Expanding Horizons

Written by Barbara Jewett | Photos by Molly Fried

The first cohort of QCB’s Villa Cisse Scholars program visited the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign July 15-26 for an immersive orientation into biophysics research. Participants were taught to use digital tools like optical tweezers (a highly focused laser beam to hold and move microscopic and sub-microscopic objects like atoms, nanoparticles and droplets, in a manner similar to tweezers) and nitrogen vacancies (a new technology being developed that researchers are hoping to use for more differentiating between different states of the molecule or of the surrounding molecules themselves). They also explored avenues of potential research through reading and reporting on assigned scientific papers and visiting some QCB members’ labs in preparation for selecting a research team to join.

This visit was just the first step on these budding scientists’ journey with QCB. They’ll spend the upcoming academic year reading journal articles, participating in regular VC program and lab meeting session, and return to Illinois next summer for a 10-week research experience for undergraduates where they’ll participate in research activities with their chosen lab.

Meet the 2024-25 Villa Cisse Scholars

What they hope to learn

At the end of their first week at Illinois they sat down with QCB’s Communication Director Barbara Jewett and Communications Intern Molly Fried to discuss the program. The following discussion has been edited for length and clarity.

What attracted you to apply for the program, and what do you hope to gain by participating?

Kiah: Something that kind of attracted me to this program was the fact that it would be the bios, a lot different than what I’ve already had experience in at my home college. We were doing a lot of more microbio-based science, and I don’t want to necessarily narrow myself in right before I start applying to grad school. I want to know what the various areas of bio research have to offer. So that’s the main thing. And the second thing was to be more well versed in a variety of skills.

Nilani: What initially attracted me to apply was hearing about the missions of the program, as well as reading about all of the advancements that the center has made including successfully developing a simulation of how a living minimal cell works. I was immediately captivated by the thought of how I could contribute to furthering growth and discoveries in studies of the cell, and I am excited to work with the technologies that do that. I am looking forward to gaining hands-on experience in a research setting with proper guidance from mentors, in order to further develop new skills and knowledge that will serve me in my future career as a researcher/physician. Ultimately, I hope that observing cellular components and processes in detail will help enhance my understanding of how all life works.

Sealtiel: Upon reading the program’s mission statement I realized it was a great opportunity for myself as the center’s goals aligned with my own interests as a Biology major on the Pre-med track. I applied with the goal of gaining research skills as well as technical skills in a laboratory setting and apply them outside of doing research. Additionally, I saw it as a good way to receive mentorship and advice from graduate students and professionals in this field. I was especially fascinated with the various accomplishments made by scientists and students at UIUC from the reading I did before arriving. I hope to someday work under or alongside such individuals.

I know we’re only at the end of week one, but what has been the coolest thing you’ve done so far?

Kiah: I would agree, the optical tracking thing that we did was also really cool. So what Arlette just talked about, what I’m about to talk about is these are the experiments that are in a class [Physics 407]. So we got to do some of those. And the one that we did before, or the one that my group started with, first, me and Nilani, we used a laser that delivered photons to whatever we put in front of it, basically very small objects. But you could also put bacteria or proteins as well. And so the laser, as far as I understand, the laser delivers the photons, so that when photons hit the bead, or whatever you put in front of it, the momentum has a negative force, and that pulls the object in front of it closer to the center of the laser. I don’t know if I’m explaining this. I had no very formal understanding of what biophysics was before this program, and to do these experiments and see how we apply them to be part of the things in my bio class, I think is cool. It has really given me a different appreciation for physics, because I really didn’t appreciate what we were doing, [for example] Johnny has three apples. Johnny throws one apple.

Nilani: The two lasers we have gotten to work with are definitely at the top. The optical tweezers was the first one I got to see, and basically we first practiced capturing beads with the laser in order to get a feel for moving everything. Then, we prepared slides with E.coli samples, and with the same laser we were able to pinpoint individual bacteria that were stuck on the slides in order to observe the torque speed of their flagellum, which either slowed down or even completely stopped depending on where the laser was on them. After that, we worked with onion cells, and we got to observe, capture, and actually move vesicles that were actively engaged in cytoplasmic streaming. The second laser I worked with involved nanodiamonds and nitrogen-vacancy centers, and we tested how microwave frequencies and magnetic forces affected them. I got to learn how to adjust the intensity of the laser in order to achieve the best images possible to actually see the nanodiamonds, and how to align the microwave and magnet on top. I also learned about the three different graph patterns that are seen depending on whether you use just the microwave, the magnet, or both at the same time, and what variations in the results mean.

Sealtiel: The coolest part of this experience so far has been being able to work with molecules at such a microscopic level. I’ve definitely developed a greater appreciation for the way science and technology has allowed people to manipulate even the smallest of molecules. For example, in the past few days we were able to use lasers to examine and pick up nanodiamonds, beads, and vesicles in a sample of onion cells and E. coli.

Arlette: Yeah, part of what is cool about the intersection of biology and physics is that they’re both doing a lot of experimental research and developing technology to better do that research. So I could see how you could just be a biologist doing biological research and use these tools, and they would be so helpful, and it’s cool that we have that understanding, and that we got to be exposed and get comfortable using them.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Arlette, Nilani, Sealtiel: Yeah! We really like them!