OP-ED
Jan. 5, 2008
Life sciences industry may help lead U.S. out of economic downturn
by Richard Kuhn
In the most sobering employment news since 1974, the U.S. Labor Department reports the economy lost 533,000 jobs in November, pushing the nation's jobless rate to 6.7 percent. The only sectors actually adding workers were government, education and health services.
That shouldn't come as a surprise.
With an aging population and the largest health-care spending in the world, the U.S. medical sector may actually fare well in a recession. And during economic downturns, sales of prescription drugs and medical devices historically hold up better than nonessential goods, giving hope to those parts of the nation - particularly Indiana - that have invested in the life sciences.
Good health, the adage says, is not perceived as a luxury.
While predicting the full impact of a national recession may be difficult, Indiana is still on pace to add more than 40,000 new jobs in the life sciences sector by 2012, broadening the profile of an industry that currently has a $13.5 billion economic impact on the state every year.
A prime example, Arcadia Healthcare initially will create 60 jobs and plans to have 400 employees by 2010 at a distribution center opening soon in Boone County. Salaries will range from $45,000 to $100,000-plus at Arcadia, a leader in health-care products and home-health services.
Indiana has an estimated 670 life science companies, employing more than 48,000 people and accounting for a total employment impact of 223,292 jobs. The average annual salary for a job in the life sciences is $68,715, ranking among the highest of any industry in the state.
THE INDIANA INNOVATION ALLIANCE
BioCrossroads
Biologists learn structure, mechanism of powerful 'molecular motor' in virus
Researchers have discovered the atomic structure of a powerful "molecular motor" that packages DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly, an essential step in their ability to multiply and infect new host organisms.
The researchers, from Purdue University and The Catholic University of America, also have proposed a mechanism for how the motor works. Parts of the motor move in sequence like the pistons in a car's engine, progressively drawing the genetic material into the virus's head, or capsid, said Michael Rossmann, Purdue's Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences.
The motor is needed to insert DNA into the capsid of the T4 virus, which is called a bacteriophage because it infects bacteria. The same kind of motor, however, also is likely present in other viruses, including the human herpes virus.
"Molecular motors in double-stranded DNA viruses have never been shown in such detail before," said Siyang Sun, a postdoctoral research associate working in Rossmann's lab.
Findings are detailed in a paper appearing online on Dec. 24 in the journal Cell. The lead authors are Sun and Kiran Kondabagil, a research assistant professor at Catholic University of America working with biology professor Venigalla B. Rao.
"This research is allowing us to examine the inner workings of a virus packaging motor at the atomic level," Rao said. "This particular motor is very fast and powerful."
Movie:Proposed mechanism for DNA packaging by the T4 bacteriophage packaging motor.
Biologists spy close-up view of poliovirus linked to host cell receptor
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers from Purdue and Stony Brook universities have determined the precise atomic-scale structure of the poliovirus attached to key receptor molecules in human host cells and also have taken a vital snapshot of processes leading to infection.
The virus binds to a receptor on the cell to form a single complex.
"This structure had been predicted, but the predictions were not as accurate as we had thought," said Michael Rossmann, Purdue's Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences. "What we have now is the real structure, as opposed to a prediction of the receptor molecule. We also have a much higher resolution view of the complex of the receptor when bound to the virus."
The work was carried out by Ping Zhang, a Purdue doctoral student, and others working in Rossmann's laboratory in collaboration with the group at Stony Brook University in New York.
"These findings show the detailed relationship between atoms in the receptor and atoms in the virus," Rossmann said.
The research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, is not immediately geared toward medical applications. However, such findings might one day help scientists design better vaccines for the poliovirus and aid in research into the infection processes of other viruses, Rossmann said.
The findings are detailed in a research paper that appeared on Nov. 25 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. MORE
BioNews Fall 2008 now online
We are pleased to bring you our new and improved edition of the BioNews! We are especially proud to offer this “on line” version so you can “click and read” about the happenings in the Biological Sciences Department at your leisure.
The BioNews provides us with the unique opportunity to:
- Introduce our new faculty members and their research.
- Share all the exciting world class research and recent discoveries going on within the Biological Sciences Department
- “Showcase” our exceptional alumni and students by sharing their stories of accomplishments and discoveries.
Please note that we have added some new pieces – like the section called “Microns to Nanometers” as well as some statistical data on the department!
A .PDF version of the newsletter can be found hereEnjoy and please let us know what you think by sending an email to the BIONEWS Team
Boiler Up!
Sandy Howarth
Director of Development
New insights into microtubule dynamics and function in growth cones
Microtubules are cytoskeletal elements with important functions in cell division, organelle motility and cell movements. Dynamic microtubules are essential for guidance of the growth cone, the growing the tip of neuronal processes. However, the details of microtubule rearrangements and functions in growth cones have remained unclear. Studying the large growth cones of Aplysia californica neurons with Fluorescent Speckle Microscopy (FSM), the Suter lab has recently provided important new insights into both the mechanisms of microtubule rearrangements and their role in turnover of a key signaling molecule, Src tyrosine kinase. Live cell imaging of microtubule and actin dynamics during adhesion-mediated growth cone guidance revealed that microtubule reorganization is largely regulated by coupling to the actin cytoskeleton. Furthermore, microtubules mediate trafficking of Src in growth cones by supporting the retrograde retrieval of Src that has been endocytosed from the plasma membrane; thus, microtubules play a role in regulating the levels of active Src in the growth cone, which is important for growth cone turning. These studies have recently been published both as cover articles in Dev. Neurobiol., 68(12):1363-1377 by Lee and Suter and Mol. Biol. Cell. 19 (11):4611-27 by Wu et al.