MSI PI Wei-Shou Hu (professor, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science) and members of his research group are working with researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School to develop a method to grow SARS CoV-2 spike proteins. These spike proteins, which cover the outside of the virus and allow the virus to attach to cells, are used by researchers across the world to understand the properties of the novel coronavirus and to develop vaccines. Current methods of growing the spike proteins are too slow, but Professor Hu and his colleagues have developed a cell line that can continually produce the proteins. An article about this project is found on the College of Science and Engineering website: CSE Researchers Developing SARS CoV-2 Spike Proteins.
Professor Hu uses MSI for research into microbial, electrochemical, and integrated approaches for environmental remediation.