19 April 2011
Posted in Cosmic Golf Challenge

An Eagle for Astronomy? A Bogey for Biology?

28th Annual Bright House Networks Cosmic Golf Challenge

More than 200 golfers scrambled for science by participating in the 28th Annual Cosmic Golf Challenge at ChampionsGate Golf Resort on April 7. Sponsored by Bright House Networks and Cisco Systems, the event raised funds for educational programs at the Orlando Science Center.

Various corporate teams and individual players came together to putt for progress during 18 holes of best ball tournament play on two separate courses. Hole sponsors, buying “mulligans” and raffle prizes also generated revenue. Don Reid Ford and Mullinax Ford donated cars for hole-in-one prizes on each course. Players enjoyed lunch, dinner, an awards ceremony, drawings, contests and prizes.

University of Central Florida’s Head Football Coach George O’Leary addressed the golfers at the awards dinner that following the tournament. As UCF’s head football coach for the past seven years, O’Leary has seen the Knights through several historical “firsts” and an abundance of victories. He spoke about the importance of education and its relationship to sports.

For almost three decades, Bright House Networks has helped raise vital funds for the Orlando Science Center. Participation in this event supports education programs that encourage children to explore the world around them through science.

Unique hands-on learning takes place within and outside the Science Center’s walls for youth of all ages. Live programming and exhibit experiences spark a child’s curiosity and encourage them to see the impact science, technology, engineering and math have on their life and future career opportunities.

Written by Stephanie Kazmierzak-Esler | 04 May 2011
Posted in DNA Day

DNA Day is getting closer! After a wonderful recent Earth Day Celebration, I thought it would be appropriate to focus on one of our DNA Day speakers who works with plants. Dr. Henry Daniell of the University of Central Florida has done a number of amazing things with plants by effecting certain areas of their DNA.

One of the more recent mind-blowing projects he’s been working on is getting lettuce to produce insulin. In a Los Angeles new story, (see link below), he described his work as follows:

"This is genetically-modified lettuce," Dr. Daniell explained to Ivanhoe. "Every single cell in the lettuce leaf contains 10,000 copies of this insulin gene." The lettuce can be ground up and made into a powdered capsule. The lettuce plant cells help the insulin reach the intestine. Once the plant cells get there, bacteria slowly break down the cell walls and gradually release insulin into the bloodstream. This creates an immune response in the body and teaches it to release its own insulin. "It is the same insulin that is injected, but here what we are doing is instead of injecting it in the blood system, we are presenting it to the immune cells and then asking the immune cells to see that this is your own protein," Dr. Daniell said. "What we have done is to teach the body how to cure this disorder. This is a totally new concept, a new platform to use this oral delivery system to fix this immune disorder."

Dr Daniell has also worked on increasing the immunity of plants to certain pests and using the ‘lettuce method’ to create vaccines against other diseases.

We are happy to have Dr. Daniell as one of our speakers for DNA Day. If you would like to meet him in person and ask him of few of your own questions, feel free to drop by the Science Center on May 7, our DNA Day. If you would like to learn more about Dr. Daniell at home, check out his UCF website:

Here's a look at the original Los Angeles ABC 7 news story:

Stephanie is a Science Interpreter at the Science Center and often is found in DinoDigs or Careers for Life. Paleontology, Anthropology and Anatomy are her passion and jumps at every opportunity to talk about it. Stop in and say Hello!

04 May 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Create your own DNA replicated bracelet from real bacteria, food or even humans! Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the name for the molecule that carries genetic instructions in ALL living things – from bacteria, to plants, to animals, to human beings. DNA is made up for four types of chemical building blocks called nucleotides:

• Adenine A
• Thymine T
• Cytosine C
• Guanine G

To understand that all living things have their own unique DNA sequence made up of the four nucleotides- make a bracelet using color beads that represent one of the nucleotides. Below are nucleotides from real DNA sequence of an organism.

Materials Needs:

• Elastic cord
• Beads (4 colors)
• Scissors
• DNA sequence of an organism

Instructions:

1. Gather your materials and choose a DNA sequence of an organism listed below.
2. Write down the name of the organism you choose.
3. Write down each nucleotide (A, C, T, G) and write down the color bead you want to use for each nucleotide. For example, if you have a blue bead and you want to use if for “Guanine,” then “G” will always be blue.
4. Look at your organism’s DNA sequence and choose a 15-letter section of sequence. Write that DNA sequence next the name of your organism.
5. Tie a loose double knot on one end of the elastic about 1 inch from the top.
6. Start beading your bracelet. The first bead that you place on the elastic will correspond to the first letter of your DNA sequence. You will continue adding beads corresponding to the sequence until you have put all 15 beads on the elastic.
7. Tie a double knot at the other end of the elastic and leave about an inch or so of elastic on the end after the knot. .
8. Lastly, tie the two ends together to form your wrist bracelet and cut away any excess elastic.

Organisms:

Fun fact: Humans have approximately 400 genes that make olfactory receptors, which contribute to a person’s sense of smell.

