The findings released in the journal Cell could make it easier to locate similar genes in human DNA. The study is part of a decade-long search for the genetic causes of epilepsy.
The research team has located the first of several epilepsy-causing genes in mice, human genetics Prof. Miriam Meisler said in a written statement. Meisler has spent the past five years working on neurological disease genes.
By developing chromosome maps, Meisler has been able to compare mouse chromosomes to those of human beings.
"This finding will help us to go on to evaluate the gene in humans, to determine whether it also plays a role in human epilepsy, and whether drugs that work through calcium channels may provide effective treatment for some forms of epilepsy," Meisler said.
In October 1996, Engineering Prof. Stephen Wright, who specializes in civil environmental engineering, devised four solutions designed to reduce future wave damage in the harbor.
According to Wright, Ontonagon Harbor has the misfortune of being almost perfectly aligned with the conditions that create brutal waves. The waves' alignment places it on the worst possible trajectory for receiving the waves' fullest force.
In the last few years, waves have caused severe damage to the harbor's structures in addition to causing soil erosion around a state highway bridge.
Wright attributed the property damage to a combination of high waves and increased water levels. To study the phenomenon, Wright and his students built a scale model of Ontagon Harbor.
Most of the harbor's details were replicated in the College of Engineering's hydraulics modeling laboratory using videotape of the harbor.
The University will receive $500,000 for its commitment to integrating research and undergraduate education.
The award ceremony will be held tomorrow at NSF headquarters in Arlington, Va.
UROP is the largest undergraduate research program at the University. LSA launched the program in 1989, with 14 minority students. More than 2,500 students have participated in the program since its inception.
Research topics include mechanisms underlying initiation, distribution and accumulation of individual bloom-forming species.
Contact Paul Cunningham at 936-1289 or via e-mail at paulc@umich.edu
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Marc Lightdale.