By Jo McCulty Robert Tabita is the director of the new Plant-Microbe Genomics Facility. The lab is part of a three-university consortium to improve genomics facilities in Ohio.

Decoding DNA name of the game for new genomics lab

Tucked in an unassuming lab on the fourth floor of the Biological Sciences building are high-powered machines capable of decoding the very essence of life.

The Plant-Microbe Genomics Facility officially opened for business on Nov. 6. It's home to equipment with names like"high-throughput sequencer"and"microarrayer"and other machines that can decipher and arrange DNA, the stuff in all of our cells that carries hereditary and genetic information.

Creating the lab was a necessary step for Ohio State, said Robert Tabita, the director of the new lab and a professor and eminent scholar of microbiology and plant biology. Tabita also heads the plant molecular biology/biotechnology program.

"Scientists here who are involved in life sciences research at the molecular level must have access to facilities like this to do current, state-of-the-art research,"Tabita said."We've been woefully behind with regard to developing these kinds of facilities on campus and also in developing interdisciplinary academic and research programs that can take advantage of this new technology."

Although it will be a few months before the facility is completely up and running, some functions are already available, such as automatic DNA sequencing. Researchers already have experiments lined up to use other specialized equipment, which will be available in the future.

And while the lab is housed in Columbus, Ohio State is part of a three-university consortium to improve genomics facilities that includes Ohio University and the University of Toledo. The Ohio Board of Regents awarded the universities a total of $1.2 million toward the $1.8 million investment in the facility. The universities provided the rest of the funding.

"Scientists at Ohio institutions can take advantage of genomics technology and, just as exciting, develop projects that simply couldn't be done before,"Tabita said.

On a more intimate scale, Tabita hopes that the facility will foster more collaboration around campus.

"Genomics research is something that could galvanize the entire campus,"Tabita said."It takes more than people trained in working with genes to learn how genes function and work, and especially to apply this knowledge. Scientists in several fields, such as engineering, computational sciences, medicine, pharmacy, agriculture and biological sciences, can all get on board with this kind of research.

"Many researchers have a need to decode the kind of DNA that they're working with, whether it's human, animal, plant or microbial,"Tabita said. DNA has a genetic code; this code is related to a"sequence"of basic building blocks -- and that's what makes DNA unique. The machines -- the microarrayer and sequencer and others -- decipher these codes and let scientists know when the genes are turned on, giving them insight into why and how genes behave the way they do.

Knowing the basic sequence of a certain organism's DNA could pave the way to future research.

"For example, we might have a type of bacteria that can clean up certain toxic spills,"Tabita said."We're now able to figure out which genes give that bacteria the ability to eat away the chemical. Once we know how the organism removes the pollutants, we can use the info for further research.

"On the human level, a scientist may want to know how certain organisms respond to stress, or how a specific body tissue might respond to any kind of stress,"he said."We can determine what genes are affected by what stressors."

Tabita plans to bring more people on board as the facility grows. Right now, he works with Michael Zianni, a research associate in microbiology, and administrative associate Beth Witkowski. Tabita plans to bring in a research scientist who also serves as facility manager. Plans also include involving graduate and undergraduate students in future research.

For more information, visit the Plant-Microbe Genomics Facility Web site at www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~pmgf/.

Kiplinger Foundation increases endowment

Ohio State has received a gift of $2 million from the Washington, D.C.-based Kiplinger Foundation. The gift will augment the existing endowment supporting the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism, a mid-career master's degree program for professional journalists at the School of Journalism and Communication, which is part of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The funds, which will increase the endowment to more than $5.5 million by 2004, will ensure that the Kiplinger program can support at least eight journalists each year. In addition, the new funds will underwrite an improved Kiplinger Program Report, an annual publication distributed to major publications and broadcasters. Kips devote two academic quarters to the production of this report, which investigates a single major policy issue each year.

"We look forward to the sustained growth of the Kiplinger program, a true jewel in the crown of Ohio State and an initiative in which we take great pride,"said President William E. Kirwan."We are also very proud of our association with the Kiplinger family. Thanks to their vision, leadership and faith in our partnership, the University and its journalism and communication programs continue to advance with strength and vigor."

Pamela Hollie is the Kiplinger Professor with the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio State.

"We have been heartened by what we see as the strengthening of leadership within both the School of Journalism and Communication and the Kiplinger program," said Knight Kiplinger, grandson of W. M. Kiplinger and president of The Kiplinger Washington Editors Inc."We sense that Carroll Glynn (director, School of Journalism and Communication) and Pamela Hollie (Kiplinger Professor) have the desire, talent and energy to revitalize both the school and the Kiplinger program, helping to make them even more of a credit to Ohio State and The Kiplinger Foundation than they already are."

The Kiplinger program was established at Ohio State in 1971 by Austin Kiplinger to honor his father, W. M. Kiplinger, a 1912 Ohio State journalism graduate. Designed to help develop journalistic expertise, the program provides financial assistance of $20,000, in addition to tuition, fees, support for an individual project and an annual policy research trip to Washington, D.C., for that year's group of Kips.

The program allows Kiplinger fellows, who are selected in the spring of each year, to explore a wide range of public affairs and public policy topics. Past Kiplinger fellows have used the year to become more knowledgeable in business coverage or international affairs, and many have produced marketable, groundbreaking journalism.

In addition to the Kiplinger program, the Kiplinger endowment supports the Kiplinger Professorship, currently held by Hollie, a veteran journalist who began her career at The Wall Street Journal and later became a national and foreign correspondent and columnist for the New York Times. The ninth director of the Kiplinger program, Hollie has held the position since September 1999.

"The Kiplinger Foundation has made an invaluable contribution to journalism and the training of professional journalists, many of whom are award-winning reporters and editors,"Hollie said.

The Kiplinger Foundation is the grant-making arm of The Kiplinger Washington Editors Inc., publishers of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine. The foundation has supported the Ohio State journalism program through the endowment and, in recent years, through annual gifts to supplement endowment income.

next page...