Some USM students dream of leaving the state to pursue more specialized fields or just to excape the cold weather. A new research program headed by Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences David Champlin and funded by the National Science Foundation is keeping some of that restless talent in-state. The program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to get laboratory experience normally restricted to graduate students and professional researchers. The aim of the program is to study a phenomenon that takes place in cancer cells. The research is only being done at USM and could eventually bring royalty money to the University.
Champlin’s research revolves around an unusual cell-splitting process in a type of moth known as Manduca sexta or, in caterpillar form, the tobacco hornworm. The plucky insect is common in Maine and throughout the United States and is a workhorse in biological research. It also has special properties that are of particular interest to Champlin’s work in genetics.
“I’m not a bug person; I’m a genetics person,” Champlin assured the FREE PRESS.
Champlin was joined by Paul Allee, one of the student researchers, in explaining the goals and nature of the research. Allee, a biology major, is a full-time researcher who would have left USM if not for Champlin’s program. “I came to college just to get credits to go to chiropractor school-I’ve kind of been seduced by this,” he explained. Allee is now employed as a full-time researcher for the program. The loquacious biology major bravely undertook the explanation of the project in layman’s terms.
The research revolves around a phenomenon that occurs when the hornworm metamorphoses into a moth, called trans-differentiation. All cells use the same DNA, but they become specialized early in an animal’s development in a process called differentiation. After that, the cell has a specific job and only does that one job. Also, when differentiated cells divide, they only make more like themselves. They don’t normally divide to form an entirely different type of cell. During its transformation to a moth, though, some of the tobacco hornworm’s cells do just that.
“What makes these different is that they’re skin cells but poised to become eye cells,” Allee said. In a process is called trans-differentiation, some of the specialized skin cells on the young moth’s head change directly into eye cells. This is important because trans-differentiation also happens in humans – when healthy cells become cancerous.
“If we can understand how trans-differentiation happens in a simple organism, we can apply it to more complex organisms like humans,” Allee explained.
Therein lies the practical value of the research. None of the research translates directly into cancer research, but nobody else is doing these experiments.
The new program is unique to USM, and it is changing the way the University trains its science students.
“Traditionally, USM has been a teaching school, but it’s becoming more of a research university,” Champlin said.
All of the researchers are undergraduate students employed by the University as full-time and part-time researchers. In return for their time, the undergraduate students get paid experience doing work not normally available to undergrads. This format is particularly suited to USM because many students here are paying their way through college.
“It’s an opportunity for learning that is quite different than what you get in a lecture-based learning format,” Champlin said.
In the future, the program could become self-sufficient and even earn patents for USM. Champlin likens the project to a seed that could become a tree and eventually bear fruit. He has even talked to a patent lawyer about a new process for cloning genes. If the process were to be adopted by companies, they would have to pay royalties to the University. “You can’t have that as your goal,” Champlin said. “It would be a gross misrepresentation to say we’re trying to cure cancer or form a multimillion dollar company.”
“You do think about it, though,” said Allee.