Mollie H. Wright, a rising junior at Hamilton College, received a stipend from the Ralph E. Hansmann Science Student Support Fund to study "how mutant bacteria transform carbon tetrachloride in iron-respiration of surface proteins." The Ralph E. Hansmann Science Students Support Fund is given to support research in all sciences and mathematics. Her faculty advisor is Assistant Professor of Biology Michael L. McCormick.
Wright will focus on a particular iron-respiring bacterium called Shewanella oneidensis. She will work with mutant strands of Shewanella that are missing a key chemical in respiratory strains. One of her goals is to determine how the missing chemical affects the bacteria in respiration of organic cells. She will also study Shewanella's ability to transform carbon tetrachloride, the sixth most common contaminant on the surface of Earth today. Carbon tetrachloride can most often be found in contaminated ground water and the surrounding soil. The question is whether or not Shewanella can respire carbon tetrachloride and survive without forming a toxic intermediate. The applications of Wright's research will help in the fade of environmental contaminants on the Earth's surface, which is the overall goal of Professor McCormick's lab.
Wright is the daughter of William and Hope Wright of Stewart Road in Stevenson, Md. She is a graduate of Saint Timothy's School and is majoring in biology at Hamilton.
Wright will focus on a particular iron-respiring bacterium called Shewanella oneidensis. She will work with mutant strands of Shewanella that are missing a key chemical in respiratory strains. One of her goals is to determine how the missing chemical affects the bacteria in respiration of organic cells. She will also study Shewanella's ability to transform carbon tetrachloride, the sixth most common contaminant on the surface of Earth today. Carbon tetrachloride can most often be found in contaminated ground water and the surrounding soil. The question is whether or not Shewanella can respire carbon tetrachloride and survive without forming a toxic intermediate. The applications of Wright's research will help in the fade of environmental contaminants on the Earth's surface, which is the overall goal of Professor McCormick's lab.
Wright is the daughter of William and Hope Wright of Stewart Road in Stevenson, Md. She is a graduate of Saint Timothy's School and is majoring in biology at Hamilton.
