fall 2007 An Eye to the Future Advances in imaging are accelerating the pace of biological discovery. A new cellular imaging initiative at the University has researchers seeing small and thinking big. story on page 8 p r o f i l e s college News c l a s s N o t e s from the dean Where curiosity- and solution- driven science meet ome scientists are driven by a curiosity to under- As a curiosity-driven college, it’s CBS’ job to keep S stand how life works—from molecules to eco- adding to the foundation of knowledge that supports systems—and to add to the world’s collective body of translational and solution-driven science in other col- knowledge. Others are searching for a puzzle piece leges. As such, we are the stewards of the foundational that may yield a better way to treat cancer, produce disciplines in the biological sciences: biochemistry, food or create renewable forms of energy. molecular biology, genetics, cell biology and develop- ment, ecology, plant biology, etc. Both are essential, and there is plenty of overlap Robert Elde, Dean between the two. Curiosity-driven research often turns In order to keep fueling translational and solution- up a bit of information that has immediate applications driven research, we need to infuse foundational disci- in medicine, agriculture or engineering. By the same plines with new technologies and other opportunities token, solution-driven research can add to knowledge. as science evolves. And some scientists travel between these two worlds. Fall 07 Vol. 5 No. 3 Cellular imaging, the subject of our cover story, is one As a whole, College of Biological Sciences faculty of those opportunities. Until now, scientists, whether Robert Elde Dean engage in curiosity-driven research, although many driven by curiosity or the desire to find a better way Robin Wright individuals pursue solutions. And sometimes a curios- to treat cancer, have been limited by the available Associate Dean ity-driven scientist can be lured to the other side by technology to see what’s happening in a cell. Advances Huber Warner the right problem. An example is when David Tilman in imaging technology are beginning to change that Associate Dean applied his research on biodiversity to renewable in a big way. In fact, these advances could have an Elizabeth Wroblewski Chief Administrative Officer energy, proposing the use of mixed prairie grasses to impact comparable to sequencing the human genome. Peggy Rinard make ethanol. The Initiative for Renewable Energy and It’s important for the University of Minnesota to make Communications Director the Environment has turned many curious scientists investments now in order to play a role in shaping this Stephanie Xenos Senior Editor into solution seekers. new technology. Jack El-Hai Not surprisingly, the Academic Health Center, the Mary Hoff Stephanie Xenos College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Writers Sciences, and the engineering disciplines in the Shawn Welch Institute of Technology are focused on translational Robert Elde, Dean Graphic Designer and solution-driven science. College of Biological Sciences Tim Rummelhoff [email protected] Photographer Laurie Hennen Development Director Jean Marie Lindquist Administrative Assistant U of M Printing Services Printing Visit our Web site at www.cbs.umn.edu For address changes, please contact Jean Marie Lindquist at [email protected] or 612-625-7705. c o ll e g e o F b i o L o g i c a L s c i e n c e s table of contents Cover Story Seeing Small, Thinking Big Cellular imaging technology is offering revolutionary new ways of looking at living things. A new initiative aims to position the University of Minnesota on the cutting edge. page 8 Cellular imaging gives researchers a close up look at a range of cell types including neurons (pictured). In Every Issue Features Abstracts 2 Animal Behavior 6 Nitrate in Lake Superior up | Rainforest insect of frog and man populations diverse, widespread | Goodall Structural Biology 7 research contributes to chimp conservation a new iron age Around the College 4 Genetics 12 Discovery Grants go to 10 CBS faculty | CBS autism up close students among first responders after 35W bridge Molecular Biology 13 collapse | Cedar Creek renamed | Robert the mechanics of obesity Solving the "Cocktail Party Problem" 6 Sterner appointed to NSF for two-year term | Ecology 14 Legislature renews IREE funding explaining variations in the carbon cycle Giving Back 17 Alumni Profile 15 Be a part of Cedar Creek’s next chapter grin and bear it Alumni News 17 Student Life 16 Class notes mixing health and Hamlet Back Page 22 Donor Honor Roll 19 Why are robins’ eggs blue? The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation. Printed on elementally chlorine-free recycled paper containing 20 percent post-consumer waste. Carbon count 14 cover photo by Tim Rummelhoff BIO is published twice a