Last summer, when Cindy Schreiber of Huntington, W.Va. was accepted into the Bio-Inspired Chemistry Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at Marshall University, she decided she would streamline the PCR process to increase the rate at which DNA samples are replicated.

Schreiber, a junior in chemical engineering at Virginia Tech, will explain her research during the 227th annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, Calif., March 28-April 1.

In addition to creating a large amount of DNA quickly, Schreiber wanted her improved machine to further automate the process of identifying mismatched base pairings or mutations in a DNA sample "so that you know quickly whether the mismatch actually existed in the sample material," she explains.

"I knew such a machine would help researchers and be of interest to industry."

She also wanted a machine that would be inexpensive enough for use by high school and undergraduate labs.

By the time she completed the 10-week REU, Schreiber hadn't tested her machine with DNA samples, but others can learn from her beginnings, and the experience did help her realize that she is interested in the biomedical concentration in chemical engineering at Virginia Tech

She learned that it takes time to gather research materials. She also learned how to solder and to machine objects, "things I didn't expect to be doing.

"I spent more time physically trying something before working out calculations," she says. "I was constantly changing things as I found new problems and new ways of looking at a problem. It was very hands on. You are under real pressure, but you have to keep working. The
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Contact: Susan Trulove
strulove@vt.edu
540-231-5646
Virginia Tech
29-Mar-2004