Research highlights

The perfect storm

It may look like the top third of a grain bin, but beneath the structure, the winds are blowing. Iowa State researchers Partha Sarkar, Bill Gallus and Fred Haan have developed the largest ever tornado simulator constructed for engineering purposes (technically, Hollywood has the largest tornado simulator). While almost all previous simulators have generated stationery "tornadoes," the ISU simulator moves the vortex from above across the large ground plane below, allowing models to be "hit" by the tornado. The models are equipped with sensors that record the tornadoes' effects. See story.

Keep the ranch (dressing)

Take off the gloves, salad eaters, in your fight against fat. You actually need the stuff if you want the greens' cancer-fighting carotenoids to kick in. Wendy White, an Iowa State associate professor of food science and nutrition, has conducted a study that shows eating salad vegetables with some added fat promotes the absorption of lycopene, alpha- and beta-carotenes, all of which aid in the fight against cancer and heart disease. On the flip side, eating a salad completely devoid of fat deprives your body of these beneficial substances. See story.

CAD and Mouse

There's light at the end of the carpal tunnel, thanks to an innovative new alternative to the computer mouse. Abir Qamhiyah and Don Flugrad, mechanical engineering assistant and associate professors, respectively, at Iowa State University, have invented a gadget that works as a pointer for computers, video games and eventually, wireless technology components. Because its design eliminates many of the constraints that lead to wrist, arm, shoulder, neck and back ailments, the pointer is more ergonomically friendly. See story.

A river runs through it

Iowa State agronomy professor Andrew Manu is helping restore damaged lands in the Sahel, the region of West Africa that separates the Sahara Desert from the savannah. Manu and his colleagues are using microcatchments (crescent-shaped trenches built on plateaus in the path of erosion) to catch and hold moving water and sediment, which prevents the sediment from polluting the river. Trees and vegetation are planted in the trenches to provide extra ground cover to further reduce erosion. People in the area also use the trees for firewood and lumber, and the grasses as pasture for livestock. See story.

Unusual enzymes

Scientists at Iowa State University have advanced glycomics -- the system-wide study of carbohydrates -- with the discovery of previously unknown enzymes that synthesize activated sugars. The proteins, produced from genes found in deep sea archaea that grow at the temperature of boiling water, make key building blocks involved in carbohydrate metabolism, the researchers found. In addition, the Iowa State team has co-opted these heat-stable enzymes to substantially simplify the synthesis of unnatural versions of the building blocks. The research team is led by Nicola Pohl, assistant professor of chemistry and a researcher in the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State. See story.

Clean burgers

"Nobody wants doo-doo on their burgers," says Jacob Petrich, Iowa State chemistry professor. Thanks to Petrich and National Animal Disease Center collaborators Thomas Casey and Mark Rasmussen, such food contamination may in time be eradicated. The men have created the technology for VerifEye, a handheld device that detects the presence of feces on beef carcasses. Used in three U.S. packing plants so far, the device helps identify meat that contains harmful bacteria not seen by the human eye. See story.

The Roy J. Carver Co-laboratory, within Iowa State University's Plant Sciences Institute, provides a location for scientists to collaborate on multidisciplinary research, as well as space for biotechnology industry scientists to conduct short-term research.