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Bio Wizards

Cutting-Edge Research At SMU Could Help Advanced Medical Treatments

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His approach is related to a rare genetic disorder called Werner syndrome, which causes premature aging in those who have the disease. Researchers have noted that individuals who are carriers for Werner syndrome do not develop AIDS, and Harrod hypothesized that the enzyme involved in Werner syndrome is necessary for transcription of the retrovirus. Using cells that had the Werner syndrome defect inserted into them, his lab was able to confirm this link, and last year he and co-researchers published the findings in The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Now his group is looking for molecules that might be used to block this transcription-necessary enzyme. Included among the researchers cited in the journal article were several biological sciences students. Both graduate and undergraduate students assisted Harrod in his lab work on retroviral transcription.

Ask Assistant Professor Jim Waddle about the contributions made by students, and he’ll talk about the weird “worm” discovered by one of his graduate students. Waddle, whose Ph.D. work was in molecular genetics, has been studying the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for food absorption in the human gut. Fingerlike projections called microvilli, which are necessary for the absorption of nutrients, line the human gut; nematodes have microvilli on every gut cell. As part of their research, Waddle’s lab doused the nematodes in mutation-causing chemicals and examined them via a fluorescent protein. Ph.D. candidate Christina Paulson looked at 20,000 nematodes in this manner and came up with one that had a nematode version of diverticulosis, with outpouchings all along the gut. Disappointingly, the mutated worm turned out to be normal in terms of lifespan, reproduction and absorption of nutrients. But, Waddle says, “we threw our heads together and thought about conditions the nematode might encounter in the wild” versus the laboratory setting. He wondered if the worm might have trouble eliminating toxins. It did.

Normal nematodes eliminate toxins too quickly for the worms to be useful in drug testing, but toxins stay in the weird worms long enough to have an effect on them. And that means the millimeterlong creature likely will be highly useful in drug-testing situations, because a nematode’s life cycle is so much shorter than that of the larger animals, such as mice, that generally are used to test drugs. The student who identified the worm is one of 18 graduate students – nine working on Master’s degrees, nine on Ph.D.s – in the Department of Biological Sciences. With 126 undergraduates, the department enrolls the largest segment of undergraduate majors in the natural sciences at SMU. Undergraduate students who intend to go into biological research can apply for the BRITE (Biomedical Researchers in Training Experience) program, a collaboration between SMU and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and leads to acceptance into a UT Southwestern Ph.D. program.

Orr believes the Biological Sciences Department is on the verge of a leap forward in size and stature. Administrative support to boost research has come from Provost Paul Ludden, whose background is in biochemistry. Current research projects in the department are supported by $4.3 million from agencies that include the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association.

Orr’s dream for the department is to double the current tenured and tenure-track faculty to 18 members. Of the nine, seven conduct ongoing research projects, five of which are funded by federal agencies. The department will add an assistant professor in spring 2009. Later that year, a national search will be conducted to fill the new Distinguished Chair of Biological Sciences. Although the department is small, a synergy has developed from building a faculty that is focused on cellular and molecular biochemistry, Orr says. Researchers can work together on projects, brainstorming ideas for new areas of investigation. More grants can be applied for, which means more grants awarded. “We have a strong group that is focused on certain areas. By adding new faculty we will be able to boost the overall stature of the department,” Orr says. “If we increase the academic stature and the amount of research, we can provide more opportunities for graduate students and for undergraduates. It all works together.”