Science Research Groups

Application of the principles of in vitro selection and directed evolution to peptides and proteins is a powerful tool for investigating protein function and structure and for obtaining insight into the pathways by which enzymes evolve in nature. Our approach has been to generate stable, covalent RNA-protein fusions in a completely in vitro system. We do this by covalently linking puromycin, an antibiotic that mimics an aminoacylated tRNA, to the 3' end of a synthetic mRNA through a DNA linker. A ribosome begins translation of such a template as usual, generating a peptide as it transits the open reading frame. When the ribosome reaches the end of the open reading frame and hits the DNA linker it stalls, allowing the nearby puromycin to enter the A site of the ribosome and accept the nascent peptide chain. The resulting RNA-peptide fusions can be formed efficiently from mRNAs encoding small peptides or large proteins. We have prepared libraries of fusions encoding random peptides and are preparing to begin evolving new binding domains and enzymes. An exciting future application will be the ability to conduct side-by-side comparisons of RNA and protein evolution.

The BRI fosters interdepartmental cooperation in research and education, and provides services to the neuroscience community as a whole. The BRIs mission is to increase understanding of how the brain works, how it develops, and how it responds to experience, injury and disease, and to help make UCLA the preeminent center for translating basic knowledge into medical interventions and new technologies.

The Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) is a collaborative effort of Rutgers and Princeton Universities, AT&T Labs - Research, Bell Labs, Telcordia Technologies and NEC Laboratories America and their scientific personnel, as well as their colleagues nationwide, working together to play a national leadership role in the development, application and dissemination of discrete mathematics (dm) and theoretical computer science (tcs).

We use mathematical models and computer simulations to study a wide range of problems in population biology, animal behavior, and evolutionary theory. Our current research efforts are concentrated in two areas: (1) Information in biological systems. How do living organisms acquire, store, and make use of information? How and why does communication evolve? (2) The ecology and evolution of infectious disease. How do pathogens evolve and spread through populations? How do populations evolve in response to pathogen challenge?

The Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems is dedicated to the quantitative study of financial markets and their ultimate impact on society. By integrating the talents of economists, finance experts, computational scientists, engineers and other disciplines, CoFES will advance the boundaries of modeling and computational science in this important arena. Using a systems approach CoFES seeks to enhance academic disciplines, business operations and economic policy. The creation of CoFES represents Rice Universitys commitment to this important area of intellectual inquiry. A key component of the research center is the integration of probabilistic and mathematical modeling for complex, multidisciplinary investigations. Rice University is well suited for this endeavor because of its exceptionally bright student body; its distinguished faculty in engineering, business and economics; its world-class resources in high-performance computing; and an unusually flexible and collegial environment in which to pursue interdisciplinary research and education.

has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science. Its award-winning newsletter, Nutrition Action Healthletter, is the largest-circulation health newsletter in North America, providing reliable information on nutrition and health.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is an interagency program whose mission is to evaluate agents of public health concern by developing and applying tools of modern toxicology and molecular biology. The program maintains an objective, science-based approach in dealing with critical issues in toxicology and is committed to using the best science available to prioritize, design, conduct, and interpret its studies. To that end, the NTP is continually evolving to remain at the cutting edge of scientific research and to develop and apply new technologies.

One of the nation's first comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974, Fox Chase conducts basic and clinical research; programs of prevention, detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach. We invite you to learn about us. Current faculty research programs are wide-ranging and include: gene expression; molecular aspects of oncogenesis; viral molecular biology and pathogenesis; molecular structure and function analysis; pharmacology and therapeutics; regulation and development of the immune system; cell cycle control; human genetics; and cellular and developmental biology.

The Bristol Centre for Applied Nonlinear Mathematics is a 1M EPSRC funded research programme to address both the mathematical themes of the Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamic Engineering (BLADE), and the grand engineering challenge of real-time dynamic substructuring. In addition, the permanent academic members of the centre have a wide range of research interests, including analysis and control of piecewise smooth systems; analysis of local and global bifurcations; numerical continuation of global bifurcations and solitary waves; computation of invariant manifolds; control and synchronisation of chaotic systems; nonlinear dynamics of laser systems; liquid crystal dynamics; electrical control of porous media flows; non-integrable nonlinear optics; localised elastic buckling in long structures; nonlinear dynamics of power electronics systems; fractal analysis of medical images.

