Biology students at Cal State Dominguez Hills will soon be able to do their own DNA sequencing, seeing the molecular structures of plants, bacteria and other living things more closely than ever before. The Carson university's Department of Biology has won a National Science Foundation grant for $216,310 to purchase an Illumina MiSeq DNA sequencer. “We can do tons more experiments,” said Karin Kram, an assistant professor of biology who led a team that sought the grant. “One of the things I'd really like to do is have students in my microbiology classes identify microbes found on our phones. Now, we identify them to a genus level with biochemical tests. But, with this, we can identify ... Read More
Biochemistry
Toyota and California State University, Dominguez Hills bring STEM Learning to Schools in the Los Angeles Region
“Thanks to Toyota and the Keck Foundation, we are now much more equipped to take engineering and mathematical concepts that are theoretical and physically put them in the hands of students to bring STEM to life,” said California State University Dominguez Hills President Willie J. Hagan, ahead of the debut of Four new mobile fabrication laboratories (fab labs) at the Carson campus on September 27. Toyota and the W.M. Keck Foundation partnered to create the fab labs, to help students enhance skills in science, technology, engineering and math. The labs, said program creators, will become part of a global network of about 900 labs that share common equipment and software. “The fab labs are ... Read More
Faculty Awarded NSF Grant to Enhance Research with DNA Sequencer
(CARSON, Calif.) - California State University, Dominguez Hills' (CSUDH) Department of Biology has been awarded a three-year, $216,310 National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation grant to enhance research and curriculum at the university with a next-generation DNA sequencer. The Illumina MiSeq DNA sequencer will significantly advance the university's research capacity and bolster faculty instruction, while enabling students to learn some of the latest biological research techniques and improving their graduate school opportunities and future success in bio-science fields. The NSF grant was awarded to a team of CSUDH faculty: assistant professors of biology Karin ... Read More
Toyota and CSUDH Dedicate Mobile Fabrication Laboratories
(CARSON, Calif.) - Four new mobile fabrication laboratories (fab labs) to help students build science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills will soon make their debut in Los Angeles County. California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) together with Toyota and the W.M. Keck Foundation came together to create the fab labs, which will become part of a global network of nearly 900 mobile labs that share common equipment and software. The unveiling and demonstration will take place Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. at CSUDH. The dedication event will include engaging science activities for local middle school students, and special remarks from Toyota representatives, CSUDH ... Read More
Still Laboratory Seeks ‘Novel Lead Compound’ to Help Treat Cancer
“Does anyone have a cardiac pacemaker or medical device implants? How about keys, a mobile phone, or even a wallet? We wouldn't want anything to get damaged or erased.” These are questions Patrick Still, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), gingerly asks people who venture into the new campus Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility and approach the new JEOL 400 MHz NMR spectrometer, which the Still Lab uses for cancer research. Still uses the NMR spectrometer to conduct his research on plant extracts he procured from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Active Repository Program. The extracts were prepared from ... Read More
