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Incoming students to the University of Maine’s Honors College will have the opportunity to conduct genomic research on bacteriophages — viruses that destroy bacterial cells — that are found in soil.
The program, the National Genomics Research Initiative, is part of the Science Education Alliance and is run by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The Science Education Alliance was founded in 2007 and “seeks to enhance scientific education and increase the numbers of scientists produced in the United States by serving as a national resource for the development and distribution of new materials and methods to the education community while supporting networks of educators working on similar projects,” according to hhmi.org.
The HHMI was chartered in Dec. 17, 1953. According to the institute’s charter, Hughes provided for its establishment in order to support “the promotion of human knowledge within the field of basic sciences — principally the field of medical research and medical education — and the effective application thereof for the benefit of mankind.”
The year-long program will be housed by the Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, located in Hitchner Hall. Students will use an electron microscope to identify bacteriophages they find in the dirt.
UMaine owns one scanning electron microscope and two transmission electron microscopes. Both types use light beneath a sample to provide researchers with bright, crisp images of their bacteriophages.
Microscopic images of bacteriophages reveal a variety of structures. Some are angular and elongated with multiple appendages, reminiscent of the Martian tripods in H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds.” Others are simpler, such as those that are rod-shaped or spherical.
Bacteriophages adhere to the outer walls of bacterial cells as parasites. Their DNA is replicated using the bacterial cell’s energy stores, allowing for the replication of the bacteriophages.
“The National Genomics Research Initiative is a tremendously exciting opportunity for our first-year students to engage in authentic scientific research, perfecting in keeping with the Honors College mission of igniting a passion for learning,” Charlie Slavin, dean of the Honors College, was quoted as saying in a university press release Jan. 28. “UMaine students and faculty members will collaborate across campus and across the country in an enterprise with local and global impact.”
In the first semester of the project, students will identify bacteriophages and their characteristics. While the students are on break between semesters, the bacteriophages’ DNA will be sequenced by an outside lab. In the second semester, students will use the genomes they receive to conduct studies of their bacteriophages. By the end of the year, students will have analyzed their phages and will present their research at a national conference.
“UMaine has an enormous opportunity to provide outreach to the other institutions because we have the needed infrastructure, starting with having the facilities to support a microbiology degree program,” Keith Hutchison, professor of biochemistry and microbiology, said in the press release. “I believe that this program can serve as a model for establishing both teaching and research collaborations between the educational institutions, including those within the UMaine System and beyond.”
Students at 25 other institutions, including Brown University and Providence College, will conduct the same research program. The University of Maine System campuses in Fort Kent and Machias were also selected to participate in the program. All three University of Maine System campuses were selected to be associate members of the program, meaning they will only receive partial funding from the HHMI whereas full members receive full funding.
It is unclear how many students will be able to participate in the program at UMaine or if there are any degree or program requirements for interested students.