Olfactory receptor Gene: atgctgggtccagct, tacaaccacacaatg

2. Fragaria x ananassa (Strawberry)

Fun fact: Strawberries have up to eight copies of each chromosome (octoploid genome). Humans have two copies of each chromosome (diploid genome)

Ripening Gene: atgggaggacacaat, ctagtcttgattatc

Fun fact: The dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf.

Muscle Development Gene: atgcagagactgcaa, atctgtgtttatatt

29 April 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Dr. W. Richard McCombie is a Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. He is an acknowledged leader and innovator in the development and application of genome sequencing technologies.  Dr. McCombie received his B.A. in Biology from Wabash College, his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Microbiology Department of the University of Texas (Austin). He worked in the area of yeast gene expression at Phillips Petroleum, and was a Senior Staff Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where he was the leader of one of the first groups to carry out large-scale automated sequencing of genomic DNA and helped to organize the first large-scale EST (expressed sequence tag) sequencing project.

As director of CSHL’s Lita Annenberg Hazen Genome Sequencing Center, he led the effort to perform high-throughput sequencing of several organisms, including the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the fission yeast S. pombe, and homo sapiens.

Dr. McCombie and colleagues are currently applying Next Generation sequencing technology to determine variation in the genomes, transcriptomes and epigenomes of animals and plants.  His team has introduced software for the Next Generation sequencing instruments that promise to generate upwards of 600 billion bases of raw sequence data per run.  These sequencers are devoted to a task called resequencing, which aims to find important points of sequence variation among individuals. This information can be marshalled in the search for causation in complex diseases ranging from cancer to neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and autism.

When not busy reading genome sequences, Dr. McCombie turns to science fiction for entertainment.

29 April 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Dr. Emily Hodges earned a B.A. in Biology from Rhodes College in 1998 and a Ph.D. from the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden) in 2006 with a concentration in Functional Genomics. As a postdoctoral fellow in the research group led by Dr. Gregory Hannon at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Dr. Hodgesdeveloped applications for next generation, high- throughput sequencing, including techniques to isolate, or “capture,” specific regions of the human genome and sequence just these regions. These techniques have made it possible to accurately sequence the complete genome of Neandertals and use it to answer questions about human evolution.

The applications that Dr. Hodges helped develop are also being used for genetic profiling of human disease. Currently a research investigator, herresearch focuses on DNA methylation, a chemical modification of DNA that prevents genes from being switched on. She is studying how this so-called epigenetic modification of DNA, which can be inherited, influences an organism’s development, particularly the maintenance of stem cells and how they change as tissues grow.

When she’s not in the laboratory, you can find Dr. Hodges performing as the lead singer of the Long Island band Jellyfish Explosion & Friends.

29 April 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Dr. Doreen Ware is a Computational Biologist in the Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, with an adjunct appointment as an associate professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.  Dr. Ware earned a Ph.D. in Plant Biology, from The Ohio State University and a B.A. in Biochemistry from University of California, San Diego. When she’s not working, Dr. Ware enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, dancing, and relaxing at the beach.

Research in the Ware lab focuses on understanding genome organization and evolution, to characterize, track and ultimately identify DNA sequences associated with agronomically important traits. Her teamuses multi-disciplinary approaches that combine genetic, genomic and computational analysis. The research supports the implementation and development of bioinformatic tools and standards, including public websites, analysis methods and controlled vocabularies of general value to the broader genomic and agronomic communities.

The plant genomes studied include agronomically important grass genomes, as well as the model plant Arabidopsis. Grasses are responsible for a large part of the world's caloric intake, as either animal feed or human consumption, and more recently have become commodities for renewable energy production. Research in the Ware lab contributes to a foundation of knowledge for future agricultural security.

29 April 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Dr. Wheeler is Division Chief, Division of Genetics, Department of Pediatrics at Nemours Children’s Hospital.  She is a graduated of the Indiana University School of Medicine.  She interned  and served her residency in pediatrics at Riley Hospital for Children  at Indian University.  Her areas of expertise include:

• Cycstic Fibrosis
• Down Syndrome
• Genertice Disorders
• Metabolism
• Skeletal Dysplasia

She is currently with the new Nemours Childrens Hospital being constructed at Lake Nona, Florida

29 April 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Dr. Henry Daniell has served on the faculty of Washington State University, University of Idaho Auburn University and the University of Central Florida (as Pegasus Professor & Trustee Chair). He is currently with the UCF Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences. His areas on research interest include DNA replication in chloroplast and mitochondria, identification of new genes in organelle genomes, promiscuous DNA and their evolutionary significance, maternal inheritance, transgene containment, photosynthesis (Rubisco, electron transport), chlorophyll biosynthesis, chloroplast development, in organello protein synthesis, transcription, RNA processing, RNA stability, translation, protein import, proteolysis and regulation of these processes.

