This past summer several students enjoyed the opportunity to research with Professor Anderson. Biochemistry majors Krista Schilling, Letty Black, Jose Zelaya, and Daniel Chupp worked on cloning the genes for arsenite oxidase so that
eventually enough enzyme could be produced artificially (rather than in the native organism) for structure/function studies.
This research combined molecular biology, microbiology, and biochemistry
techniques as well as classic column chromatography. The plan was to isolate the three genes from Alcaligenes and place them into E. coli
(using Gateway Topo-A cloning) to direct E.
coli to synthesize the enzyme on demand. Anderson anticipated plenty of pitfalls
because of the large size of the gene and the several unusual cofactors in the
protein and remarks that it was a perfect project for introducing students to research because of its challenges and trouble-shooting
opportunities. Now that the summer has passed, here is what Krista Schilling (pictured) has to say about the experience:
"Undergraduate research gave me the opportunity to really work with the science I'd been learning in my classes. I was able to use techniques I'd learned in class labs and more importantly I learned many things you just don't come in contact with unless you participate in this sort of independent, active learning. My favorite part was having to really figure things out to make our experiments work - I felt so invested in the outcome and very proud when I was able to contribute meaningfully to problem-solving. Having worked on a project like this makes me feel capable and ready to tackle harder upper-level classes and to pursue my long-term goals in science."
We look forward to the possibility of a Spring presentation at our campus's annual Undergraduate Research Conference. If you are interested in working on a research project, please contact one of the professors in our department.
