Department of Biological Sciences

Published Straight Out of Class

As part of their final project in BIOL A451: Microbial Biotechnology, UAA Biological Sciences students James Wilson, Sarah Gering, Jessica Pinard and Ryan Lucas worked under the mentorship of Dr. Brandon Briggs to investigate how genetically engineering microbial pathways and enzymes can lead to better bio-production of ethylene, isoprene and isobutene — gaseous alkenes that can be used to create industrial chemicals and polymers. Their findings were published in Biotechnology for Biofuels.

Faculty Spotlight

Researchers from the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), in collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and the Alaska Departments of Environmental Conservation and Health and Social Services, have developed an in-state capability to detect COVID-19 in wastewater in Alaska.

Read more about their research

Nanopore Day Demo at UAA

During Friday’s Nanopore Day, UAA Biological Sciences students Xiao Bai, Ralf Dagdag and Matthew Redlinger led demonstrations featuring Oxford Nanopore’s hand-held MinION sequencing device. Researchers, including students at UAA, have begun to perform deep sequencing in their laboratories with the MinION sequencing device.

See Nanopore Day Demo Pictures