He pioneered the chloroplast genetic engineering approach in the 1980s and advanced this concept to confer useful agronomic traits (for herbicide, insect, disease resistance, drought & salt tolerance, photoremediation, cytoplasmic male sterility, etc.) and to express biomaterials (e.g. biopolymers) in transgenic plants. He has extended this technology to major crops, including cotton. Most important are his contributions to human medicine, for which he has engineered transgenic plants that produce pharmaceuticals to treat diabetes and hepatitis, as well as vaccines for anthrax, plague, cholera, and other bioterrorism agents. He is currently developing an additional arm to his technology that will enable therapeutic proteins to be administered orally, being able to deliver an effective inoculation to widespread communities.

Dr. Daniell has published over 150 research articles which are cited in the scientific literature over 1500 times. His research has been featured in the national and international press (e.g. New York Times and Scientific American), highlighted by top scientific journals (e.g. Science and Nature), and featured by several major television networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN).

29 April 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Dr. Susan Vadaparampil received a B.S. and M.H.S.E. in Health Science Education from the University of Florida, an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University with an emphasis in Epidemiology and a Ph.D. in Health Behavior from Indiana University in 2000. In 2003, Dr. Vadaparampil joined the Department of Oncologic Sciences at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and the Health Outcomes and Behavior Program at Moffitt Cancer Center.

Over the past several years, she has developed a research program focused on understanding the psychosocial and behavioral impact of genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. She has published over 70 peer reviewed articles in peer reviewed journals. organizations including the American Cancer Society and National Institutes of Health.

At the community level, Dr. Vadaparampil co-founded the Breast Cancer Genetics, Research, Education, and Advocacy Team (B-GREAT), a community and academic partnership focused on Black women at increased risk for hereditary breast cancer. Additionally, she works closely with Dr. Sue Friedman, executive director of FORCE, an advocacy organization for individuals at increased risk for inherited cancer susceptibility

29 April 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Dr. Walters’ research focuses on human impacts in the marine environment. She is interested in both pure ecology questions and goal-based conservation issues for a wide range of marine and estuarine habitats in the Caribbean and the southeastern US, especially the Indian River Lagoon system (IRL) and the Florida Keys. In the IRL, her program focuses on understanding interactions among organisms on intertidal oyster reefs (including invasive barnacles and mussels), as well as looking at the impacts of recreational boat wakes on the recent declines of these reefs. They are collaborating with The Nature Conservancy on community-based restoration of this critical habitat. Other on-going research in the IRL includes studies on mangroves and salt marsh plants, boat propeller scar impacts on seagrass beds, and dispersal and allelopathic impacts of invasive Brazilian pepper on native flora. Additional research in her lab on invasive species has targeted dispersal of one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species, Caulerpa taxifolia, via e-commerce and retail shops. Outreach to the aquarium industry is currently underway with colleagues from CA Sea Grant. In the Florida Keys, Bahamas and Virgin Islands, she has been collaborating with many scientists to better understand how increases in abundances of certain species of macroalgae significantly reduces recruitment and survival of hard corals and how the return of the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarium may change this pattern.

29 April 2011
Posted in DNA Day

Dr. Sugaya grew up in Yokohama, Japan. He studied pharmacology at the Science University of Tokyo, where he earned a B.S., a M.S. and a Ph.D. Dr. Sugaya received a postdoctoral training from Dr. Ezio Giacobini, who built the base for the current cholinesterase Alzheimer’s disease therapies, at the Southern University of Illinois (1988-1989), where he elegantly showed a certain type of cholinergic receptor is reduced in Alzheimer’s disease. After the postdoctoral training he worked 3 years as a lecturer in his alma mater since he received a grant to set up a new institute form Japanese government.

in 1992, Dr. Sugaya move to the Mayo Clinic at Jacksonville, where he expanded his research with molecular biological techniques and introduced the hypothesis of glial activation as a mechanism of neurodegenerative. There, he finished his postdoctoral training and became Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Associate Consultant. His article became the front page of Molecular Brain Research.

Dr. Sugaya moved to the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1997, where he became Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, Ophthalmology and Bioengineering. He has further expanded his research area to the biology of neural stem cell (NSC) and his publication regarding improvement of memory in the aged animal by stem cell transplantation was well received form the society and reported by Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC and other media in all over the world. This study is the first time to show the possible use of stem cell to treat age associated memory problem.

Dr. Sugaya accepted a position in the University of Central Florida as a full professor in 2004. He continues to have interests in treating neurodegenerative diseases by stem cell technologies, and his work at UCF has been introduced by Wall Street Journal and other media. He is a Director of Stem Cell Laboratory and Chair of Neuroscience Consortium for Central Florida. He is also serving as a Council member of the Florida State organization, the Center for Universal Research to Eradicate Disease. His laboratory in Burnett School of Biomedical Science, College of Medicine, is very active and filed 31 patents. Now they are conducting totally new research to treat neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and stroke using the patient’s own stem cells, which eliminate ethical and many other issues associate with embryonic stem cells. One is to produce of brain cells from the patient own adult stem cells, and another is to increase endogenous stem cell by systemic administration of a drug. They also recently succeeded in producing retina and inner hair cells to treat blindness and deafness. Dr. Sugaya is collaborating with many international institutions including National Institute of Health and Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and aggressively investigating cures for the diseases associate with aging.