REU Site: Engineering Across Cell Types

由工程教育和中心（EEC）的国家科学基金会部门的支持下，这个为期三年的REU网站计划在马萨诸塞州，阿默斯特大学将使9名本科生进行细胞工程，工程和应用生物学的一个令人兴奋的新前沿的研究。大自然具有非凡的能力来设计新工艺、制造产品并将材料从一种形式转化为另一种形式。细胞生物体显示出如此广泛的特征，以至于基本上任何性状都可以被工程化到适当的宿主中。近四十年前，分子生物学使医学实现了质的飞跃，在细菌中产生了人类胰岛素。科学家和工程师们现在正处于能够利用植物物质作为原料来设计生物体以泵出燃料，从土壤，水和空气中清除有毒污染物，生产大量抗癌药物，甚至将人类细胞转化为有用的组织的尖端。在过去的十年中，已经开发了新的工具，并在细胞类型（例如，细菌，酵母，哺乳动物，植物），以促进细胞工程;然而，有有限的串扰之间的各种科学界，突出了这个REU计划的相关性：工程跨细胞类型（EnACT）：探索科学和物理接口之间的细胞。工程/生命科学界面的传统研究和课程通常不包括讨论细胞类型之间的相似性和差异性，因此学生无法获得工程细胞可用工具的完整视角。例如，大多数生物化学和生物工程的本科课程都强调微生物系统，因为它们被广泛研究和使用。然而，许多最新的进展是在高等真核生物中，由于细胞生物学的差异，如区室化，细胞器特异性基因表达和途径冗余，这是相当复杂的。REU学生将有机会与使用不同细胞系统的研究人员一起工作（例如，细菌、酵母、动物和植物）来说明研究方法和基础知识在细胞类型中的适应和应用。学院的研究领域包括蛋白质工程、代谢工程、组织工程、药物递送和系统生物学。了解不同细胞类型的细胞功能并操纵细胞/组织以特定方式执行是生物医学、生物技术和制药行业许多企业的基础。参与者将从事细胞工程研究，解决制药科学，医疗技术，生物能源和环境的重大挑战。EnACT的具体目标（工程跨细胞类型）REU是：（1）鼓励和激励学生追求细胞工程的研究生课程;（2）通过专注于招募代表性不足的人群，包括聋人和听力障碍的学生，非研究密集型大学的学生，以及处于学术生涯早期阶段的学生，创建一个多样化的学生研究人员库;（3）通过协作研究和近同侪指导活动，培训学生从依赖研究人员转变为独立研究人员;（4）使学生能够跨学科有效沟通;（5）为学生提供职业成功的策略。除了跨学科的研究项目，REU参与者将参与研究超级组，涉及来自两个研究实验室的学生和教师，专业研讨会;研究影响研讨会的途径，以及学生海报会议。招聘工作将针对化学工程、生物工程、化学、生物学和生物化学专业的各个阶段的本科生。PI将与NSF赞助的，UMA领导的东北AGEP和LSAMP联盟合作，以加强代表性不足的少数民族学生的招聘，斯普林菲尔德技术社区学院招聘参加副学士学位课程的学生，以及国家聋人技术学院招聘聋人和听力障碍学生。EnACT REU将让学生参与工程/物理科学和生命科学的跨学科研究，并鼓励他们在生物工程和相关领域攻读高级学位和职业，创造技术先进，前瞻性思维，跨学科的劳动力。

Supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC), this three-year REU Site program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst will enable 9 undergraduate students to conduct research in cellular engineering, an exciting new frontier of engineering and applied biology. Nature has remarkable capabilities to engineer new processes, make products and transform materials from one form to another. Cellular organisms display such a wide range of features that essentially any trait can be engineered into an appropriate host. Nearly four decades ago, molecular biology enabled a quantum leap for medicine with the production of human insulin in bacteria. Scientists and engineers are now on the cusp of being able to engineer organisms to pump out fuel using plant matter as a feedstock, clean up toxic pollutants from soil, water and air, produce large quantities of anticancer drugs, and even transform human cells into useful tissues. In the past decade, novel tools have been developed and discoveries made across cell types (e.g., bacteria, yeast, mammalian, plant) to facilitate cellular engineering; however, there has been limited crosstalk amongst the varied scientific communities, highlighting the relevance of this REU Program: Engineering Across Cell Types (EnACT): Exploring the Scientific and Physical Interfaces Amongst Cells. Traditional research and curricula at the engineering/life sciences interface do not typically include discussion of the similarities and differences amongst cell types, and therefore students are not provided with a complete perspective on the tools available for engineering cells. For example, most undergraduate courses in biochemistry and bioengineering emphasize microbial systems because of their widespread study and use. However, many recent advances are in higher eukaryotes, which are considerably more complicated due to differences in cell biology such as compartmentalization, organelle-specific gene expression and redundancy of pathways. REU students will get a chance to work with researchers using different cell systems (e.g., bacteria, yeast, animal, and plant) to illustrate adaptation and application of both research approaches and fundamental knowledge across cell types. Faculty research areas include protein engineering, metabolic engineering, tissue engineering, drug delivery, and systems biology.Understanding cellular function across cell types and manipulating cells/tissues to perform in a particular manner is the basis for many ventures in the biomedical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Participants will engage in cellular engineering research that addresses grand challenges in pharmaceutical sciences, medical technology, bioenergy and the environment. Specific objectives of the EnACT (Engineering Across Cell Types) REU are to: (1) encourage and inspire students to pursue graduate studies in cellular engineering; (2) create a diverse pool of student researchers by focusing on recruitment of underrepresented populations, including deaf and hard-of-hearing students, students at non-research intensive universities, and students in earlier stages of their academic careers; (3) train students to transition from dependent to independent researchers through collaborative research and near-peer mentoring activities; (4) enable students to communicate effectively across disciplines; and (5) provide students with strategies for professional success. In addition to interdisciplinary research projects, REU participants will be involved in Research Supergroups involving students and faculty from two research laboratories, a Professional Seminar; a Pathways to Research Impact Seminar, and a student poster session. Recruitment efforts will target undergraduates at all stages majoring in chemical engineering, bioengineering, chemistry, biology, and biochemistry. The PI will collaborate with the NSF-sponsored, UMA-led Northeast AGEP and LSAMP alliances to enhance the recruitment of underrepresented minority students, Springfield Technical Community College to recruit students enrolled in associate degree programs, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf to recruit deaf and hearing-impaired students. The EnACT REU will engage students in cross-disciplinary research at the interface of engineering/physical sciences and life sciences and encourage them to pursue advanced degrees and careers in bioengineering and related fields, creating a technologically advanced, forward thinking, interdisciplinary minded workforce.