As an international student from Malaysia, biochemistry and molecular biology junior Liyana Aziz was not used to the cold Michigan winter as a freshman.
After falling ill that winter and going to a doctor, Aziz found she had the flu, but even with the medications her doctor prescribed, she stayed sick for a full month.
MSU assistant professor in chemical engineering and materials science Tim Whitehead’s work and design of a new protein might be the solution to the frustration of flu-ridden individuals such as Aziz.
While doing postdoctoral work on a research team at the University of Washington in Seattle, Whitehead co-led a project designing a new protein that, when added to a cell, has the ability to protect the cell against live viral infections, Whitehead said.
“I feel happy for other people,” Aziz said of the development, adding she will only be here for one more winter and does not expect to have issues with the flu when she goes back home. “It’s not a big deal for me, but … I know how it feels to be sick.”
This is the first time deep DNA sequencing has been used in this way to design a protein, said Aaron Chevalier, a graduate student in Baker’s lab who co-led the project and for whom Whitehead was a mentor.
“This is the first step in a long process, but I’m pretty optimistic,” Whitehead said, adding he is hopeful this work could one day result in a medicine able to treat large-scale flu epidemics.
Although Whitehead said the research team has patent applications for its work, he was unable to comment on whether a pharmaceutical company has licensed the protein to work on a drug yet.
Whitehead said he finished his work on the two-year project in August 2011 and began working at MSU soon after, continuing to advance his work in his own MSU laboratory. He currently is working on designing proteins for use in clean energy-based transportation.
Funding for the research was provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, according to MSU News.
The research was particularly exciting for English senior Corinne Vieracker, who also suffered from the flu her freshman year.
“Especially on a college campus where the flu can run rampant … it’s awesome,” Vieracker said.
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