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After Turning Microorganisms Into Art, Student Helps NASA Study Origins of Life Through Algae (Video)

PhD candidate Julia Van Etten (GSNB'23) observes microscopic pond life from Passion Puddle in Professor Bhattacharya's lab in Foran Hall

New Brunswick, N.J. (Mar. 12, 2020) – Rutgers student Julia Van Etten, whose @Couch_Microscopy Instagram page garnered more than 25,000 followers by showcasing microorganisms as art, is now working with NASA on research into how red algae can help explain the origins of life on Earth.

Van Etten, a doctoral candidate in the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution, says red algae grow and thrive in areas that mimic conditions of the early Earth, such as the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park. Their unique ability to survive by “stealing” genes from the microorganisms around them have helped red algae to evolve and adapt in areas with extreme temperatures, high acidity and without any direct sunlight. These incredible capabilities, Van Etten says, hold clues into how life first evolved on Earth and may be evoling elsewhere in the universe.

Van Etten was awarded a grant from the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program in 2019 to fund three years of research towards the red algae project titled “Generating a mechanistic understanding of horizontal gene transfer as a driver of cell adaptation on the early Earth.”

Watch her story at this link: https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/qP-2KCQyrKocIA6sJgjxoKQ3ZzhhYbSe/media/539609?fullscreen=false&showtabssearch=true&autostart=false

For interview requests, please email Cynthia Medina at c.medina@rutgers.edu.

 

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Broadcast interviews: Rutgers University–New Brunswick has broadcast-quality TV and radio studios available for remote live or taped interviews with Rutgers experts. For more information, contact Cynthia Medina c.medina@rutgers.edu

 

ABOUT RUTGERS—NEW BRUNSWICK

Rutgers University–New Brunswick is where Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, began more than 250 years ago. Ranked among the world’s top 60 universities, Rutgers’s flagship university is a leading public research institution and a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. It is home to internationally acclaimed faculty and has 12 degree-granting schools and a Division I Athletics program. It is the Big Ten Conference’s most diverse university. Through its community of teachers, scholars, artists, scientists, and healers, Rutgers is equipped as never before to transform lives.

 

 

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