White House Honors UMass Amherst Cell Biologist and Polymer Scientist with Highest Award for Early-Career Research

Nov. 8, 2010

Contact:

Janet Lathrop 413/545-0444

AMHERST, Mass. - The White House announced Nov. 5 that University of Massachusetts Amherst cell biologist Magdalena Bezanilla and polymer scientist Ryan Hayward are among 100 outstanding young researchers to receive a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). It is the highest award bestowed by the United States government upon scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.

Coordinated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the award is given on the basis of two criteria: Pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology, and commitment to community service, as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education or community outreach. Winners receive up to a five-year research grant to further their studies.

The Bezanilla lab’s research recognized by this award aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms guiding cell growth, specifically maintaining cell polarity. "The ability to polarize, that is distinguish one side of the cell from the other, is fundamental for all areas of biology," Bezanilla explains. It spans fields as diverse as microbial cell biology and animal development. Research in her lab focuses on highly polarized plant cells that exhibit growth by delivery of new cell wall components to a specific end of the cell. These are found in all plants and are critical for nutrient uptake and reproduction of most plant species.

Bezanilla and colleagues use the moss Physcomitrella patens for these studies because it has a developmental stage where all the cells are growing by tip growth. Most importantly, this plant is amenable to many modern molecular genetic tools. The moss is an emerging model system and the Bezanilla lab has contributed to research in this field by developing tools for rapid gene silencing, rescue of gene function and imaging techniques to enable high-resolution visualization of internal sub-cellular structures.

"We’ve already found a cadre of proteins that are essential for tip growth and we are now working to connect the dots between these proteins," says the biologist. "We hope to uncover the molecular pathway that controls and maintains polarized growth. Many of the proteins we’ve identified are involved in the actin cytoskeleton, a network of dynamic filaments within the cell that control many essential processes."

It’s important to note that this network is highly conserved among eukaryotes and many of the same molecules that are regulating this network in plant cells also function in other organisms. Therefore, findings from tip-growing plant cells could help scientists understand a wide range of systems and could help establish a generalizable pathway to polarization.

The Hayward group’s research recognized by the award centers on developing and understanding "soft polymer micro devices" that can change shape, adapt and perform tasks on demand or in response to a stimulus, for example, temperature or light changes. Soft polymer micro-devices may someday be used in micro-robotics, analytical "labs on a chip," sensors, bio-medical applications and materials able to adapt to their surroundings and clean or repair themselves. They are likely to become crucial elements in the next generation of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems or MEMS, which are tiny (about 1 to 100 micrometers) electrically controlled machines.

Currently, MEMS, found as motion detectors in smart phones or airbag and tire pressure sensors, for example, are limited by relying on hard materials such as silicon, metals and glassy polymers, which are stiff and can withstand only small deformations before breaking, Hayward explains. They work well in controlled environments but often fail when asked to perform in wet, variable or "messy" conditions, such as at the interface with biological organisms.

To address these problems, Hayward’s group is developing micro-fabrication strategies for "soft" polymer materials, such as gels and elastomers. Using nature as inspiration, he and colleagues are identifying flexible materials that can withstand large deformations and can work in wet environments, responding to a range of inputs including biochemical signals and visible light. "Nature is a master of fabricating systems such as cells, tissues, and organisms that respond to different stimuli and adapt their form and behavior accordingly," says Hayward.

Inspired by the way that kale plants develop ruffles through more rapid cell growth rates near leaf edges compared to the center, his group is engineering microscopic, self-folding sheets of "origami" that can rapidly and reversibly fold into precisely-defined, three-dimensional structures on demand. Another approach has them mimicking movement strategies used by micro-organisms, to build devices to help miniature robots move.

OSTP will host a PECASE award ceremony and reception soon in Washington, D.C. Nine federal departments and agencies nominate the most meritorious young scientists and engineers for PECASE to recognize researchers whose early accomplishments show the greatest promise for strengthening America’s leadership in science and technology and contributing to their agency’s mission.

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