Radiation BiologyRadiation biology is a multidisciplinary field of study that draws from physical, chemical and biological principles in order to explain the effects of radiation on all levels of life: molecular, cellular, organ, organismal and populations. Areas of application include structural biology, DNA damage and repair, cell signal transduction, cell death mechanisms, membrane transport, carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, tumor biology, inflammation, angiogenesis, risk assessment, food processing and radioecology / homeland security. Within the Department of Biological Sciences, active radiation biology research programs investigate DNA damage and repair, radiation-induced cell death (as applicable to cancer radiotherapy), and synergistic effects from combining chemotherapeutic agents plus irradiation.
Multiple, unique radiation sources are (or soon will be) available to researchers at NIU. Therapeutic fast neutrons and an enhanced thermal neutron beam are available at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory at the NIU Institute for Neutron Therapy (NIU INT) (www.neutrontherapy.niu.edu/neutrontherapy/aboutus/index.shtml). Protons will become available to researchers in 2010 at the Northern Illinois Proton Therapy Research Center (NIPTRC) (http://www.niu.edu/protontherapy ), NIPTRC will focus on 3 areas of research: radiation biology, imaging and combinatorial therapeutic approaches.
BioinformaticsThe Bioinformatics program at NIU emphasizes the computer-assisted exploration biological problems. We teach the basic techniques and algorithms of bioinformatics, with an emphasis on genomics: sequence alignment, phylogenetics, genome annotation, analysis of expression data, with some treatment of protein structure. We give students the ability to write programs (in Perl) so they can automate their analysis and generate their own tools. We expect an extensive research project from each student. The program started as a non-thesis Master's degree, but we are moving towards requiring a formal thesis of all students. In addition, doctoral students may have a dissertation research project that focuses on bioinformatics/genomics, as well.
We have an ongoing collaboration with several of the Computer Science faculty and with the lab of Ross Overbeek at Argonne national Laboratory, working on issues relating to the automatic annotation of bacterial genomes.
The current research focus of the program is the genome of Bacillus megaterium. We have annotated all of the approximately 5900 genes, and we are exploring various issues related to the differences between two different sequenced strains. We have also pursued plant genome projects, and expect to find research opportunities in all taxonomic groups.
Biodiversity and Environmental ChangeThe diversity of life on earth (Biodiversity) represents a resource of unknown potential that is increasingly put at risk by human activities. Perhaps the most significant challenge of the 21st century is to resolve how to best utilize this resource while providing effective stewardship for future generations. Meeting this challenge requires a detailed understanding of the processes that promote, maintain, and diminish biodiversity at all levels of biological organization, from molecules to ecosystems:
* How can biodiversity be cataloged at genetic, species, and ecosystems levels?
* How and why does biodiversity vary on different temporal and spatial scales?
* What developmental, physiological, ecological and evolutionary mechanisms are responsible for biodiversity patterns in space and time?
* What is the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (e.g., biogeochemical cycles, soil nutrient accumulation, patterns of energy flow)?
* How does biodiversity respond to natural and human-induced environmental change and to what degree can these responses be predicted?
* What values does biodiversity have for human-kind and what are the consequences of the loss of biodiversity?
* How can biodiversity resources be managed and conserved?
* How are conflicts between utilization and stewardship best resolved?
Participants in the Biodiversity and Environmental Change Initiative seek to (1) provide an undergraduate and graduate curriculum addressing utilization and stewardship of biodiversity at local, regional, and global scales, (2) promote research and research collaborations related to biodiversity at different levels of biological organization, and (3) provide biodiversity expertise to the University, the community, and the region. Our approach is are necessarily multidisciplinary and involves curricular elements and colleagues from departments across NIU (e.g., Anthropology, Geography, Geology and Environmental Science, Philosophy, Political Science) and associations with other institutions and agencies (e.g., Field Museum, Burpee Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, Illinois Natural History Survey, area Forest Preserve Districts, state Departments of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).
Evolutionary StudiesEvolution is as close to a general theory of biology as we have. Evolutionary theory informs the study of all aspects of biology, from genomes to ecosystems. For example, concerns over H5N1 bird flu are based on the possibility that it may evolve the capacity to be transmitted between human individuals, while concerns over the effects of climate change are based on the possibility that many organisms may not evolve tolerance to these changing conditions. At the same time, evolutionary theory transcends the natural sciences, with implications for philosophy, political science, psychology, and social sciences. The evolutionary studies group primarily investigates evolutionary questions within the biological sciences, but also collaborates with colleagues in other departments (e.g., David Buller and Carl Gillett in Philosophy; Larry Arnhart and Rebecca Hanagan in Political Science) to explore the more general implications of evolutionary theory. In this context, NIU is one of the universities participating in the EvoS consortium led by DS Wilson at Binghamton University (http://evolution.binghamton.edu/evos). Together, we hope to build an integrative and interdisciplinary evolutionary studies program to advance scholarship as well as undergraduate and graduate education.
Plant Sciences (Plant Molecular Biology Center - PMBC)Research activities at the PMBC focus on molecular aspects of plant stress. Plants are sessile organisms. Consequently they have to adapt constantly to fluctuations in the environment. We study plant stress at various levels including biotic stress and abiotic stress. Research on biotic stresses includes the molecular mechanisms used by viruses or fungi to incite disease and to resist infection by plants, but also of the effect of environment on self-compatibility during pollination. Research on abiotic stress involves the role of such factors as temperature, light or nutrients. The PMBC laboratories collect basic knowledge about the relevant processes and disseminate this basic knowledge. The PMBC is obtaining fundamental data on the ways plants respond and adapt to environmental stress with the ultimate goal of applying this knowledge for plant modification so they can tolerate those stresses The research involves important crops such as barley, corn, rice, peas and soybeans, as well as model plants such as tobacco, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Petunia hybrida Still other species are studied because they are phylogenetically significant, of concern for conservation, or serve as useful models of physiology, host-parasite interactions or long-term adaptation to the environment. The PMBC supports a Core DNA Laboratory that provides services to NIU researchers including DNA sequencing, genotyping, and Quantitative Real-Time PCR. These services are available to other individuals and entities on a contractual basis.
An important mission of the PMBC is to train undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows and research specialists, in technical and theoretical methodologies relevant to plant molecular biology, biotechnology and genetic engineering. The PMBC faculty teach regular university courses and provide individual instruction to students carrying out experimental research in their laboratories.