News

The University of Minnesota will lead a five-year project to create an international “network-of-networks” to develop quantum information systems. The project, called Global Quantum Leap, is funded by a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation. It will bring together nanofabrication and quantum technology. The Principal Investigator is MSI PI Steven Koester (professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering), with co-PIs from the U of M, Cornell University, Georgia Tech, and the University of Chicago.

In a recent paper in the American Journal of Botany, MSI PI George Weiblen (professor, Plant and Microbial Biology; Science Director and Curator of Plants, Bell Museum) and colleagues have developed a genetic test to determine the levels of THC and CBD in the plant Cannabis sativa. If it contains too much THC, the main compound that causes the sensation of being high, federal regulations require that the farmer destroy the crop.

Agriculture is critical to human civilization and is one of the greatest factors in impacts on natural resources and the environment. Gathering and using agricultural data has become critical to creating a sustainable and healthy world. Creating a system whereby all interested groups can make use of these data is a challenging project being undertaken by a number of organizations, including researchers at the University of Minnesota.

The Medical School’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology has been selected to be one of four Capacity Building Centers as part of the Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet). They have received a $6.7 million grant for this effort. SeroNet is the nation’s largest coordinated effort to study the immune response to COVID-19.

MSI PI Michael McAlpine (professor, Mechanical Engineering) and a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center has successfully 3D printed micron-scale fluid channels. Microfluidics are used for a variety of medical and biological tests. This was the first time such structures have been printed on a curved surface. The process also did not require a clean room.

From the beginning, researchers at the University of Minnesota have been active in the effort to understand and fight SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Many have stepped out of their customary research areas in order to solve problems related to the coronavirus. Several of these researchers, including MSI PIs, are featured in a story in the Fall 2020 issue of the U of M Foundation’s Discovery magazine: ‘The Audacity to Do Something.' MSI PIs featured in the story:

MSI PI Trevor Wardill (assistant professor, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior) and student Rachael Feord developed a new technology that has allowed them to investigate how a fruit fly’s brain responds to seeing color. Fruit flies have a much faster visual system than humans and other animals whose color vision has been studied previously. This research leads to a greater understanding of how animals respond to stimuli and how it could affect their behavior and survival.

Two MSI PIs have been named 2020 Fellows by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The shores of Lake Superior are home to varieties of rare, cold-weather plants known as arctic relicts. These plants have evolved to survive in the harsh conditions found in northern climates. However, climate change is affecting their habitats. MSI PI Briana Gross (associate professor, Biology, UMD) and members of her research group are studying some of these plants to learn more about how they might survive as their habitats warm.