Bard students participate in international science competition
By J.p. Lawrence
It’s very easy for the scientifically illiterate to look foolish in the presence of scientists who know what they’re doing.
Which is why, as I sit across the table from Eric Reed, a sophomore, and Yi Liu, a junior, frantically doodling on a notepad in Bard’s Reem-Kayden Center, I continually ask them for a metaphor that explains their project in a simple manner to my little pop-cultured brainbox.
“Is it,” I venture, “like a straw?”
I know I don’t quite have it when the two budding Bard science students smile at me as if I just asked them how the sky works.
Liu, a chemistry and biology major, and Reed, a chemistry major, are two of the most concrete people you’ll meet. Over the last half-year, they have been modifying the genomes of living bacteria from parts they received in a box.
Then, while their peers occupied streets and knocked down their parent’s doors, Liu, Reed, and their advisers Swapan Jain and Chris LaFratta, traveled to Indianapolis to participate in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition over fall break.
This is the first time Bard has sponsored and sent a team to the iGEM competition, which sends a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer to undergraduate students from countries all over the world.
Those students modify the cells to accomplish a certain task, and then travel to Indianapolis to present their findings to conference rooms filled with their peers.
Liu said he heard of the competition last year. After pitching the idea to the chemistry department, Liu began work on the project over the summer while working with Reed at the Bard Summer Research Institute.
Liu and Reed worked with the genome of the bacteria e coli. Since the bacteria’s DNA is perpetually accessible, the bacteria often hooks up with stray DNA it’s introduced to. After taking in genetic material, e coli can then be tricked out to glow in the dark or enslave humanity.
In order to do start this process, Liu and Reed heated a batch of e coli. and then mixed them with the plasmids in a test tube. They then put the bacteria into a micro fluidic device, which is like a tiny, tiny, test tube, just big enough for one bacterium to squeeze through. Then, they tested if the bacteria would talk to each other.
Drawing from research indicating that bacteria send molecules as signals to each other, the duo fixed the bacteria in place at either end of the tube. They then pushed fluid through. If the bacteria sent signals to each other, the whole shebang would glow in the dark. Because the tube is too small for outside material to squeeze in, the impromptu e coli barn rave indicates that yes, sometimes bacteria get lonely, and just want to talk.
The possibilities are groundbreaking, said Liu. “We are trying to do this basically as a new way of communication, but also as a way of controlling bacteria,” he said. “They are really cheap to make and have a lot of potential.”
Liu said other groups are using this type of research to detect AIDS in Africa, and that while their project does not have much applied purpose, others may use it as a stepping-stone for bigger and better things.
In fact, Reed said, they met other students working on similar research at the competition in Indianapolis, where they presented their work but did not advance.
The duo said they are already planning for next year’s competition, and they hope to compete next year with more members, as they were outgunned in Indianapolis by teams 25 members in size. Liu and Reed said anyone can speak to them if they want to join.
I write this down in my notepad. And then with a flash, I get it. My little epiphany. My understanding of their project.
“So, it’s like you’ve got a narrow hallway,” I offer, “with smelly men who block the doors on either side. And then you’re blowing fans through and seeing if they smell each other?”
The two look at each other. “Yeah, that’s about right.”
I doodle the word, “success!”
Perhaps – perhaps – there’s a chance for my scientifically silly brain after all.