037 - NatSci News Rewind July 2022 Transcript

You're listening to NatSci News Rewind a podcast that counts down the monthly news headlines in the world of NatSci. Let's take a look back at the news for July 2022.

Number 5:
MSU researchers create method for breaking down plant materials for earth-friendly energy
With energy costs rising and the increasing effects of burning fossil fuels on the global climate,  researchers are looking for ways to produce products and fuels that are truly renewable. To address this issue, MSU organic chemist Ned Jackson and his former graduate student Yuting Zhou, have developed a new tool that breaks the strong chemical bonds in biomass or plant matter down into building blocks for fuels. This new tool also has the potential to destroy environmental pollutants. The research was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

Number 4: 
At number 4 - Aman Yadav named Lappan-Phillips Professor of Computing Education
MSU Professor Aman Yadav, known for his research and outreach on computer science education and computational thinking, has been named a Lappan-Phillips Professor of Computing Education. Yadav, who holds joint appointments in the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering and the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, began his professorship on July 1, and will be formally recognized at an investiture ceremony this fall.

Number 3:
Our number 3 story this month - Evolution-in-a-flask experiment moves, but not the science
MSU’s renowned Long-Term Evolution Experiment – a remarkable 34-year biological drama in flasks, with bacteria competing for resources and fighting for dominance – is itself evolving. The bacteria’s main stage – frozen vials containing some 75,000 generations of E. coli – has been moved from MSU to University of Texas at Austin to be cared for by a former postdoctoral researcher in Richard Lenski's lab. While the daily propagation of the LTEE is moving, copies of all of the samples remain at MSU. Lenski, who started the experiment in 1988, has lots of plans and ideas for studying them, both in his lab and with collaborators around the world.

Number 2: 
Coming in at number 2 - Bacteria versus viruses
As antibiotic resistance challenges scientists to find new ways to treat bacterial infections, researchers at Michigan State University, led by microbiologist Chris Waters, have discovered a new way for bacteria to defend themselves against viral infection, known as phage, which could lead to better treatments in the future. The research was recently published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

Number 1:  
And rounding out the news this month, coming in at number one - Zika evades early pregnancy protections, MSU research finds 
Michigan State researchers have found that the Zika virus can halt an embryo’s development in the earliest stages of pregnancy, signaling that the risks posed by the virus are greater than previously appreciated. The team from MSU also hopes its work, which was performed with mouse models, will inspire more studies examining how other diseases, such as cytomegalovirus — the leading infectious cause of birth defects — affect early pregnancy. Their findings were recently published in the journal Development.

And that will wrap up the rewind for the month of July 2022. 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, Facebook and Instagram @msunatsci. Thanks for tuning in and be sure to check us out next month.