C-SIC is an inorganic chemistry research group that integrates actinide/radioisotope chemistry, inorganic and organometallic synthesis, structural analysis, catalysis, spectroscopy, and surface science capabilities. We focus on scientific innovation and technical solutions to problems in defense, threat reduction, energy, and the environment.

Our current research focuses on the electronic and optical properties of semiconductor, quantum-confined nanoparticles and nanoscale assemblies built from them. Using colloidal chemical syntheses, such nanoparticles, or nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs), can be prepared with sub-nanometer precision having sizes from 10 to 100 ?. NQDs can be viewed as ?quantum boxes? with precisely controlled dimensions and boundary conditions. They can be chemically manipulated like large molecules and can be coupled to each other or can be incorporated into different types of inorganic or organic matrices. The ease of manipulating both the dimensions of the individual particles as well as their arrangement in a complex interacting structure makes colloidal NQDs well-suited for studies of size/structure-dependent quantum-mechanical interactions and as ideal building blocks for nanoscale engineering.

The Center for Nonlinear Studies (CNLS) is part of the Laboratory's Theoretical Division, and it organizes research related to nonlinear and complex systems phenomena. CNLS was formed in October of 1980.

The Lunar and Planetary Institute is a focus for academic participation in studies of the current state, evolution, and formation of the solar system. The Institute is housed in the Universities Space Research Association Center for Advanced Space Studies (CASS) in Houston, Texas.

Our overall theme is to understand the underlying basic mechanisms by which individuals can reduce their risk to cancer, inflammatory damage, and chronic degenerative diseases by improving their ability to respond to environmental stresses through chemoprevention, diet, and other preventive strategies.

The Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies (CIMRS) was established in 1982 to foster collaborative research between Oregon State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in fisheries ecosystem studies, aquaculture, oceanography, and marine-resource technology and related fields. The present day CIMRS partnership brings university scientists together with scientists from NOAA's NW Fisheries Science Center, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory to work on problems of mutual interest relating to the living and non-living components of the marine environment and their interrelationships.

The Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing at Oregon State University facilitates the development of molecular biological and genetic research with the ultimate goal of improving health, natural and agricultural resources, and environmental quality. The center offers leadership and services to faculty, staff and students through core laboratories, seminars, and retreats. It also provides a focal point for researchers to establish contacts, initiate collaborations, and establish new technologies in their own laboratories.

Our mission is to determine the function and role of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and phytochemicals (chemicals from plants) in promoting optimum health and preventing and treating disease; to determine the role of oxidative and nitrative stress and antioxidants in human health and disease; and to help people everywhere achieve a healthy and productive life, full of vitality, with minimal suffering, and free of cancer and other debilitating diseases. Major areas of research in the Institute encompass heart disease, cancer, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases. Specific laboratories address antioxidants and vascular biology; vitamin E metabolism and biological activity; colon cancer and cancer chemoprevention by phytochemicals; the role of nitric oxide and oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease); and the role of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in the aging process.

The scientific mission of the Institute is to determine the effects of nano- and micro-particles (e.g., bacteria, natural organic matter, and mineral aggregates) on contaminant transport in geologic systems. The Institute blends the environmental science and engineering expertise and facilities of the university with those at Argonne, Sandia, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, as well as at DuPont Engineering Technology. The Institute integrates traditional macroscopic and microscopic techniques with state-of-the-art molecular-scale approaches such as x-ray absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and molecular dynamics modeling.

The scientific mission of the Institute is to determine the effects of nano- and micro-particles (e.g., bacteria, natural organic matter, and mineral aggregates) on contaminant transport in geologic systems. The Institute blends the environmental science and engineering expertise and facilities of the university with those at Argonne, Sandia, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, as well as at DuPont Engineering Technology. The Institute integrates traditional macroscopic and microscopic techniques with state-of-the-art molecular-scale approaches such as x-ray absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and molecular dynamics modeling.

The Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI) is one of the leading earth and environmental sciences research institutes in the United States. It is located in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State, on the University Park Campus. Dr. Susan L. Brantley, Professor of Geosciences, is the Institute Director. EESI is one of the Penn State Institutes of the Environment (PSIE), the central structure for environmental research, education, and outreach at Penn State.