Chemistry and Biochemistry News

Freshmen (l-r) Linsey Wainio, Hollie Larrimore and Kylie Denson are taking their introductory chemistry course this semester. In this lab period, they were building molecules to see the structure of compounds in 3-dimensions. In general, they agreed that lab is a good time to learn in a hands-on manner, something they like a lot.

Biochemistry sophomore Kaylah Briscoe is really excited about Thanksgiving. “We all go to my great-grandmother’s house. I enjoy seeing so many family members, especially my cousins. I love that so many generations of our family can be together.”

Chemistry senior Shelby Litz is looking forward to the Thanksgiving weekend. “It will be really nice to relax and take a little break before studying for finals.”

The American Chemical Society Student Club sponsored the annual Chemistry Magic Show and it was truly MAGICAL again this year! Science students presented experiments and were able to easily explain all the “magical” effects that occurred- color and temperature changes, disappearing and reappearing testtubes, and glow in the dark liquids. The standing room only crowd loved everything about the show! Congratulations to the ACS Club for such a phenomenal performance!

Students have been working on a semester-long project in Dr. Timothy Dwyer’s Biochemistry Lab studying a green fluorescent protein. First, they used modern DNA and protein techniques to purify the protein. They then compared a mutant protein to their protein to see if there’s a difference in flouresence between the two. This project has been particularly exciting because students have designed their own experiments from the biochemical literature and are writing a scientific paper of their findings.

As part of the department’s New Student Mentoring Program, biochemistry and chemistry freshmen and mentors got together to visit a local corn maze over the weekend. From one of the participants, “We enjoyed wandering around the maze in circles, getting scared by a giant turkey, racing on a children’s bouncy ball racing track, and examining oddly-shaped pumpkins! It was a great time to get to know each other, share some laughs, and get a little break from all of our school work!”