Research Stories

by Linley Erin Hall

Karen Chow:
Sampling the world of bioengineering

When Karen Chow was a senior in high school, she knew she wanted to be an engineer. She just didn't know what kind. A day camp at ASU turned her on to bioengineering. Now a senior, Chow has already performed research in three different laboratories and presented her work at one of the premier scientific conferences in the United States.

She began as a sophomore in the laboratory of Vincent Pizziconi, an associate professor in the Harrington Department of Bioengineering.

"I had never worked in a lab outside of class," Chow says. "I wanted to see what it was like. It's an amazing world."

In Pizziconi's lab she worked with a bacterium called Chloroflexus aurantiacus. This bacterium is interesting because it thrives in hot environments and can obtain energy in lots of ways. Chow learned to grow cells using sterile technique as she studied the growth characteristics of the bacterium.

Karen Chow

That summer she traveled to Harvard to work on a related project with C. aurantiacus. When Chow returned to ASU, she joined the lab of Lokesh Joshi, director of the Center for Glycosciences and Technology in the Biodesign Institute.

"I wasn't very excited about leaving Professor Pizziconi's lab–I enjoyed it there," Chow says. "But I wanted to try something different and learn more about genetics and proteins."

Chow's research with Joshi focuses on a process called glycosylation. Proteins called glycosyltransferases attach chains of sugar molecules to other proteins. Many of these sugary proteins are part of the cell membrane. They contribute to the surface properties of the cell.

Chow has been growing hamster cells that contain a glycosyltransferase from a plant called Arabadopsis thaliana. The glycosyltransferase is attached to green fluorescent protein. When exposed to blue light, the protein glows green. This allows the researchers to determine the location of the glycosyltransferase in the cell.

"Mammalian glycosyltransferases are very well understood, but plant glycosyltransferases are not," Chow says.

If the scientists can learn about the function of plant glycosyltransferase genes using mammalian cells, then in the future they might learn to manipulate plant glycosylation machinery. This could lead to plants that actually manufacture useful protein-based drugs.

Chow finds that her experiences in the lab often come up in her classes. "My cell biology class related directly to what I was doing in lab. We would talk about something like polymerase chain reaction, and I'd think, 'Hey, I did that just yesterday,'" she says.

In February 2006, Chow was one of 10 ASU students to present posters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. She had presented before, but this was the first time she was judged.

"It's a good way to learn about your project because you have to be able to teach it to someone else," she says. Chow isn't sure what her future holds, but she's considering pursuing a master's degree in public health.

For more information about research on glycobiology, contact Lokesh Joshi, Ph.D., The Biodesign Institute, 480.727.7367. Send e-mail to Lokesh.Joshi@asu.edu. To learn about other projects, visit the Institute's web site at http://biodesign.asu.edu

Read "Scientists Next: Part 1"

Read "Scientists Next: Part 2"