WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13,2002
NEWS
THEUNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN = 5A
Jared Soares/Kansan
Leavenworth freshman Whit Martin takes his newts out for some fresh air. Keeping newts in an aquarium has been a hobby for Martin since he was a child.
Freshman biology student proves astute in studies of animals, including newts
By Vanna Keomanyvong
vkeomanyvong@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Every day for 10 minutes, Whit Martin studies his two newts through the clear walls of an aquarium. He watches his blackbacked, orange-bellied, threeinch long newts, Charlie and Roger, interact with each another.
The Leavenworth freshman said his daily 10-minute sessions would help him in his major, which is organismal biology, or the study of animals in their natural environment.
"Even though they're technically not in their natural environment, I made a fake habitat for them," Martin said. "It's sort of like a pre-field study. When I watch them, I formulate questions, and I need to do that in my major."
Martin grew up with animals. Throughout his life, his family has
Faces in the Crowd
owned about 30 turtles, 15 Beta fish, six rabbits, five
lizards, a cockatoo, a dog and a cat.
His brother, Jason Frankx, said Martin always made sure the animals were taken care of.
"We would spend about an hour feeding turtles in our turtle farm," Franksa said. "Some of the turtles had been hit by cars but Whit was always careful and made sure that things were kosher for them."
Since then, Martin said he dedicated his life to studying animals. About three times a week, he makes time to watch a nature show on Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel.
Martin said it was not until he took a trip to Costa Rica and Australia that he decided to major in organismal biology.
On a family trip to Costa Rica
three years ago, he walked through a rain forest and saw howler monkeys, spider monkeys and toucans.
On a student ambassador trip to Australia about two years ago, he saw kangaroos, koalas and wallabies.
"It's different when you are actually watching them in their environment than looking at them in a zoo," Martin said. "Not only are they more active in their environment, but you see their natural ways and how they really behave. In a zoo, they are lazy because they're in captivity."
His mother, Nancy Martin, said her son's compassion did not end with animals but extended to people.
"He plans to do something to make the world better," she said. "He wants to make sure that all God's creatures, great and small, are comfortable in their environment."
Martin said he wanted to focus
"It's different when you are actually watching them in their environment than looking at them in a zoo."
Whit Martin
Leavenworth freshman
his studies on amphibians, like his newts, so he could help them survive in their natural habitat.
"They're cutting down rain forests and taking homes away from these animals," Martin said. "I want to be able to study their way of life so I can fix their habitat. If you take away where they live, you can't study them anymore because they won't be there."
KU researchers awarded grant to design better vaccines
Edited by Erin Ohm, Melissa Shuman and Sarah Hill
By Justin Henning jhenning@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas has been tapped to help in the fight against bioterrorism and other deadly viruses. The University's department of pharmaceutical Chemistry has received $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to create the Center for the Stabilization of Vaccines.
The center will focus on two categories of vaccines. The first will be vaccines for the developing world for measles, respiratory
syncytial, rotavirus and malaria. The other vaccines will be for agents of bioterrorism. Stabilizing the vaccines will make them more accessible to less developed areas of the world.
There are currently several problems with the long-range transportation of vaccines. First, many vaccines are unable to remain stable at room temperature; they must be cooled at a constant temperature. Second, the vaccines can only be administered by people trained in giving the vaccine.
"Right now, it's not a problem
to get a vaccine from here to Wichita, but it's not so easy when you're talking about a small village in the Andes," said Russ Middaugh, the project's director.
KU researchers will take the vaccine, which is made from a minor form of the virus, and figure out which of its hundreds of components makes it unstable. This will be done through a process developed at KU called "hig throughput screening."
It will take anywhere from six months to two years to stabilize each vaccine. KU is the only place
in the world where all areas of this research are conducted in one place.
"This has not been done in the past," Middaugh said. "There are not a lot of commercial incentives. Most vaccines are made for the developed world, and we hope that by solving the problem up front that pharmaceutical companies will start to use this technology."
Bill Picking, who is involved with the project, works mainly with infectious diseases such as salmonella and its ability to invade and attack the cells of
"Most vaccines are made for the developed world,and we hope that by solving the problem up front that pharmaceutical companies will start to use this technology."
Russ Middaugh Center for the Stabilization of Vaccines
humans' large intestines.
He said the increased interest
in biodefense helped provide a good deal of momentum and resources to his research and other projects.
As for the specifics of the antiterrorism vaccines, Middaugh could not mention many of the specifics of the department's work because of security restrictions.
"We have a variety of anti-terrorism vaccines," he said. "And you need to have the anti-terrorism agent to make the vaccine."
Edited by Matt Norton