Baylor research, from ‘bugs delivering drugs’ to a student improving heart transplant treatment
What if bacteria could be a tool to better deliver cancer drugs?
How would heart transplants be improved if hearts were better preserved while waiting for transplant?
These are just two of the many questions being addressed these days by Baylor researchers — professors and students alike — in departments across campus. It would take far more than this blog post to adequately capture the scope of Baylor research, but we can share a few examples of the latest work at BU:
* Bugs Delivering Drugs — You might not expect a bacteria associated with food-borne illness to be a tool for fighting cancer, but Dr. Michael VanNieuwenhze, University Distinguished Professor of Biology, and his students are using just that. Listeria monocytogenes can penetrate human cells, so this Baylor team modifies them to be safe for humans but deadly to cancer cells. They attach a known cancer-killing toxin to the surface of the listeria bug to deliver cancer drugs more effectively for individuals with colon cancer. Their work was recently published in the prestigious Cell Chemical Biology journal, and they hope to eventually pursue therapeutics using the process.
* Preserving Hearts for Transplant — Baylor junior Abhinav Rajkumar is still an undergraduate student, but he’s working on a project that may save lives for individuals needing a heart transplant. Rajkumar, an Honors College student from Frisco, Texas, is part of a team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Heart Institute studying the behavior of donor hearts in the important period between the death of the donor and the transplantation within the recipient. He examined donor heart tissue through molecular and data analysis, supporting the effort which yielded important insights about the period when a heart is deprived of oxygen before it is cooled and preserved, and how improved techniques could make more transplants available.
* Next-Generation Mosquito Repellants — To keep mosquitos at bay (and more importantly, stop the spread of the diseases they carry), it helps to think like a mosquito. Dr. Jason Pitts, associate professor of biology, has helped scientists do just that — and his work could result in more effective next-gen mosquito repellants. Pitts’ groundbreaking study in the Nature Communications journal discovered that mosquitos have a built-in warning system to detect a compound found in plant-based repellants — a single nerve cell that causes them to stay away. Armed with this knowledge, scientists can now more precisely develop compounds that bypass this nerve to more effectively protect people from mosquitos and disease.
* International Research Partnership for Fish and Water Health — Baylor research reaches all the way to the Czech Republic for this project, which has generated significant media coverage in the region. Dr. Bryan Brooks, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science and Public Health, supported work done by his research partners at the University of South Bohemia to measure pharmaceuticals in water. In a first-of-its-kind real-world project that tracked aquatic life from birth to adulthood both upstream and downstream of water treatment plants, researchers found bioaccumulation of neuroactive pharmaceuticals above recommended levels. The research helps leaders more accurately consider how to protect fisheries and the critical role they play for the environment and other uses, like food.
Of course, these are just a few examples of impactful Baylor research taking place right now. These diverse unique collaborations and projects are no surprise at a university recognized as a Top-40 undergraduate research and undergraduate teaching institution with a “Pro Mundo” focus on serving our neighbors worldwide.
Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!
[Interested in learning about other Baylor research efforts? Visit research.baylor.edu and browse our BaylorProud archives.]