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Bioprospecting for Natural Products in the World's Rain Forests: An Undergraduate Science Expedition
Summary: Scott Strobel's research focuses on RNA catalysis, including RNA splicing and protein synthesis by the ribosome. For his HHMI project, he will lead an annual undergraduate expedition into one of the world's rain forests. Students will collect plant samples for use in an intensive summer laboratory course where they will culture novel microorganisms and screen them for the production of biologically active natural products.
Project Summary
We will institute a multidisciplinary field and laboratory experience for Yale University undergraduate biology education. Each year, 12 undergraduate students will travel to one of the world's rain forests such as the upper Amazon in Ecuador. The students will explore the forest's tremendously diverse ecosystem and collect biological samples. These materials will be used in a summer laboratory course to culture endophytic microbes and screen them for the production of biologically active natural products. The organisms will be taxonomically characterized by rDNA sequencing and electron microscopy. Natural products will be purified, characterized, and tested in a variety of assays in collaboration with laboratories throughout the Yale School of Medicine. Students will be prepared for the spring expedition and subsequent summer laboratory by taking a multidisciplinary college seminar in the spring semester. In addition, students will reach out to the local New Haven, Connecticut, schools by visiting classrooms and sharing their experiences in the rain forest.
The program will provide an integrated scientific experience that encompasses the subjects of ecology, chemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics. It will allow students to explore scientific problems, from field biology to natural product characterization. Each student will be completely vested in an original project over which he or she will have full ownership and autonomy. Students will isolate, characterize, and name novel organisms; isolate novel natural products; and screen these materials for biological activities. Their observations will be published and the materials patented. This program will teach students about the diversity of life, the importance of ecological conservation, the process of scientific inquiry, and the open-ended possibilities still available for scientific investigation. The novel natural products that they discover will be applied to diseases of particular concern to human health and are certain to provide follow-up opportunities for the students in laboratories throughout the university. This rain forest expedition will provide training that will inspire them to use the scientific process in their future careers.
Research Summary
Our laboratory investigates the structural and mechanistic basis of RNA enzymes, with particular attention to two systems: self-splicing introns and peptide bond formation by the ribosome. The overriding question being addressed is: How does RNA, which is composed of building blocks best suited for a role in the storage of genetic information, catalyze biologically essential chemical reactions? To explore this question, we use chemical, biochemical, and biophysical methods ranging from organic synthesis to X-ray crystallography. These complementary approaches provide high-resolution biochemical and structural information about the RNAs under investigation. Our results have revealed that RNA uses catalytic strategies that are strikingly similar to those of proteins, the more adept and more common catalyst within cells. This includes catalysis promoted by active-site metal ions and substrate-assisted catalysis involving chemical groups on the reaction substrates.
Last updated September 2006
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