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Professor discusses relationship between microbes and humans
TANNER HASSELL
Andrew Rosenthal/KANSAN
@thassell17
Dr. William Picking discussed the invisible world of microbes and their multifaceted relationship with humans in a Sept. 29 lecture. Andrew Rosenthal/KANSAN
W with cold weather rapidly approaching.
the symphony of sniffing hacking and coughing can be heard around campus, ringing in the cold and flu season. The parade of symptoms is a stark reminder of the viruses, bacteria and other microbes that constantly exist around us and inside of us.
Pharmaceutical chemistry professor and director of the Higuchi Biosciences Center William Picking delivered an inaugural lecture highlighting the constant coexistence of humans and microscopic organisms on Sept. 29, according to a University release.
Picking said the lecture was based on years of research in the fields of microbiology and infectious diseases. He said the lecture aimed to highlight how microbes exist all around us, and even within us, both in helpful and harmful capacities.
"Microbes, especially bacteria, greatly impact our lives," he said. "They've been here for a long time, so they've impacted our lives
in pretty profound ways."
Picking said while we are usually familiar with bacteria and microbes that cause us harm $ ^{*} $ most do not. That in itself was a major part of his lecture.
Picking used five "C's" to describe various microbes and their roles in our lives; competitors, collaborators, co-workers, colleagues and combatants. He began by discussing the former three groups of microbes.
Picking said colleagues and combatants have the
most direct contact with humans. While colleagues coexist with humans and even help them, combatants are often responsible for making people sick, a fight Picking referred to as an invisible war. He referred to humans' interaction with combatants as an invisible war.
"We've actually evolved with many microbes present in our bodies. These bacteria are our colleagues since we provide them a home and they assist us with
processes like digestion," he said. "Combatants of course are those microbes which attack the body and make us ill. I spent a large portion of the lecture discussing this invisible battle which is constantly being fought between the body and pathogenic microbes."
Picking discussed the various plagues and pandemics which have historically killed large numbers of humans. He said, however, it can only be a battle if both sides are fighting.
Pathogens develop virulence factors, which Picking says enable them to get around defenses humans have, creating a constant conflict.
"Our defenses against pathogens have evolved as we have, but pathogens have also evolved to find new means of fighting this invisible war," Picking said. "This is basically an ongoing conflict that we fight everyday. Humans have learned in time to fight these pathogens with medicine and vaccinations, giving us another advantage."
Valentino Stella, a distinguished professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University, said understanding the nature of microbes is especially important when it comes to the development of medicine and vaccinations.
"Pharmaceutical chemistry basically examines how these methods can be used against pathogens, but also how these drugs or vaccinations will enable the body to help fight off infection," he said.
Stella said this invisible war is often affected by other areas of human life, especially by geopolitical and socioeconomic factors.
"This issue is very complex: a drug company may have the capability to develop an effective drug, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will," he said. "With something like Ebola, they may be able to develop an effective treatment, but who is going to pay for it? Developing vaccines and treatments can cost billions of dollars, so who is going to pay for the drug when it is only needed to treat poor people?"
CLAS expands course offerings over winter break
University students walk down 14th Street during a 2014 snow day. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is expanding their winter course options.
▶ CHANDLER BOESE
@Chandler_Boees
File Photo/KANSAN source options
When the fall semester ends in December, most students will leave town, relieved to have a month free of school. But others will be launching into a new semester with one of the new winter session courses to be offered through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Outside of study abroad programs and a few journalism or business classes, the University's course offerings over winter break have been minimal. This semester, the college has added 14 online courses across multiple departments.
The new classes are part of the college's efforts to center its operations on students, said Dean Carl Lejuez. He hopes that students will be able to spread out their course loads more and focus more deeply on one class by taking courses in the winter.
"The compression of the course into a four-
week window means a deeper focus on one course as opposed to spreading attention across several courses over a longer period in a typical semester," he said. "For some students, this is a plus because it allows greater attention and focus on one course."
In an email statement, DeAngela BurnsWallace, vice provost for undergraduate studies, said there are even further advantages to students taking winter courses.
"We also see students use the winter break courses to help rebuild their curriculum if they opted to drop a course in the fall semester," she said. "There's also a potential long-term financial benefit. Taking advantage of these winter break courses can help students avoid all the additional costs that come with spending an extra semester on campus."
Paul Atchley, the college's associate dean for academic innovation and student success, has been one of the faculty members working to implement the
winter classes.
"There have been challenges, naturally, like anything new, but we're excited to provide these courses to students and see how it goes," he said.
Atchley said he hopes alternative class formats like online courses or minimesters especially cater to students who may have difficulty succeeding in traditional course formats, because of extracurricular commitments or different learning styles.
He also said he thinks new efforts like these are part of a move toward
academic hybridization an approach to education in which nontraditional elements like online learning are utilized to make learning individual to student needs.
"If you think about it, our academic schedule is based on a 150-year-old model," Atchley said, adding that the academic schedule was originally designed to fit the cycle of planting and harvesting crops. "It might be time to look at a new model that better fits our students' needs today."
From a faculty perspective, winter classes
can be advantageous as well, Lejuez said. He taught a winter class every year at the University of Maryland, where he taught for 14 years before coming to Kansas.
Moreover, Lejuez said, teaching a class during the winter means faculty members have more time to focus on research and mentoring during the regular semester.
"I had students who said they learned more in a winter class than they would've in a class during the regular semester," Lejuez said. "It's so focused and, as an instructor, you can weave together your materials more. Instead of referencing something you talked about four weeks ago, you can reference something you talked about yesterday."
In the future, Lejuez said he hopes to expand the winter courses, with a goal of eventually reaching 60 different classes. He's also not opposed to in-person classes over the winter semester, if they would have enough enrollment.
The winter courses will run from Dec.26 to Jan. 20.A full list can be found on the college's website.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18TH is the last day to register to vote for the November election...
DouglasCountyDems.org or DouglasCountyElections.com
You can check your registration status online.
You may register online if you have a valid Kansas driver's license or non-driver's identification.
You can fill out a voter registration application at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts Street.
Be ready to vote to keep Marci in the Senate, working for us. Paid for by Marci for Senate, Rita Spradlin, Treasurer
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