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Upcoming Events Monthly Profiles Happenings at IGB Image of the Month IP @ IGB Administrative News Upcoming Events Image Of The Month IGB Monthly Profiles NEWS IP @ IGB Happenings at IGB Administrative News Volume 7, Number 1 UPCOMING EVENTS FEATURED NEWS IMAGE OF THE MONTH Institute for Universal Biology 2 (IUB) - NASA Astrobiology Institute Seminar Lecture Series The Art of Yellowstone Science: Mammoth Hot Springs as a Window on Evolutionary Processes February 14, 2014, 12:00 p.m. 612 Institute for Genomic Biology Genomics for Judges: Bruce W. Fouke Educating Judges on DNA Director, Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center Departments of Geology & Microbiology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 3 IGB Seminar (BCXT) Chemical Disequilibrium, Hydrothermal Vents, and the Origin of Metabolism February 18, 2014, 12:00 p.m. 612 Institute for Genomic Biology Laurie M. Barge, PhD Profile: Jet Propulsion Laboratory May Berenbaum California Institute of Technology The Center for Advanced Study 4 Twenty-Third Annual Lecture Me to We: Searching for the Genetic Roots of Sociality February 19, 2014, 7:30 p.m. This month’s image, “Laser Capture Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum and Microdissection of Sorghum Roots,” shows root tips of sorghum plants treated Gene E. Robinson with aluminum. Researchers used lasers Director, Institute for Genomic Biology Microbes Dominate Deep to dissect out specific types of cells and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Sandstone Formations tissues in treated plants in order to study the plant’s response to toxicity. IGB Seminar (ReBTE) This image was created using the Veritas 5 laser capture microdissection and laser Engineered Microenvironments for Probing cutting system, and is provided courtesy Cell Fate Decisions of Mayandi Sivaguru of Core Facilities. February 25, 2014, 12:00 p.m. 612 Institute for Genomic Biology Gregory H. Underhill, PhD IGB News Assistant Professor, Bioengineering Share your news with the IGB. Send University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign On the Grid: ideas on stories, articles, and features to Happenings at IGB [email protected]. FEATURE Genomics for Judges: Educating Illinois Judges on DNA and Genetics Genomic research will eventually uncover a com- the College of Law. The program capitalized on means that the gap between current knowledge and plete picture of how our genetic information, acting the IGB’s record of public education and depth of the biology that most adults learned in high school in concert with our experiences, influences our be- expertise in both basic genomics research and the or college courses is continually increasing. Con- havior, our risk for disease, and our responsiveness impact of genomics on society. The seminar includ- tinuing education courses such as the Genomics to medical treatments. These are all subjects of great ed presentations by internationally renowned scien- for Judges program provide an opportunity to close academic and personal interest, but what happens tists and legal experts from the University of Illinois that gap. This can be crucial to judges’ ability to when they are connected to a question of legality? and other major institutions, as well as Gina Kolata, understand and interpret evidence and testimony When considering whether an individual’s genetic a New York Times science journalist. heard in the courtroom. “We can only make deci- inheritance can be blamed for criminal behavior, or sions about a case based on the evidence that we Forty-eight judges and justices from around Illinois how information on disease predisposition should hear in the courtroom,” said Hon. Kathleen Kauff- were immersed in a rich scientific experience that be used, who is qualified to testify, and what kinds man, Illinois Judge and a member of the Committee included the structure and function of DNA, how of knowledge are needed to make sound judicial on Education. “So these kinds of programs are re- decisions? ally important because they can give us some back- (above) Hon. Heinz Rudolf ground information.” The Supreme Court of Illinois and its Administra- working in the IGB lab, extracting tive Office of the Illinois Courts, in coordination Hon. Heinz Rudolf, an Illinois Judge, member of with members of the Illinois Judicial Conference DNA during one of the the Committee on Education, and a Fellow in the Committee on Education, appointed by the Su- exercises during the seminar. Advanced Science & Technology Adjudication Re- preme Court, are responsible for facilitating educa- source Center (ASTAR), a program that provides tional resources for Illinois judges, including those gene function is influenced by the environment, science and technology training for judges, acted pertaining to sciences in the law. The Institute for and how genome sequences are analyzed. Other as discussion facilitator during the Genomics for Genomic Biology (IGB) at the University of Illi- sessions explored intersections between genomics Judges seminar. Judge Rudolf highlighted the im- nois had the