Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
A Race Against Time: Deciphering Evolution And Describing New Species Of Threatened Tropical Stick Insects (Phasmatodea), Michael F. Whiting
A Race Against Time: Deciphering Evolution And Describing New Species Of Threatened Tropical Stick Insects (Phasmatodea), Michael F. Whiting
Journal of Undergraduate Research
Funding was received in 2016 to support mentored research into the phylogeny and evolution of stick insects. Specific goals include providing students with scientific design experience, field-based research experience, collections-based experience, molecular lab experience, bioinformatics experience, and experience in presentation at national meetings and publication in peer reviewed journals. One particular focus was to describe new stick insect species, but it became clear very quickly that the phylogeny portion of this work was essential before any new species could be described, so we concentrated our efforts on stick insect phylogeny. The following is a brief summary of accomplishments.
Guided Evolution To Expand The Host Range In Phages, Jamison Walker, Sandra Hope
Guided Evolution To Expand The Host Range In Phages, Jamison Walker, Sandra Hope
Journal of Undergraduate Research
My project proposal included the use of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection to determine if genetic mutations will arise in Bacteriophages that would allow them to infect related strains in a species of bacteria. Bacteriophages naturally have a target host range that they can infect. Within species of bacteria, the phage has tail receptors that allow it to infect specific strains. The other strains of the bacteria will be unaffected by the phage. In phage therapy, multiple phages with varied host ranges are chosen to combat this problem. Some phages are more effective than others in killing a …