Page 6 - Eureka! Fall 2005

Alumni links Fueling the future Student news

f Edward Chouchani and Cory Centen
I have their way with a certain bacte-
price of each bacteria batch would be
Critical to the pair’s success thus
far has been Luc Lalande, director of
about $20, says Chouchani.
rial protein, their work could revolu- bacteria is a one-time cost, while the they could continue their work.
tionize the entire energy sector. “This is probably one of the biggest Carleton’s Innovation Transfer Office.
Chouchani, a third-year biochemis- selling points. It costs next to nothing With Lalande’s help, Chouchani and
try student, and Centen, a long-time when compared to the production of Centen secured a $5,000 grant from
friend and colleague from McMaster conventional energy. And this protein Carleton’s Foundry Program, which
focuses on building and nurturing on-
Ruth wilkins, PhD/96, Adjunct Research Professor of Physics campus innovation.
Getting to the root of radiation upon securing more funding, and a
Currently, the pair is focused
group of commerce students have
been assigned to help refine their
business plan.
art of Ruth Wilkins’, PhD/96, job is But despite the absence of large- useful for victims who have had lower “That’s the good thing about the
P to prepare for the unthinkable. scale events on Canadian soil, the doses of radiation and display no other Foundry Program: It puts you in
As a radiobiology research scientist federal government appears to be obvious symptoms, such as vomiting or touch with a lot of business people,
at one of Health Canada’s Ottawa fa- taking no chances. Following the reddening of the skin. The numbers of and forces you to look at the business
cilities, she must be ready to respond September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks malformed chromosomes help doctors side of things as well as the research,”
to tragic events involving potentially on New York and Washington, Wilkins’ decide which type of treatment is most says Chouchani.
harmful levels of radiation. Such un- lab saw an increase in funding and suitable for the patient. In the near future, Chouchani and
thinkable scenarios include terrorist profile. The lab fell under a new Speeding up the blood-sample pro- Centen hope to have a cell to show
attacks or the accidental meltdown of national program called the Chemical, cess, however, doesn’t come without potential granting agencies such as the
nuclear reactors. Biological, Radiological, Nuclear its challenges, says Wilkins. Assum- Ottawa Centre for Research and Inno-
Depending on the event’s size, Research, and Technology Initiative. ing the standard 1,000 blood cells vation or the federal government’s In-
Wilkins and her team would work Part of the lab’s new mandate was to are evaluated, each sample can take dustrial Research Assistance Program.
with an extensive emergency network develop new ways to analyze the blood about a week to accurately analyze. Centen adds the end goal is to be a
of scientists from across the country. samples of potential radiation victims But the Ottawa researchers have now producer of the protein and sell iso-
Each team is equipped to speedily as- more quickly. verified they can get a general idea of lated and purified cells to companies
sess the exposure levels of thousands The trick is to locate tell-tale signs exposure levels by looking at only 50 that can integrate them into their own
of radiation victims by analyzing of radiation damage: chromosomes in cells, which reduces sample times to third-year Biochemistry student, Edward chouchani energy applications.
their blood samples. white blood cells that have split apart a few days.
So far, her radiobiology lab has and subsequently bonded with other Wilkins did her PhD in Carleton’s University, hope to generate electric- is versatile: you can make it any size,
only encountered individual cases. mismatched chromosomal pieces. These Department of Physics and became in- ity from bacteriorhodopsin. from nanoscale up to huge sheets of
“And that’s the way I like it,” says so-called “misrepairs” are directly cor- terested in combining the medical and This purple- and yellow-coloured the stuff. You can have it power city
Wilkins, who is also the secretary of related to the amount of radiation the biological worlds with that of physics protein powerhouse is capable of generators to cellphones. That’s what
the Carleton-founded Ottawa Medical victim has received, explains Wilkins. when she realized there was a great converting light into metabolic en- we believe this is capable of.”
Physics Institute. Looking for misrepairs is especially opportunity to affect people’s lives. ergy. The daunting challenge for these The pair started working on the
student researchers is to harness the idea in their first year at university,
Carleton’s Faculty of Science now has protein’s energy and extract enough phoning around to various academic
over 10,000 alumni living all over the electrical current to power anything, and government labs to see if anyone !
world — and some are online right now! no matter the size. was willing to provide enough of the Fast fact...
“However, if they can come up bacteria to get them started.
with molecules that produce more After contacting several groups, a Bacteriorhodopsin is is an intensely
Find your former classmates today researcher at the University of Cali- purple-colored protein which can be
in the Carleton Café — the exclusive electricity, or ones that are specifi- fornia at Berkeley answered their call found in the cells of microbes that
cally engineered to pump out a lot of
online community for Carleton alumni. current, … then this will have a lot of by sending them some samples. Then live in extreme environments such as
salt marshes and salt lakes. when the
Get in touch with our new online post- potential in the future,” says Bill Will- Perry Fleming, a technical officer microbe’s nutrients go scarce, the cell
card tool. Use your alumni ID number more, a professor in the Institute of from the National Research Council membranes that are rich in the protein
to log in at carleton.ca/alumni. Biochemistry who joined Chouchani of Canada, provided them with some serve as a light-converting enzyme that
Over 10,000 in a television interview with CBC’s much-needed lab space for a few the protein pumps protons across the
keeps the organism’s life cycle going.
weeks that summer. Throughout the
Canada Now last spring.
The process for making the bacte- last academic year, Biology professor cell’s membrane, transporting charged
ions in and out of the cell.
alumni worldwide ria is certainly promising. Machinery Jim Cheetham also gave the pair some
used to isolate, purify, and grow the professional advice and lab space so Source: NASA Astrobiology Institute
6 EUREKA!  FALL 2005 eur eka.carleton.ca 7