Quality of undergraduate science research recognised
Research by three Victoria University of Wellington undergraduate students has been published in Biotechnology Letters, a highly ranked international peer-reviewed journal.
Research by three Victoria University of Wellington undergraduate students has been published in Biotechnology Letters, a highly ranked international peer-reviewed journal.“Directed evolution is a method of enzyme improvement in which a gene is randomly mutated and a large number of gene variants are produced,” says Madeleine. “Testing the slightly different enzymes encoded by these variants requires cloning them into bacterial cells and screening for the desired activity.”
Kate adds that many directed evolution studies expend unnecessary effort testing cells that have not received a gene variant at all. “Our system allows us to produce bacteria where 100 percent of cells contain the gene of interest,” she says.
Jack explains that this allows the team to test the activity of each slightly different enzyme in the most efficient manner possible. “Achieving this is of great value because we don't want to waste time and resources screening bacteria that aren't doing what we want them to.”
The original idea for this work was developed by Victoria PhD graduate Dr Gareth Prosser. Jack, Madeleine and Kate performed the key proof-of-concept experiments to validate Dr Prosser’s idea under the supervision of Dr David Ackerley, Biotechnology Programme Director, and Dr Elsie Williams, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Biological Sciences.
“It is rare for undergraduate research to be published at all, let alone in a well-regarded journal like Biotechnology Letters,” says Dr Ackerley. “Kate, Jack and Madeleine worked hard and intelligently on this project, and really deserve their success.”
The paper can be viewed online here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10529-014-1673-4