Month: July 2012

July 26, 2012

Summer Course Students, Alums Gather for a Relaxing Weekend in North Carolina

Despite flight delays and cancelations, there was no stopping the 2012 Biophysics Summer Course Reunion from taking place. The 16 Summer Course alumni who traveled from around the country to attend didn’t let severe thunderstorms prevent them from attending this annual event in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Summer course students and alums gather

Current and past students enjoyed an impromptu karaoke session.

The weekend kicked off with traditional North Carolina-style BBQ, complete with hush puppies and peach cobbler. Current students and alums were introduced and spent the evening mingling and relaxing. A few of the more musical students found their way to a piano and initiated a spirited sing-along of pop songs and karaoke classics.

The next morning, the current class of students showed the visiting alumni exactly why they were selected for this intense summer research program. All 12 participants presented their research projects. Mike Jarstfer, course co-director, and the visiting alumni asked thought provoking questions, spurring discussion and debate.

After lunch, the alumni got a chance to give talks on their current research or on how the Summer Course impacted them. Speakers emphasized the importance of networking and superb communication skills when job hunting or applying to graduate programs. One speaker suggested developing short and long term goals to help keep focus.

Summer course students and alums

Summer Course students and alums gathered for a reunion weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The weekend ended with a dinner at the Carolina Brewery in downtown Chapel Hill. Alumni and current students dined in the relaxed atmosphere and chatted like they were old friends, all the while expanding their network of future scientists.

July 24, 2012

The Next Generation: Introducing High School Students to Biophysics

High school students are introduced to biophysics. The Biophysical Society recently sponsored a half-day event, “Introducing Biophysics to Highschools,” through the BPS mini-grant program. The event was organized by Marta Bunster, the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics and the Center for Photonics and Optics at Universidad de Concepción.

Students and teachers were welcomed to the auditorium at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Science by undergraduate and graduate students from the Molecular Biophysics Lab. They attended lectures concerning different applications of biophysical methods, from remote sensing from satellites looking for environmental parameters, the uses in biomedical devices for diagnosis and detection, to the analysis of single molecules.

The students were then divided into four groups to visit laboratories, where researches and graduate students guided them through the use of different techniques, such as molecule optical tweezers, spectroscopy and microscopy.

Students from various schools in the region were invited, all of them interested in physics. Several even had to travel two hours just to attend! It was a great opportunity to chat science with young people, and it should be continued.

-Marta Bunster

July 17, 2012

Science Becomes Art on the Latest BiophysJ Cover

Biophysical Journal July 18 CoverDavide Mercadante explains the featured cover of the July 18 issue of Biophysical Journal. He is a fourth-year student at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, from Naples, Italy. Mercandante has recently submitted his PhD dissertation and has begun looking for a post-doctoral position. The cover image is from the article Bovine β-Lactoglobulin Is Dimeric under Imitative Physiological Conditions: Dissociation Equilibrium and Rate Constants over the pH Range 2.5 to 7.5, by authors Davide Mercadante, Laurence D. Melton, Gillian E. Norris, Trevor S. Loo, Martin A.K. Williams, Renwick C.J. Dobson and Geoffrey B. Jameson.

The image was composed in two phases. First, the electrostatic potentials for bovine beta-lactoglobulin A were calculated and visualized by coloring the protein surface by the electrostatic potential and representing the electric field using field lines. Considering that the research has been carried out through a combined experimental and theoretical approach, we wanted to make sure that not just the computational part of our study was represented in the image. Therefore, on the white background we decided to insert samples of sedimentation velocity and sedimentation equilibrium curves, fitted in order to reveal the oligomerization behavior of beta-lactoglobulin A. The collage of the different bits, experimental and computational, gave us the results we wanted.

Essentially, the nature of our results prompted us to create and submit a cover art image. The investigation of the electrostatic properties of macromolecules has a strong visual component that is very often conducive to art work. Science is as much about images as it is about numbers.

The image does not only reflect our scientific research. IT IS our scientific research. The image is not separated from the research, and can be considered as our best attempt to visualize and transmit the significance of our investigation. You could crop the different parts of the image, insert them into a paper, and they would make perfect sense.

Electrostatic properties of macromolecules are, almost by definition, very difficult to treat computationally. However, the calculations performed in order to elucidate such properties have an enormous communicative power as they combine many strategies used by artists to describe and communicate the world around them. For example, a wide range of colors is employed in combination to the visualization of macromolecular structures. The analytical ultracentrifugation data, where colors represent time, show the collective macroscopic behavior of macromolecules in ultra-strong gravitational fields, behavior determined by the microenvironment of the individual molecules. Connecting the microscopic to the macroscopic, and vice versa, has a very strong artistic potential.

The feeling of having our image chosen for the cover can be simply expressed in two words: successful and rewarded. We feel successful because the final aim of any scientist is, on one side, the satisfaction of our curiosity about the world, and on the other, the transmission of such curiosity to other people through the published article. The cover image of a book or a journal conveys information but also plays to the emotions of the potential buyer and reader. Having this image selected for the cover of Biophysical Journal provides recognition that our research will encourage more people to read the contents of Biophys J, which has a top role in diffusing molecular biophysics across the scientific community. The publication of our research on the cover is a reward to the passion we invest to conduct our research every day and to transmit its significance among other scientists.

Sometimes scientists and artists are the same thing. This was more commonly accepted and represented in the ancient cultures (mostly during the Renaissance). In many cases, the scientist was also an inventor, a sculptor or a painter. Nowadays the two figures are well separated – probably because science is often considered as too “brainy” to be art. However, science and art are probably not too far apart in reality. Art is the representation of concepts that strongly recall emotions and has a small rational component. Science, on the other hand, has a bigger rational component but I, as a scientist, feel exactly like an artist when conducting research. The quantity and quality of the emotions felt are exactly the same kind and have the same power.

