Plant pathogens like the one that led to the notorious Irish Potato Famine of the 1840's are still the subject of intense research at institutions like the University of California Riverside, as the battle continues between mega-crop farmers and diseases that have learned to infiltrate the plant’s immune system. Just what the genetic mechanism is that allows for that infiltration has remained elusive until recently. Studying the notorious oomycete pathogen Phytophthora in its multiple forms, UC Riverside researchers have identified a crucial step in the disease attack of the cell, namely the activity of virulence proteins in blocking RNA silencing pathways, which leads to immune system compromise. The role of RNA silencing as an important immune component is a new research direction and one that is being pioneered at UCR.
Tags: 2014, CA, 2013, University of California Riverside, genome research, Southwest, California, University of California, Plant science, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Riverside, NSF, Southwest Region, UCR
Missouri has a rich market of potential buyers of lab supplies and biotechnology products, according to recent NSF and NIH research funding statistics for Washington University in St. Louis. In 2012, the NSF awarded the university $14.4 million in research funding. The NSF-funded projects are located within a number of programs in the life sciences, including evolutionary processes clusters, molecular biophysics, cellular dynamics and function, neural systems clusters, behavioral systems clusters, macrosystem biology and bioinformatics. We have spotlighted the top five-funded projects below:
Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, Washington University, Missouri, WashU, WUSTL, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Research Funding, NIH, science researchers, MO, St Louis, NSF, lab supplier, funded
Algae research is a well-funded subject for science researchers, especially at Ohio State University. According to The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio State University has received $8.7 million in federal funding for algae-related projects. The U.S. Department of Energy gave $7 million to researchers interested in using waste water to grow algae biofuels, while the National Science Foundation gave $1.5 million for a project concerned with discovering the environmental impact of hazardous algae on Lake Erie. The project researchers are specifically interested in algae’s effects on climate change. Ohio State University researchers also received $150,000 from the Ohio Sea Grant Program to study the liver toxin concentrations on Lake Erie due to blue-green algae.
Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, Ohio State University, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Research Funding, NIH, science researchers, Columbus, OH, NSF, lab suppliers, OhStu, Algea
The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is one of the most richly funded markets in the country for biotechnology vendors and lab suppliers, as recent NIH and NSF research funding statistics show. In 2012, the NIH gave the University of Michigan $456.3 million in research funding. The money has been awarded to various departments for research projects including:
Tags: University of Michigan, 2014, Midwest, 2013, Michigan, Ann Arbor, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Research Funding, Biotechnology, MI, lab supplies, NIH, UMich, NSF, U-M
Biotechnology vendors and lab suppliers in Illinois will find a well-funded market of science researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, according to recent NIH and NSF funding statistics. In 2012, the NIH awarded the university $69.7 million in research funding. Of the different bio departments at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the money was distributed as follows:
Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, UIUrbana, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Research Funding, NIH, IL, science researchers, NSF, lab supplier
At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, biological engineers have created what is becoming known as a “bio-bot.” It’s neither a cyborg nor an android, and it can fit on the face of a dime. What makes it special is that it can walk independently: that is, without the help of any mechanisms or electronic parts.
Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, University of Illinois, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, UIUrbana, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, researchers, IL, NSF, Bio-Robots, bio-bots
Oregon State University in Corvallis is the state's leading public research institution and has recently announced that the 2011 fiscal year ending in June was its 2nd best ever for overall research funding levels (the prior year being #1 by a hair). In fact, 2011 was OSU's top year for private sector funding, at $35M, which inclulded payments for testing services, environmental analysis, prototype development and licensing fees. That figure represents a 42% increase over 2 years. Alll in all, Oregon State counted $261.7M in external funding in the 2011 fiscal year.
Tags: Oregon State University, Northwest, Oregon, 2012, Funding, Front Line event, marine science, OR, Corvallis, NSF, ORSTU
An Oregon State University research lab led by Gregory Rorrer has just been awarded a $2M NSF grant as part of the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program for Engineering projects. Of the 15 ENG/EFRI awards for 2012, 3 were in the category of Synthetic Biorefineries research: "the large-scale use of micro-organisms that harness solar energy to produce chemicals and fuels from carbon dioxide." Rorrer's lab will study diatom photosynthesis as a means of creating biofuel, as well as two other bioengineered products. Diatoms are a type of algae with a unique biosynthetic ability to extract silicate from the ocean to create cell walls of nanostructured silica. According to the grant proposal, the OSU team will identify cellular processes and cultivation strategies towards the design of scalable systems for a future diatom-based photosynthetic biorefinery.
Tags: Oregon State University, Northwest, biofuels, women in science, Texas A&M University, Oregon, 2012, University of Wisconsin Madison, Biochemistry, Front Line event, OR, NSF, Corvalis, ORSTU
Tags: CA, University of California San Diego, California, 2012, San Diego, UCSD, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, NSF
Anyone who's ever pulled an all-nighter to finish a project knows how it wreaks havoc with your metabolism. The fact is, it's not just a nicety to be awake and active during the day and sleep at night: it's the way bodies are hard-wired. Scientists have long-suspected that upsets in a person's biological clock could play a factor in the development of metabolic disorders like diabetes. Now a team of researchers from three Southern California universities has made surprising discoveries that support that hypothesis. Not only have they isolated the protein that regulates the biologic clock (and named it cryptochrome), but they have found a molecule called KL001 that dictates when cryptochrome gets sent to the proteasome recycling bin. Which is to say, they now know a lot more about this complex circadian system that not only tells the body when to sleep and wake, but also how the body should manage glucose levels in those periods of relative activity and dormancy. The bio research study was published in the July 13 advance online issue of the journal Science.
Tags: CA, University of California San Diego, University of Southern California, Diabetes, Southwest, California, 2012, University of California Santa Barbara, USC, Los Angeles, Biochemistry, Scripps, biology research, bio research, Front Line event, NSF