unique opportunity to work with the and legal issues, including the patentability of ge- portance of a judicial education course focused on AOIC in offering a new seminar, “Genomics forTM nomic technologies, the relationship between ge- genomics. “As technology and our society evolves, Judges,” that was designed to prepare judges to grap- netics and criminal behavior, and the accuracy and we know science is going to be more and more prev- ple with legal questions involving DNA sequencing admissibility of DNA evidence. As part of a simu- alent in our courtroom and we as judges need to be and analysis, as well as related technologies, in the lated exercise, judges were given the opportunity to prepared.” courts today and in the future. work in a lab and to extract DNA from strawberries. Hon. Scott Shore, Illinois Judge, and also a member The full agenda for the seminar can be viewed at The two-day course, held at the IGB on the Urba- of the Committee on Education, agreed: “I believe http://bit.ly/M60a6N. na-Champaign campus, was also supported by the that genomics will have a large impact on us in our Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and The rapid pace of progress in genomic biology daily lives, in our national lives . why not be in- IGB News February 2014 // 2 FEATURE cont. terested in the field?” he said. “What fascinated me content of the course. “When the seminar became room will continue to grow. The success of the Ge- about the field of genetics is the potential that it has available, I ran to my chief judge and I said I want to nomics for Judges program has already prompted for impact on the law, and the law will also impact do this!” said Hon. Susan Tungate, Illinois Judge, “. plans to address the need for genomics education genetics.” . there were a lot of judges who felt that way.” by offering the seminar on a regular basis. The level of enthusiasm among the attendees was As DNA sequencing and other biotechnologies Written by Claudia Lutz. Photo by Kathryn Coulter. high, and many asked insightful questions of the advance, the rate of new developments in genomic presenters and expressed their excitement about the biology and its impact on society and in the court- PROFILE May Berenbaum serves as professor and head of the Department of Entomology, is the author of several books, and the organizer of the Insect Fear Film Festival. May Berenbaum: Ecologist By Training, Entomologist By Trade May Berenbaum studies how insects eat plants. has managed to colonize just about every nut tree particular crop?” she said. “How do you find it? in California. It’s a major pest for almonds, walnuts, How do you get there? How do you deal with new, “Insects that eat crop plants cause, globally, billions pistachios, figs, pomegranates, citrus, and other entirely different ecological communities?” of dollars worth of economic losses and create mas- plants. sive food instability,” said Berenbaum, professor and Berenbaum has been trying to answer some of these head of the Department of Entomology. “If food “How does this insect manage to process the tre- questions about parsnip webworms since her doc- stability and sustainability are desirable economic mendous diversity of phytochemicals in these un- toral thesis. She earned her doctorate in ecology and goals then it’s really important to understand the ba- related plant families?” Berenbaum asks. “How can evolutionary biology from Cornell University and sic components that underlie interactions between it overcome these chemical challenges in a relatively before that graduated summa cum laude from Yale plants and insects.” short amount of time, as pistachios were not grown University with a bachelor’s degree in biology. in California until the 1970s? Why did it leave its By understanding the basic principles by which a In 1980, two weeks after she finished her thesis, she native leguminous hosts to prey upon this unusual plant-feeding insect finds host plants, overcomes began working at the University of Illinois. She be- and phytochemically-challenging tree?” host plant defenses, and ultimately goes about its came a professor in 1990 and began serving as the life, researchers will have newfound insight into It’s not just a matter of how many plants a bug eats. head of the Department of Entomology in 1992. managing many crop pests. Berenbaum is equally impressed with the type of Today she is also a member of the Genomic Ecol- plant an insect will consume. ogy of Global Change research theme at the IGB. “How insects eat plants can be addressed at the molecular level by examining the genes that encode Take the parsnip webworm for example. Among many awards and honors, Berenbaum the enzymes that metabolize toxins all the way up has received the Presidential Young Investigators’ “Here is an insect that is native to Europe that feeds to the landscape level where we have examined how Award and the Tyler Award for Environmental on just a handful of plants that are all closely relat- plant-insect interactions have helped shape com- Achievement, and has been named a University ed,” Berenbaum said.
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