We already have an idea for our next science-as-art submission. At the moment, we are preparing an article on the molecular dynamics of enzyme-substrate interactions of a key enzyme from a bacterial pathogen that attacks the polysaccharide cell walls of plants. In this case, the combination of natural elements and molecular structures and conformations can have a strong communicative and visual effect. It’s all about combining knowledge and feelings.

Readers can view additional research by the Massey University team behind this article using the following links:

Laurie Melton: http://web.chemistry.auckland.ac.nz/staff-profile-jahia.aspx?staffid=18
Bill Williams: http://ifs.massey.ac.nz/people/staff.php?personID=66
Geoff Jameson: http://ifs.massey.ac.nz/people/staff.php?personID=22

July 6, 2012

Attracting new biophysicists: UVA event discusses creating and maintaining graduate and undergraduate programs specific to biophysics

Discussion: attracting biophysicists in universities

Event attendees discussed options for attracting more undergraduate and graduate students to biophysics.

On June 15, we held a Biophysical Society regional interface meeting at the University of Virginia.  We had about 50 attendees from the Mid-Atlantic States joined us for what turned out to be a beautiful day in Charlottesville, Va.  In addition, we were delighted that Bridget Swartz and Ellen Weiss from the Biophysical Society office drove to central Virginia to join us. The meeting theme was “Creating Biophysics Undergraduate Majors.” We all know that there are very few college seniors or recent graduates that have specific interest in getting a PhD in biophysics.

The question of the day was: How can we improve the visibility of biophysics graduate programs or create undergrad programs that would attract majors? We had five talks from program leaders around Virginia, including Gina MacDonald from James Madison University, who told us about JMU’s efforts to set up a biophysical chemistry major, and Lou De Felice from Virginia Commonwealth University, who described how biophysics permeates throughout VCU in both the main and medical school campuses as well as in various centers. De Felice also described his methods of attracting students to VCU’s graduate program. Linda Columbus from the University of Virginia described the development of a lab-based undergraduate course in protein structure-function including the very important aspects of assessment. Will Guilford and Robert Bryant, also from UVA, discussed approaches and challenges to setting up a scientific major with specific considerations for biophysics. Our keynote speaker, Karen Fleming from Johns Hopkins University, gave us a wonderful overview of the biophysics major and the insights she has gained from directing the Johns Hopkins program.

There was lively discussion associated with all of the talks, including agreements that biophysics oriented programs and courses attract better students, experiential and active learning works extremely well in our field, and students are interested in learning a broad range of materials from the theoretical to the practical. There was emphasis that learning the basics such as Beer’s Law and how to make buffers may be among the most important lessons.

Biophysics students

Biophysics students presented research posters during the event.

At the concluding reception, several biophysics students presented research posters and there were many discussions about both research and education. It became clear that regional meetings offer tremendous value by allowing us to talk about issues that are unique to our area. There was a consensus to commit to holding similar gatherings every two years and to rotate the meetings among our campuses.

July 3, 2012

Comic Book Illustrations Inspire Latest Cover of Biophysical Journal

Author Brian Fuglestad explains the featured cover of the July 3 issue of Biophysical Journal. The cover image is from the article, The Dynamic Structure of Thrombin in Solution, by authors Brian Fuglestad, Paul M. Gasper, Marco Tonelli, J. Andrew McCammon, Phineus R. L. Markwick, and Elizabeth A. Komives.

Featured on the cover is an image of the Accelerated Molecular Dynamics calculated ensemble of thrombin that best recapitulated experimental Residual Dipolar Coupling data, with a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrum in the background. The protein image was created in PyMOL and the spectrum in Sparky. The field of protein structure and dynamics lends itself well to artistic images in science, and this image in particular was inspired by the large degree of motion exhibited by thrombin in the study. In keeping with the theme of action and motion, I chose a style reminiscent of comic book illustrations. The addition of the background spectrum serves to highlight the combination of computational and experimental approaches used to explore the behavior of thrombin in solution. It is a great honor to have this image chosen as the Biophysical Journal cover, and I hope it serves to emphasize the stunning visual aspect of protein structure and dynamics.

July 2, 2012

Too Many Scientists? NIH Chats About the Future of Training Biomedical Researchers

As available research funding shrinks, job opportunities for PhD students and postdocs become fewer and fewer. In a live chat last week, sponsored by Science’s Careers section, we listened in on discussion about the latest NIH report regarding job shortages for PhD holders in research – particularly biomedical research. Shirley Tilghman, co-chair of the NIH Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group, and Joseph LeManna, president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, answered questions about a recent NIH draft report on the topic.

The NIH report laid out several suggestions for improving the PhD and postdoc experience, while avoiding the risk of training researchers for jobs that do not exist. Key points included:

•    Diversifying experiences for PhD students, exposing them to career paths outside the ivory towers of academia.
•    Incentivize universities to record the career progress of past trainees, in order to educate prospective students about all future opportunities. NIH suggested making this recording and reporting a requirement before universities are eligible to receive federal grants.
•    Place a five year limit on NIH support for graduate students.
•    Encourage grant holders to use full time staff scientists instead of just PhD students or post docs. Ideally, this could both stabilize the career path, making it more attractive, and ensure PIs have the consistent, experienced help they need.

Of course, there is no ‘silver bullet’ to solve these issues. At this point, NIH does not have a timeline for implementing any of the proposed changes.

In the meantime, what can current PhD students, post docs, PIs and universities do to avoid creating an unemployable workforce of PhD researchers? What do you think of NIH’s suggestions?

You can read the full transcript of the chat on the Science Careers Blog.
You can read the complete report on the NIH website [pdf].