REU Site: Mountains and Minds: New Chemical Insights Into Biology

数学和物理科学理事会的化学部和生物科学理事会的生物基础设施部支持由蒙大拿州立大学（MSU）的玛丽J. Cloninger教授和Ruben M.明尼苏达大学莫里斯分校的Ceballos。本科生研究的主题是“生物学的新化学见解”，在蒙大拿州立大学的化学和生物化学系，在美洲原住民研究实验室，并在马来西亚的Universiti Teknologi MARA。八名学生参加了为期十周的REU计划在蒙大拿州立大学现场，具有强烈的承诺，并优先录取美国原住民学生，部落学院的学生，以及来自美国西北部地区的小学院的学生，那里的研究资源有限。两名美国原住民学生已经完成了研究经验，无论是在密歇根州立大学的REU网站或通过其他研究机制，在马来西亚进行研究。这个REU计划的目标是向学生介绍最先进的仪器和前沿研究技术在化学/生物学接口。REU项目旨在使用化学方法研究生物学问题，包括极端微生物对压力的反应，自由基酶的作用机制，天然植物天然产物化学，多价细胞间识别过程，蛋白质结构-功能关系，病毒治疗剂，羟化酶反应性，DNA中的激发电子态，化学传感材料以及脂质膜结构和功能。这些领域都是蒙大拿州立大学化学和生物化学系、美洲原住民研究实验室和马来西亚马拉技术大学目前研究的重点。MSU的学生参加每周的研讨会和小组会议。所有的学生参加视频会议小组会议和海报研讨会，并都写一份期末论文。该REU计划允许跨学科研究，使用化学方法来解决生物学问题，使所有学生，包括美洲原住民学生更容易获得。

The Chemistry Division in the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate and the Division of Biological Infrastructure in the Directorate for Biological Sciences support a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site led by Professor Mary J. Cloninger at Montana State University (MSU) and Professor Ruben M. Ceballos at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Undergraduate research occurs under the theme "New Chemical Insights Into Biology" in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Montana State University, in the Native American Research Lab, and at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Malaysia. Eight students participate in the ten week REU program on-site at Montana State University, with strong commitment to and preferential admission for Native American students, Tribal College students, and students from small colleges in the upper northwest region of the United States where resources for research are limited. Two Native American students who have already completed a research experience, either at MSU's REU Site or through another research mechanism, perform research in Malaysia.The objective of this REU program is to introduce students to state-of-the-art instrumentation and frontier research techniques at the chemistry/biology interface. REU projects are designed to use chemical approaches to study biological questions including extremophile responses to stress, mechanisms of action for radical enzymes, native plant natural product chemistry, multivalent intercellular recognition processes, protein structure-function relationships, virus curing agents, hydroxylase reactivity, excited electron states in DNA, chemical sensing materials, and lipid membrane structure and function. These areas are all the focus of current research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Montana State University, in the Native American Research Lab, and at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Malaysia. The MSU students attend weekly workshops and group meetings. All students participate in video conference group meetings and a poster symposium, and all write a final paper. This REU program allows interdisciplinary research, which uses chemical approaches to address biological problems, to be more accessible to all students including Native Americans students.