CBE undergraduate student Luisa Dell has been named a recipient of the Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering, a national award symposium for undergraduate researchers sponsored by North Carolina State University. Luisa was honored for her research over the summer with Kristala Prather of MIT, entitled 'Investigating Configurations of Two Quorum Sensing Systems'. Luisa, along with the other recipients, will receive an all-expense paid trip to NC State, and will present their research on October 22 – 23, 2023 in Raleigh, NC.
Luisa is in her senior year at the college, and is a member of the Keasling Lab.
About the Research
The research involved constructing different configurations of two quorum sensing (QS) systems on a single plasmid within a cell, with the aim of creating two independent systems. It had been reported that two QS systems, tra and rpa, are independent but previous studies suggested a lack of independence between these two systems. The project further investigated this lack of independence. Primers were designed for each respective configuration and then run through a full cloning process. The results from the project allowed further understanding of the transcriptional effects different plasmid constructs have on the system by comparing them to the previous results of the base strain.
About the Award
Future Leaders in Chemical Engineering, is a national award symposium. This is "A highly selective research symposium that's organized by the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State University. The 1 day symposium is a platform for the finest and brightest undergraduate researchers in the U.S. to present their work and be recognized for their achievements and potential as future leaders in chemical and biomolecular engineering."
For more information visit: https://www.cbe.ncsu.edu/research/future-leaders-in-chemical-engineering/