You’ve met me, now meet my work
Last post I introduced myself, and now I want to introduce the research I am involved with. The general goal of the research is to further our understanding of a group of enzymes known as catechol dioxygenases for the purpose of breaking down environmental pollutants and replacing/supplementing industrial chemical production processes. This will be done by testing a variety of catechols with a select library of dioxygenase enzymes in order to demonstrate and evaluate the enzymes’ ability to break down the catechols. Catechols are molecules that are hazardous to environmental life. They don’t break down readily building up in the environment and will eventually be ingested where they can cause adverse health effects. They are also waste material that is generated by some industrial processes. The societal shift toward sustainability means that we need to develop more and better ways to produce the chemicals we use every day in a manner that does not lead to large amounts of waste while also finding ways to clean up the hazardous waste that is already present. This project is a small step toward that.
Pictured above: shows completed reaction of three separate catechols with the same enzyme.
A brief breakdown
Research is often a collaborative effort whether it is interdisciplinary or not. The project I am working on is no exception; I work with five other undergrads and the faculty in charge of the project. While our work is done individually, it serves to advance the goal of the project as a whole and some parts help direct the research of others. The faculty person in charge of the project, whom I will refer to as Dr. Doyon going forward, oversees the project. Dr. Doyon assists us by providing the training required to perform our research tasks, such as running the instruments, performing experiments, and analyzing the data. My role has been to test on a large scale (with more of), catechols that have been shown to be broken down by a dioxygenase enzyme on a small scale. The small-scale testing is performed by other members of the group and by selecting only those enzymes and catechols that show good results we can save on both material resources and time. The purpose of the large-scale tests is to see if the concentrations of either the catechol or enzyme dramatically change how the reactions happen while demonstrating the enzyme’s ability to work at a scale that is more relevant to the general goal of the project.
Example of a small-scale reaction of the same enzyme with different catechols.
Getting involved
By now you might be wondering how I got involved in this project and maybe you want to be involved in a research project. Starting in my first semester I talked to each of my professors from my science courses to let them know I was interested in getting involved with research. These conversations led to my being introduced to the various research projects that were going on. Eventually resulting in me meeting Dr. Doyon, a newly hired associate professor who wanted to start a research project that I was very much interested in doing. I was able to join his research group and thanks to the McNair program I am able to spread my love of research to all of you reading this!
Pictured from left to right: Devin (Me), Dr. Doyon, Grace, and Jess. Two of my fellow lab partners and I with our research mentor at the ACS banquet.
Comments