Key to the Future.
Associate Professor of Chemistry Mark Levandoski and his student assistants conducted research at Grinnell on the family of proteins in the nervous system that respond to nicotine. The proteins act as molecular portals that open and close, reacting to “keys” as a means of communication between cells.
Levandoski and his student collaborators discovered a new “lock” located on the protein that may eventually contribute toward new drugs that block the effects of nicotine. The biological chemistry majors from '07, '08, and '09 co-authored a paper with Levandoski. Research that could change the world.
Research that could change the world
Undergraduates rarely have the opportunity to conduct advanced research of this nature, much less be in a position to see it through. What is so exciting about undergraduate research is that they don't know what they "can and can't do." Undergraduate liberal arts students, within their curriculum and throughout their student lives, are cross-pollinating their intellectual reserves.
Associate Professor of Chemistry Mark Levandoski and biological chemistry students have recently received a grant to take the research another step. Learn more about how Levandoski includes students in his work.
The Grinnell Herold-Register published a front page article about the grant in May of 2010. Read the newspaper article here.
