort Sea and Chlamydomonas klinobasis originates from Svalbard, Norway. C. malina is a marine alga […]
C23: Testing Temperature-Dependent Reversible Aggregation of Elastin-Like-Peptides Expressed on T7 Phages
Bacteriophage (phage) therapy is a potential solution for treating antibiotic-resistant infections7. Since bacteriophages are bacterial in origin and are ‘expressed’ in bacteria, it is paramount that endotoxins are removed before delivery to avoid immunogenic shock. Traditionally, the purification process requires chromatography and is a bottleneck in the industrial-scale production of bacteriophage therapies. Elastin-like peptides (ELPs) […]
C25: Suicide Among Resettled Bhutanese Refugees: Risk and Protective Factors
With an estimated suicide rate of 24.4 per 100,000, Bhutanese refugees who have resettled within the United States are experiencing a mental health crisis–this rate is nearly twice that of the general U.S. population which was 14.1 per 100,000 in 2021.1,2 Over 100,000 ethnic-Nepali citizens were forcibly removed from Bhutan in the 1990s.3 Many lived […]
C55: Investigating viral genes as possible sensitizers for drug resistant cancer cells
Chemotherapy and radiation induce cancer cell death through DNA damage; however, the prevalence of drug-resistant cancer presents a substantial treatment barrier. Previous investigations have connected the overexpression of DNA dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), a crucial enzyme in the DNA damage response (DDR), to chemotherapy resistant cancer cells. There has been much evidence to indicate that […]
C30: Effects of Salinity on Microdiversity of Enrichment Cultures from Antarctic Lakes
Lake Bonney is a saline Antarctic lake inhabited by a diverse microbial community. Algae are key members of the community and often have a sizable associated population of heterotrophs, providing them with more accessible organic carbon. The community is stratified throughout the water column, especially along the strong shifts in salinity (the chemocline) beginning 15 […]
C27: Investigating the Morphology of Mycoplasma pneumoniae: Does it Change Shape Under Stress?
For this project titled “Investigating the Morphology of Mycoplasma pneumoniae: Does it Change Shape Under Stress?”, my general research area is bacteriology and morphological studies. I asked the question of whether or not M. pneumoniae cells experience a change in shape when grown in reduced oxygen concentrations, a question very relevant for research on the […]
C07: Inject Money into Harm Reduction: The Life and Cost Saving Powers of Syringe Services Programs (SSPs)
For this research project, I interned at Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) throughout Butler County in collaboration with the Butler County General Health District. SSPs help provide people in need with sterile syringes, injection equipment, naloxone, and fentanyl test strips. They also help link people in need to rehabilitation facilities and reduce the spread of infectious […]
B33: MBI475: Resilience of Antarctic Lake Algae-Bacteria Interactions to a Salinity Gradient
Microbial Ecology explores the way microbes interact with their environment, and the greater impact it has on their ecosystems both local & global. Aquatic ecosystems are dependent on primary production by algae to fix carbon, which contributes to over 50% of CO2 fixation globally. This is especially the case for microbial communities found within Antarctic […]
B32: MBI 475: Influence of Extreme Environmental Conditions on Antarctic Lake Algae
There are a multitude of factors which affect both the growth and distribution of marine microbial environments, such as nutrient availability, salinity levels, temperature, and light. In Antarctic marine environments, microbes are exposed to extreme conditions, which further affect the community composition. In this project, we have analyzed the effect that different salt concentrations have […]
A42: MBI475: The Effects of Environmental Stressors on Antarctic Algae
This study was intended to identify the impact of salt concentrations on the diversity of Antarctic microbial taxa. Lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valley(MDV) of Antarctica are permanently covered with 3-5 meters of ice and have substantially increasing salt concentrations as the depth increases in the lakes. Salinity is a harsh stressor for most organisms […]