The biochemistry lab of Professor Shahir Rizk (pictured second from the right) is rarely quiet during the academic year – and it is even busier this summer with three undergraduate research students. Biology major Pierre-Emmanuel N'Guetta (pictured far right) is continuing work on a project to develop a biosensor for glyphosate, the main ingredient in the herbicide RoundUp. He began the project last year with the help of a SMART grant, and now he has a protein-based fluorescent biosensor that can detect micromolar amounts of the pollutant. He is currently trying to use this biosensor to test for glyphosate in soil samples.
Biochemistry major Winnie Ihano (pictured far left) is funded by the LSAMP program. Her goal is to express and purify mutants of the human enzyme adenosine deaminase. This enzyme is important in the degradation of the nucleotide adenosine. Individuals with mutations in this enzyme suffer from Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID), a fatal disease that leaves its victims susceptible to all kinds of infections. Winnie is generating recombinant forms of these mutants found in SCID patients and trying to isolate them in order to characterize them in the lab.
Biology major Chris Stewart (pictured second from the left) is also working on adenosine deaminase. His work, funded by a SMART grant, is concerned with engineering antibody fragments that can bind to the active form of the enzyme. By recognizing the active form of the enzyme, we hope that these antibody fragments can be used to convert the less active mutants found in SCID patients into active enzymes with the hopes of reversing the effect of the disease (at least in the test-tube).
In addition to his research with these three students, Rizk has been busy with other projects. He attended the first Regional Cottrell Scholar meeting in April at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne, at the invitation of St. Mary’s chemist Dr. Kathryn Haas, a recent Cottrell Scholar who had previously taught at IU South Bend for a year before teaching at St. Mary’s College. The Cottrell foundation supports chemistry, physics, and astronomy professors who are developing innovative research and teaching programs at their institutions through their Cottrell Scholars Program. The meeting included former Cottrell scholars and members of their research groups as well as hopeful future Cottrell Scholars (such as Rizk).The meeting included presentations and roundtable discussions on research and teaching methods. Rizk had the chance to present a poster on his research in protein engineering and his teaching strategies that use discussion sections to introduce STEM majors to current events in science policy and new research developments through assigned readings and guest lectures by practicing scientists from academia and industry. Rizk was invited to submit a full application for the Cottrell Scholar program in July and we wish him success in this endeavor.
