News

Attendees at the Amantes de la Ciencia event at the Science Museum in St. Paul got to see how researchers use MSI’s computers to create pictures of molecules. Mr. Yectli Huerta, a Unix Systems Administrator on MSI’s Systems and Operations Staff, showed students three-dimensional visualizations of molecules. Other participants included Dr. Carlos Sosa, an IBM employee who works with MSI, and MSI Principal Investigator Professor Lynda Ellis, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.

MSI staff presented several tutorials at the Building Bridges conference on April 16-17, 2009. The tutorials will cover a variety of topics concerning bioinformatics tools, software, and programming. A list of the specific tutorials can be found here. See the conference website for complete information.

A recent University News Service video features MSI associate fellow Professor Heinz Stefan (St. Anthony Falls Laboratory). Professor Stefan's group has completed a study showing that road salt is increasing the salinity of lake water in Minnesota. You can view the news video here.

An article by MSI Principal Investigator Stuart Goldstein (Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development) and his research group was featured in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Bacteriology. The researchers analyzed the structure of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, using electron cryotomography. A computer image of the spirochete appears on the cover of the journal.

MSI's new Web Developer, Brian Hayden, started on January 5, 2009. Brian has worked at the U since 2000, most recently in the Office of Information Technology as a software developer; he was the lead on the new Gophermail v2 system. We are very happy to welcome Brian to our team.

Regents Professor David Tilman, an MSI Principal Investigator, has been named the 2008 recipient of the International Prize for Biology for his research proving that biodiversity makes ecosystems more productive and resistant to drought, disease, and pests. His research was carried out at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. Tilman and his research group use MSI to host their database and Web page. They also use databases housed at the SDML for organizing decades of data and distributing it to ecology-research communities.

Teachers from Arlington BioSMART High School in St. Paul visited MSI on September 23. Arlington is a magnet school with a focus in science, math, and technology. Their program, BioSMART (Biology, Science, Math, Academic Rigor, and Technology), introduces students to careers in biotech industries.

Professor Steven Ruggles, Minnesota Population Center and a Principal Investigator at MSI, has been elected a University of Minnesota Regents Professor, the University's highest rank. Professor Ruggles specializes in the history of populations, known as historical demography, and he has done considerable research on the American family. He uses MSI core resources to aid in his analyses of population data. More information can be found at the University News site.

MSI Principal Investigator Professor Arthur Erdman, Director of the Medical Devices Center, and Dr. H. Birali Runesha, MSI Director of Scientific Computing and Applications, gave a presentation about virtual reality on September 17. The talk was presented to the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA). They reviewed a project for a virtual reality design system to be used for medical devices. More information about the meeting and presentation can be found at the PDMA Web site.