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Our faculty are doing amazing science every day, working hard to impact human heath and wellness. Some months, it is next to impossible to capture all they do!
Below are just a few of the stories from this spring, and our website has even more. You can visit us anytime online here. |
BioFrontiers' Rob Knight finds microbial research goes to the dogs
Parents love their children, but they tend to share more of themselves, at least in terms of bacteria, with their canine companions. 
That is just one finding of a new study led by BioFrontiers' Rob Knight that looked at the types and transfer modes of microbes from the guts, tongues, foreheads and palms (or paws) of members of 60 American families, including canines.
Identifying how such bacterial communities can be affected by environmental exposure may help scientists better understand how they can be manipulated to prevent or treat disease.
Knight and his team sampled 159 people and 36 dogs.
The team swabbed various parts of the body to obtain microbial samples on the couples, children and dogs. For humans, the team looked at the tongue, forehead, right and left palm and fecal samples to detect individual microbial communities. Dogs were sampled similarly, except that fur was sampled instead of skin on the forehead and all four paws were swabbed for bacteria in the absence of canine palms.
"One of the biggest surprises was that we could detect such a strong connection between their owners and pets," said Knight, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemisty, and an Early Career Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scientist. "In fact, the microbial connection seems to be stronger between parents and family dogs than between parents and their children."
The primary results indicated the family unit had a strong effect on human microbial community composition across all body sites, said Knight. The weakest relationship on body sites was the father-to-infant connection on the forehead and palms.
In addition, the new study showed parents share significantly more similar tongue and gut communities with their own children than with other children, but only after about age 3. Such results indicate it is probably easier to exchange skin microbes on home surfaces or indoor air than it is to exchange tongue or gut bacteria, likely because skin surfaces are "less selective" environments, said Knight.
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BioFrontiers' Kristi Anseth Earns Top Faculty Award
Distinguished Professor in chemical and biological engineering, Kristi Anseth was recently chosen as this year's recipient of the Hazel Barnes Prize. The award is the highest faculty recognition for teaching and research given by the University.
Anseth, who is a BioFrontiers associate director and faculty member, will receive an engraved university medal and a $20,000 cash award, which is the largest single faculty award funded by CU-Boulder.
Anseth is known for her innovative biomaterials and regenerative medicine research. She leads a team of researchers and students in the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building who are developing biodegradable "scaffolds" to stimulate the growth of new human tissues to replace those lost by injury or disease.
Technology developed by Anseth's team is expected to be used for tasks such as helping regenerate human cartilage and defective heart valves, mending shattered bones, producing insulin for diabetics and growing healthy neurons to replace diseased brain tissue. A promising material that has been in clinical trials involves extracting healthy cartilage cells from damaged knees, blending the cells with light-activated hydrogels and injecting the material back into the knees to facilitate healing.
"Kristi has an outstanding record as both a teacher and a researcher," said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano. "Her impressive publication record in the fields of biomaterials and tissue engineering as well as her numerous national awards speak to her strong research commitment. We appreciate her dedication to this institution and her commitment to academic excellence."
Congratulations Kristi!
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Upcoming Events
BioFrontiers Seminar Michael Stone Vanderbilt University May 9, 4:00 pm JSCBB - Butcher Audi. (A115) BioFrontiers Seminar Bob Austin Princeton University May 14, 4:00 pm JSCBB - Butcher Audi. (A115)
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Aaron Clauset Finds Social Networks of the Past
It turns out that you don't need the internet to connect people and cultures. You just need your feet.
In a new article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of anthropologists, archeologists, sociologists and computer scientists worked together to study long-distance social networks in the American Southwest.
The team included BioFrontiers' faculty member and professor of computer science, Aaron Clauset, and was led by University of Arizona anthropologist, Barbara Mills. They studied more than 800,000 painted ceramic pieces and more than 4,800 obsidian artifacts dating from A.D. 1200-1450. The artifacts came from 700 sites in Arizona and western New Mexico.
What they found painted a picture of dramatic changes in social networks over a 250 year period, with some social networks expanding, fragmenting or collapsing. Similar pottery types showed that networks between villages could be more than 150 miles apart, and were supported by walking as the single mode of transportation.
The team is credited with bringing the idea of social networks into archeology and the study of ancient societies. Studying these social networks brings the ability to track cultural influences over time and geographic space.
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BioFrontiers Supports iGEM Team 
BioFrontiers recently pledged to match donations (up to $30,000) to this year's CU-Boulder iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines) team. Their fundraising goal is $75,000 to support this year's activities. The iGEM Foundation spun out of MIT and fosters scientific research and education through organizing and operating the iGEM synthetic biology competition.
Last year, through the generosity of the BioFrontiers Institute, the Gold Lab, CU Undergraduate Research Opportunities, the CU MCDB department, IDT, NEB, VWR, Promega, and Lucigen, a team of five CU undergraduates traveled to Stanford to the iGEM competition. The CU team presented their project, which utilized the bioluminescence pathway of Vibrio fisherii as a system to test novel quorem sensing inhibitors. You can see their presentation here.
This year, the newly formed SynBio ThinkTank is meeting weekly to develop their new project. Faculty, graduate students and undergraduates across all disciplines are invited to participate.
If you are interested in participating in or donating to the CU-Boulder iGEM team, contact: iGEM@colorado.edu
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More about BioFrontiers
There are many ways to get involved with the BioFrontiers Institute: |
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More information?
You can read all of our BioFrontiers Newsletters
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@biofrontiers or visit:
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