News & Events

May 15, 2024

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher Natalie Farny is launching a $1.2 million, five-year project that could advance the use of bacteria for environmental cleanups by determining how a critical biological process regulates genes in bacteria as they adapt to conditions outside of laboratories.

Farny, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology, will examine the role of methylation on gene expression in Pseudomonas putida, a soil bacteria that was first identified in Japan and is considered a versatile organism for industrial and environmental engineering. The National Science Foundation has awarded Farny a prestigious CAREER Award to fund the project, which will provide research opportunities for WPI students and generate new undergraduate educational resources focused on synthetic biology, a field that applies engineering design principles to build novel biological systems for use in fields such as medicine, manufacturing, and agriculture.  read more...

https://www.wpi.edu/news/wpi-researcher-receives-12-million-award-determine-how-environment-impacts-gene-expression-bacteria