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MICROBIOLOGY AT UW-MADISON BENEFITS FROM RICH RESEARCH TRADITION
31 August 2005 - University of Wisconsin-Madison
| The latest research from Rick Gourse's lab is another link in the chain of fundamental breakthroughs on the biology of E. coli that have come from UW-Madison scientists. |
The latest research from Rick Gourse's lab is another link in the chain of fundamental breakthroughs on the biology of E. coli that have come from UW-Madison scientists. The genome sequence of E. coli was first published in 1997 by the lab of UW geneticist Fred Blattner. The sigma subunit that directs RNA polymerase to promoters was discovered almost 40 years ago by Dick Burgess, now a UW-Madison professor of oncology but then a graduate student at Harvard with James Watson, who discovered the structure of DNA. The study of bacterial gene expression is a particular strength of the UW-Madison, with groups led by not only Gourse and Blattner, but also by professors Bob Landick, Dick Burgess, Tom Record, Tricia Kiley, Karen Wassarman and Aseem Ansari, all specializing in E. coli RNA polymerase. Leading groups of basic researchers like this one have helped make the UW-Madison Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, with more than 80 faculty and trainers and about 120 graduate students, one of the highest-rated microbiology Ph.D. programs in the nation, trailing only Stanford and Harvard in the latest ratings. In 2007, the bacteriology department as well as the Food Research Institute and the Medical Microbiology and Immunology Program will move into a newly constructed building at UW-Madison. The state-of-the-art facility is designed to foster collaboration and interaction among scientists working on microbial systems, which will help keep UW-Madison at the forefront of this area for years to come.
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About: University of Wisconsin-Madison
In achievement and prestige, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has long been recognized as one of America’s great universities. A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a complete spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs and student activities. Many of its programs are hailed as world leaders in instruction, research and public service.The university traces its roots to a clause in the Wisconsin Constitution, which decreed that the state should have a prominent public university. In 1848, Nelson Dewey, Wisconsin’s first governor, signed the act that formally created the university, and its first class, with 17 students, met in a Madison school building on February 5, 1849. From those humble beginnings, the university has grown into a large, diverse community, with about 40,000 students enrolled each year. These students represent every state in the nation, as well as countries from around the globe, making for a truly international population. UW-Madison is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Wisconsin System, a statewide network of 13 comprehensive universities, 13 freshman-sophomore transfer colleges and an extension service. One of two doctorate-granting universities in the system, UW-Madison’s specific mission is to provide "a learning environment in which faculty, staff and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help insure the survival of this and future generations and improve the quality of life for all." The university achieves these ends through innovative programs of research, teaching and public service. Throughout its history, UW-Madison has sought to bring the power of learning into the daily lives of its students through innovations such as residential learning communities and service-learning opportunities. Students also participate freely in research, which has led to life-improving inventions from more fuel-efficient engines to cutting-edge genetic therapies. Students, faculty and staff are motivated by a tradition known as the "Wisconsin Idea," described by UW President Charles Van Hise in 1904 as the compelling need to carry "the beneficent influence of the university ... to every home in the state." The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university’s work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students and the state’s industries and government. |
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