Freshmen take top prize for virus research

FIU freshmen Odaimy Ayala and Bryant Estadella noticed subtle splashes of color on posters on display at a recent Howard Hughes Medical Institute conference in Washington D.C.

Ayala and Estadella were on their way to a morning session and they weren’t sure if the presentation floor was open for viewing yet. Their eyes zeroed in and noticed the colors were actually ribbons awarded to the best presentations of the conference. Teal ribbons were awarded for honorable mention and blue ones were awarded for first place. The duo was there to represent their general biology class that had conducted research as part of an innovative HHMI program. They were among those with posters on display.

“We kind of snuck around to where our poster was because we didn’t know if we were allowed to be there right at that time,” Ayala said. “I don’t think we actually thought we had won anything, but we still wanted to look.”

Seventy-five posters were presented at the conference, including ones from Brown University, Johns Hopkins University, Carnegie Mellon University and many more. To their surprise, their poster was one of only five awarded a blue ribbon.

Odaimy Ayala, left, and Bryant Estadella won first place for their class’ biology presentation.

As part of HHMI’s Science Education Alliance (SEA), undergraduate students study recently discovered bacteria-infecting viruses, referred to as bacteriophages. Their work involves isolating bacteriophages from local soil, extracting DNA and analyzing genomes. These viruses are thought to only infect bacteria and could have far-reaching implications for treating illnesses caused by bacteria. FIU biologists Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty and John Makemson brought the program to FIU last fall after a competitive application process. Sixteen incoming freshmen, including Ayala and Estadella, were selected for the year-long program.

“When I got the email from FIU about the class, I applied right away,” Estadella said. “I just saw viruses, viruses, viruses everywhere. It was a chance to do research right away. I thought it was an amazing opportunity.”

Estadella hopes to pursue a medical research career studying infectious diseases. Ayala would like to become a doctor. Their aspirations are similar to many of their classmates.

Currently, 81 institutions throughout the United States participate in the SEA Phage program. Designed to engage college freshmen in hands-on research from the onset of their academic careers, SEA Phage is generating new data for an area of microbiology that, up to this point, has been lacking in scientific inquiry. Bacteriophages flourish in just about every environment on Earth. But despite their abundance, the genetic diversity of these viruses and the function of their genes remains unknown. This is because only a relatively small number of bacteriophages have been isolated, making comparative analyses difficult. Students like Ayala and Estadella are changing that.

“We know that by conducting this basic science, this work could eventually lead to new treatments for diseases caused by bacteria, like tuberculosis,” Rodriguez-Lanetty said.

While the course is offered by the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, the professors say mathematics and biomedical engineering students participated along with biology majors. The course will be offered again this fall.