One of the most compelling trends in the scientific communities is the growing number of research programs that have taken on important topics whose scope reaches beyond the sometimes narrowly defined boundaries of traditional academic disciplines. This is particularly true in the life sciences, where it is often no longer feasible to explain phenomena strictly on the basis of traditional biological concepts and techniques. In many such cases it has become necessary to reach out to other disciplines with particular areas of expertise, such as physics, mathematics or, in the case of July 20 presentation, chemistry.

At this meeting of the UBRP Interdisciplinary group, faculty sponsors Dr. Scott Boitano, Physiology, and Dr. Katrina Miranda, Chemistry, spoke on their respective research interests and how these particular interests contributed to their joint project.

Dr. Boitano spoke of his interest in studying the causative agent of whooping cough, specifically the reason that this disease afflicts otherwise healthy individuals and how it manages to remain and flourish among the cilia that line the respiratory tract. Dr. Miranda spoke about her own interest in studying the behavior of reactive nitrogen species and their often-unusual interactions with other molecules.

These two seemingly very different fields were brought together. Dr. Boitano explained that the subject of his research apparently makes use of a reactive nitrogen mechanism similar to those studied by Dr. Miranda to place itself among the beating cilia that are otherwise effective at preventing such adhesion.
All told, the presentation was effective in providing a concrete example of researchers with markedly different specialties coming together to explain phenomena that would otherwise be difficult to explain within the range of expertise of either one.

Matthew Peterson, UBRPer in Dr. Jean Wilson's lab, Cell Biology and Anatomy