year by the University of Minnesota college of biological sciences for alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the college. it is available in alternative formats upon request; please call 612-624-8723 or fax 612-624-2785. b i o ❚ F a ll 0 7 a b s t r a c t s Rainforest insect species Nitrate in Lake lead author Robert Sterner, profes- diverse and widespread sor of ecology, evolution and behavior. (nature | 8.9.07) Superior increases “We cannot easily or quickly reverse (geophysical Research trends in this enormous lake.” Letters | 5.31.07) Nitrate levels in Lake Superior, on Discovery may reduce the rise over the past century, are almost three percent of the way need for fertilizers toward making the water unsafe (science | 6.1.07) to drink, according to a study by Soybeans and other legumes “fix” University of Minnesota research- their own nitrogen through a symbi- ers. The level of nitrate, which is otic relationship between produced by agricultural fertilizer roots and soil and fossil fuel combustion, has b a c t e r i a , increased in Lake Superior reducing about five-fold since the the need Papua New Guinea rainforest earliest measurements for nitro- in 1906. gen fertiliz- ers. Professor An international team of scientists tropics, communities of insect spe- Small amounts of nitrate are Michael Sadowsky o f t h e that includes George Weiblen, asso- cies did not change much from place harmless, but too much can reduce BioTechnology Institute has made ciate professor in the Department of to place, even over hundreds of kilo- oxygen levels in blood, which poses a a discovery about that relationship, Plant Biology, has learned that the meters and complex geological ter- risk to infants and children or adults which could yield farming practices same insect species and their food rain. “Our most significant finding is with lung or cardiovascular disease. that are better for the environment. plants are broadly distributed across that most lowland rainforest insects Long-term exposure to nitrate has a vast lowland rainforest on the island in New Guinea are not narrowly dis- also been linked to cancer. “We’re Using genome sequencing, Sadowsky of New Guinea. The finding challenges tributed eaters of specific plants as still a long way from drinking water and his colleagues found that some the dogma that tropical insect diversi- previously thought,” says Weiblen, advisories based on nitrate for Lake bacteria have alternate ways of ty changes dramatically from place to “but are rather widespread eaters of Superior, but it’s not too early to give entering and communicating with place. “Rainforest explorers have long widespread groups of plants.” this situation more attention,” says the legume plants; they enter the pondered how the cornucopia of tropi- plant through the cracks between its cal biodiversity is distributed,” says main stem and branches as well as Weiblen, lead principle investigator through cracks in the roots. on the National Science Foundation “This is a new paradigm; it tells us grant that funded the bulk of the that bacteria have learned several study. “Our study shows that insect ways to interact with their host plants species often occupy vast areas of in order for nitrogen fixation to hap- tropical forest such that communities pen,” Sadowsky says. “This gives us of species don’t change much from basic information we can use to tailor place to place.” the interaction between bacteria and The group studied 500 insect spe- plants.” The study is co-authored cies across 75,000 square kilometers by scientists from several French of rainforest in Papua New Guinea. laboratories, the U.S. Department of Although species diversity was Energy and the National Center for Lake Superior extremely high, as expected in the Soybean Biotechnology. 2 c o ll e g e o F b i o L o g i c a L s c i e n c e s a b s t r a c t s Chimpanzees at Gombe National Park in Tanzania “Understanding the linkages between the internal and external electrical wiring of microorganisms will provide powerful tools for the future of green chemistry.” —Daniel Bond, assistant professor Microbes promise gases. Led by Clarence Lehman the project includes University research- greener chemistry ers David Tilman, John Nieber, Jared Chimp conservation Lithium could treat Assistant professors Daniel Bond and Trost and Troy Mielke. tied to Gombe research degenerative disease Jeffrey Gralnick of the BioTechnology Institute have received a $100,000 (conservation biology | 6.07) (PLos Medicine | 5.29.07) award from the Cargill Higher Anne Pusey, professor of ecology, Lithium, a drug used for decades to Education Partnership Initiative to The making evolution and behavior, is co-author, treat bipolar disorder, may be useful collaborate on a microbial biocataly- of a male along with Jane Goodall, Lilian for treating spinocerebellar ataxia, sis study.