013 - NatSci News Rewind July 2020 Transcript

You're listening to NatSci News Rewind a podcast that looks back at the monthly news headlines in the world of NatSci. Let's take a look back at the news for the month of July 2020.

First national review shows SARS-CoV-2 test results are accurate
"We need more testing" is a phrase that we’ve heard throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was only one approved testing method for detecting the virus in the United States and only a few laboratories had the means to correctly perform the test. Yet, with the massive and urgent demand for results, other labs quickly had to develop new ways to tests. This haste, combined with the variety of new methods created, left the question, how accurate are the results? To address this question, MSU Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics Program professor Frances Downes teamed up with MSU alums Daniel Edson and Danielle Casey, both from the American Proficiency Institute, to conduct one of the world’s first SARS-CoV-2 proficiency testing programs. Preliminary results show that these newly developed laboratory testing methods are highly accurate for detecting the novel coronavirus. 

MSU biochemist receives NSF grant to study isoprene emission from plants
Understanding isoprene emission from plants is important for determining if or when it might be useful to engineer crops to make it, or to engineer emitting plants to suppress it. It is also critically important because isoprene is a major concern in atmospheric chemistry, contributing to tropospheric ozone formation (the bad ozone, precursor to smog), aerosols, and formaldehyde, especially in atmospheres polluted with NOx. Michigan State University biochemist Thomas D. Sharkey has received a $898,946 grant from the National Science Foundation to study isoprene emission from plants. The grant will fund three aims: the benefits of isoprene emission, the costs of isoprene emission and mechanisms of isoprene effects on plant performance. 


MSU researcher lands NSF grant to study effects of droughts
MSU biologist Sarah Evans has received a three-year, $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology to study the effect that droughts have on soil and the carbon cycling process — a critical determinant of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and future climate change.

MSU alums use new models to track vulnerable wild cheetah population
Population studies are critical for vulnerable and endangered animals because they help conservationists determine what efforts are needed to help the remaining populations persist. One such animal is the wild cheetah. To help provide the key data needed for the protection of this vulnerable species, three MSU alums launched a cheetah population study almost 16 years ago. A paper on the long-term study and its progress to date was recently published in the journal Population Ecology.

A tale of two enzymes: MSU scientists discover ancient enzymes evolve new tricks
Plants, herbivores and pathogens are locked in a war for survival that is hundreds of millions of years old. In a paper recently published in the journal eLife, Pengxiang Fan, MSU postdoctoral trainee studying biochemistry and genetics, and Robert Last, Barnett Rosenberg Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, reported the discovery of two, ancient tomato enzymes recruited to play a crucial role in the ongoing evolutionary arms race.

BLD SMiLeS program supports disadvantaged students
MSU's Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics (BLD) program applied for and was recently awarded a Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration for BLD’s project, SMiLeS: Support in Medical Laboratory Science. The grant, which began July 1, will provide funding assistance for disadvantaged students who are pursuing a medical laboratory science major.

MSU's Frances Trail leads multi-funded investigation into evolution of infectious fungi
MSU plant biologist will use a 3-year, $730,000 USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant that focuses on the disease-causing fungus Fusarium graminearum and a cool season grass fungal pathogen, Epichloë festucae. This research is part of a larger collaboration of international scientists and funding agencies, led in part by Trail, that will investigate seven fungi whose common ancestor dates back 270 million years.

NSF-funded project explores plant metabolism links to climate change, human nutrition
MSU plant biologist Berkley Walker is part of a team of scientists that is using a 3-year, $1.4 million National Science Foundation  Molecular and Cellular Biosciences award to explore the intersection between photorespiration and one-carbon metabolism, two plant biochemical processes that are critical to plant growth and human nutrition.

Harnessing the power of biology: Scientists 'go the distance' in electron transfer study
In a new study, the labs of MSU scientists David M. Kramer and Daniel Ducat in the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, explore how electrons can move across long distances within biomaterials, such as proteins. Understanding the factors that control electron transfer in a biological context is critical to advances in diverse fields, including bioenergy, biosynthesis and disease.

MSU scientist lands $1.84 million NIH grant to study population genetics
MSU population geneticist Gideon Bradburd has received a five-year, $1.84 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) Maximizing Investigators' Research Early Stage Investigator Award to support he and his team's study of spatial population genetics related to how humans have historically adapted to their environment.

And that will wrap up the rewind for the month of July 2020. To read more about these stories, head on over to our website at natsci.msu.edu/news. You can also stay up to date by following us on social. You can find us on Twitter @msu_natsci, on Facebook @MSUCNS, and on Instagram @msunatsci. Thanks for tuning in and be sure to check us out next month.