{"id":28104,"date":"2019-11-08T07:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T13:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=28104"},"modified":"2019-11-07T20:28:15","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T02:28:15","slug":"austin-peay-state-universitys-phage-hunters-join-front-lines-of-medical-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2019\/11\/08\/austin-peay-state-universitys-phage-hunters-join-front-lines-of-medical-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Peay State University\u2019s \u2018phage hunters\u2019 join front lines of medical research"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – The 10 Austin Peay State University (APSU) students in Dr. Sergei Markov\u2019s junior- and senior-level biology classes this semester are taking advantage of a unique research opportunity that could help lead to medical breakthroughs.<\/p>\n

\"Heath<\/a>

Heath Simpson shows his Petri dish during a recent phage hunter class at Austin Peay State University. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

They\u2019re participating in Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES), a yearlong laboratory course in which students discover, isolate and analyze bacteria-infecting viruses called bacteriophages. The bacteriophages more commonly are called phages, and the students are phage hunters.<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s goal is simple: Increase undergraduate interest and retention in the biological sciences through research immersion. Several thousand college students join the program each year, and their research goes into a massive genome bank. That bank has helped scientists find new ways to treat patients with debilitating bacterial infections.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity for Austin Peay State University and its students to be a part of a huge experiment,\u201d said Jerry Reed, a graduate student helping Markov with the classes. \u201cBy charting those genes, by looking at that DNA, the better we\u2019re able to manipulate the phages for our own benefits, such as medical research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Markov\u2019s students benefit more directly, however, by getting valuable research experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo get an advanced degree, you need to do research,\u201d Markov said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I tell students coming to this class is they will get that research experience. They\u2019re going to find phages, isolate the phage, analyze it, name it. We\u2019re going to sequence and analyze its DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We just started digging in the dirt\u2019<\/h4>\n
\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University’s Sarah Binkley arranges her stacks of Petri dishes that contain the phage and the bacteria the phage is attacking. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Phages are bacteria-killing viruses. They\u2019re harmless to humans, and scientists can study them easily. They\u2019re everywhere. More than a nonillion phages \u2013 that\u2019s 1 followed by 30 zeroes \u2013 exist on Earth in dirt, water and air. Markov\u2019s students gathered their phages from dirt they found on campus.<\/p>\n

The SEA-PHAGES program asks its student researchers to collect as many phages as they can, examine them under a microscope, sequence their genome and test the phages\u2019 ability to fight bacteria. Phages are so diverse that students often discover and name their own phage. SEA-PHAGES hunters have identified more than 8,000 phages since 2008.<\/p>\n

Sarah Binkley, a junior studying microbiology, found her phage in a clump of dirt by Harned Hall.<\/p>\n

[320left]\u201cWe just went outside and started digging in the dirt,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The hands-on research attracted biology graduate student Heath Simpson to the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m striving to successfully extract, purify and sequence my own phage in hopes to discover a new species of phages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Added Binkley: \u201cYou get a lot of pride and accomplishment when you succeed at it. This is something I found myself. I\u2019m not repeating someone else\u2019s experiment with their virus. This is my own virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I get to publish my own paper\u2019 <\/h4>\n
\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University’s Gabrielle Rueff works with her phage and bacteria samples. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Junior biology major Gabrielle Rueff found her dirt sample near the Marks Building.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou learn all this stuff in BIO I and BIO II, and in this class, you get to apply what you learned, and you get to see immediate results the next class period,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s this virus that is infecting this bacteria, and you have these little clear spots (in the Petri dish) where that virus has killed off that bacteria.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn traditional classrooms, you don\u2019t get to see that firsthand,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Simpson added, \u201cThis class has really shown me how experimental design, even though drawn up in a theoretical and perfect world, does not always turn out to be as easy as following a protocol or instructions. There will be setbacks. There will be times when you have to re-evaluate your protocol and methodology, but with a clear mind and knowledge on the task at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

[320right]Markov\u2019s class has to \u201cgrow\u201d enough of the phages to isolate the phage DNA and submit it to Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s (HHMI) science education division for sequencing. The students also will capture a photo of the phage using an electron microscope and could present their research at a conference next summer.<\/p>\n

That excites Rueff. \u201cOnce we harvest our DNA and we send it off to be sequenced, that\u2019s when I get to publish my own paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the spring semester, Markov\u2019s students will analyze the data HHMI returns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to find what kind of genes are in the DNA and compare them to other phages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d be happy even if it\u2019s not mine\u2019 <\/h4>\n
\"Gabrielle<\/a>

Gabrielle Rueff\u2019s notes show how she\u2019s working out how many phages she has \u201cgrown.\u201d (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Using phages to fight bacteria is an idea that\u2019s been around for decades. The rise of antibiotic resistance has increased interest in using phage therapy to fight diseases.<\/p>\n

HHMI \u2013 which partners with the University of Pittsburgh in the SEA-PHAGES program \u2013 announced earlier this year the program used phage therapy to fight a bacterial infection in a 15-year-old girl. <\/p>\n

The antibiotics she had used for eight years to fight off lung infection weren\u2019t working as well. The scientists used genetically engineered phages to attack and reverse the infection. The SEA-PHAGES program revealed the viruses that could help. You can read more about this case \u2013 and get a good background on SEA-PHAGES \u2013 by clicking here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Markov\u2019s students know their research will add to this knowledge. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of therapeutics and different medications that are going to come out of it,\u201d Rueff said. \u201cI\u2019m really excited about the future of science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Binkley added: \u201cOnce it starts taking off more, the potential for what we can find and discover and the problems we can solve with it is just really cool to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this research will be beneficial in the future, that we get real progress in medicine or some other field,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d be really happy even it\u2019s not mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[470center]<\/p>\n

To learn more<\/h3>\n

For more about Markov and the SEA-PHAGES classes he offers, go to https:\/\/seaphages.org\/institution\/APSU\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more about APSU\u2019s Department of Biology, visit apsu.edu\/biology\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more about the SEA-PHAGES program, go to https:\/\/seaphages.org\/<\/a>.<\/u><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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