- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Chow, an associate professor in the Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, will discuss "Flying to the Clinic: Drug Repurposing Screen for Rare Diseases" at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall and also via Zoom.
The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/9 5882849672
"Dr. Chow's research has made a tremendous impact on the lives of patients with rare diseases as well as their families and caretakers," said molecular geneticist and physicist Joanna Chiu, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. "His research program provides a shining example of how one can leverage many of the advantages of the Drosophila fly model to investigate molecular mechanisms disrupted in human diseases and efficiently translate that to medical interventions andFDA-approved drugs." The Chiu lab is hosting the seminar.
Professor Chow says in his abstract: "Our lab is focused on understanding the role of genetic variation on disease outcomes. We employ quantitative and functional tools, in a variety of model organisms, to study how genetic variation impacts basic cellular traits important to human health. Our work in model organisms will help to model and inform studies of genetic variation in the human population. We hope to identify variation that can lead to more precise, personalized therapies, especially for rare disease."
He and his research team "leverage the powerful genetic tools available in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to build and study models of rare diseases," according to research news published on the University of Utah website. "The Chow lab has developed a fly model of NGLY1 deficiency, providing many new insights into the biology underlying this devastating autosomal recessive, genetic disorder."
"Using the fly model, the Chow lab discovered NGLY1 deficiency results in the absence of a sugar known as GlcNAc, which is important for different cellular processes," Martha Davis wrote in the news story. "When provided with a dietary GlcNAC supplement, flies with NGLY1 deficiency are healthier and live longer, suggesting this supplement may help NGLY1 patients...The Chow lab hopes to continue to translate basic science research of rare diseases to the clinic. The generosity of donors like the Might Family make this type of work possible. The Might family supports this research in hope that someday a treatment, or even a cure, will be found for NGLY1 deficiency."
Chow expanded on his fruit fly research on a University of Utah website heralding Academia in Action: Treating Patients as Individuals. "Because the fruit fly is small, cheap and fast, we can do massive experiments that people in mouse labs can only dream of. We take a model of a particular rare disease, and we cross it into a couple hundred different genetic backgrounds in the flies. What that gives us is basically a number of fly strains that you can think of as different individuals with different genetic backgrounds, all with the same disorder.”
D. melanogaster is widely used for biological research in genetics, physiology, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution. "As of 2017, six Nobel Prizes have been awarded to drosophilists for their work using the insect," according to Wikipedia.
Chow received his bachelor's degree in biology, neurobiology and behavior from Cornell University in 2003. He completed his Ph.D. in human genetics in 2008 in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan, where he worked with Miriam Meisler. He completed his postdoctoral training as a co-mentored postdoc with Andy Clark and Mariana Wolfner at Cornell University.
For any technical Zoom issues, contact seminar coordinator Brian Johnson at brnjohnson@ucdavis.edu. The full list of spring seminars is here.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Visitors received free posters of the colorful butterfly, the state insect; learned how to use an insect net to catch a paper butterfly; and posed for images behind the dogface butterfly face banner.
At the California dogface butterfly table, entomologist Fran Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College who doubles as a Bohart Museum scientist and a UC Davis doctoral alumna, discussed her children's book, The Story of the Dogface Butterfly, published in 2013.
Popular in kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms, and in private and public collections throughout the country, the 35-page book tells the untold story of the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice), and how a classroom successfully mounted a campaign to convince the California State Legislature to name it the state insect in 1972.
The book depicts the life cycle of the butterfly and also discusses the larval host plant, false indigo (Amorpha californica). The photos, primarily taken in Auburn on Placer Land Trust private land, are by Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas and Keller. Laine Bauer, then a UC Davis undergraduate student, created the illustrations. The book is available at the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane.
The posters, also the work of Keller and Kareofelas, show a male and female dogface butterfly. The male is nicknamed "the flying pansy," and sports a doglike yellow silhouette on its wings. The female is mostly solid yellow except for a single black spot on its upper wings.
In the live petting zoo, visitors held thorny stick insects and tomato hornworm caterpillars. The caterpillars wlll become the five-spotted hawkmoth, Manduca quinquemaculata, family Sphingidae.
The Bohart Museum's Picnic Day display followed the theme, "Bonding with the Bohart," in reference to Professor Jason Bond, the newly announced director, as of Feb. 1. He succeeds UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, who served 34 years as director. Bond is the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, and the associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He also serves as president-elect of the American Arachnological Society.
The next Bohart Museum open house will take place Sunday, May 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. The theme: "Bees, Both Wild and Managed," featuring the research of scientists from the Department of Entomology and Nematology. The event is free and family friendly. Parking is also free.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
“I got two phone calls almost simultaneously on my two cell phones, so I thought this could not be a prank, but I am still in disbelief,” said Leal, a UC Davis distinguished professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and former professor and chair of the Department of Entomology (now Entomology and Nematology)
The caller: The National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
The message: You've been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the highest honor a scientist can achieve.
"Members are elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research,” a spokesperson related. “Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. Current NAS membership totals approximately 2,400 members and 500 international members, of which approximately 190 have received Nobel prizes."
“As they say, many deserving and few lucky ones," Leal commented. "Bruce Hammock told me many years ago that when he was elected to NAS, he looked around and saw many deserving colleagues. Now I understand that feeling very well. It is a tremendous and humbling honor. I hope an imposter syndrome does not kick in.”
Hammock, a UC Davis distinguished professor who holds a joint appointment with the Department of Entomology and Nematology, was elected a NAS member in 1999.
They are the only UC Davis entomologists who are NAS members.
Leal: World Leader in His Field
Leal, a native of Brazil and educated in Brazil, Japan and the United States, joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 2000. In 2013, he accepted a position with the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. "Walter is an internationally recognized entomologist and a world leader in his field for his groundbreaking and transformative research in insect olfaction and chemical ecology,” Hammock said. “He is truly a renaissance man. He chaired our entomology department from 2006 to 2008, and under his tenure, our department was ranked No. 1 in the country. I've long admired (1) his rigorous fundamental research programs supported by National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, and other agencies, (2) how he tackles and solves multiple challenging problems in insect olfaction and chemical ecology, (3) his grasp of how to organize and moderate highly successful worldwide research webinars (4) his generosity in helping other succeed and (4) his finely honed sense of humor."
Leal solves entomological problems spanning agriculture, human health, and welfare. He translates pheromone technology to agriculturists and serves as a principal investigator for the Pacific Southwest Regional Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases (affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). He holds more than 20 patents.
“Walter has been exceptionally conscientious, active, and generous in professional service at UC Davis,” Hammock pointed out. "In August of 2021, he achieved a ‘first' for international science communication when he organized and led the extraordinary virtual conference ‘Insect Olfaction and Taste in 24 Hours Around the Globe.' I especially applaud him for elucidating the mode of action of the insect repellent DEET, developed in 1946 and known as ‘the gold standard of repellents.' Its mode of action remained an enigma for six decades until Walter's discovery. In researching the neurons in mosquito antennae sensitive to DEET, he isolated the first DEET-sensitive odorant receptor, paving the way for the development of better repellents.”
May Berenbaum, professor and head, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, National Medical of Science Laureate, NAS member, and editor of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, earlier wrote that “Dr. Leal is indisputably a world leader in the field of insect chemical ecology whose work over the course of his long and distinguished career has transformed basic knowledge of insect olfactory mechanisms and inspired innovative practical applications for sustainable management of insects of importance in agriculture and human health. He has contributed significantly to the current understanding of the structure and function of every component of olfaction, including receptors, binding proteins, and degrading enzymes, revising classic paradigms along the way. No textbook and no course on insect chemical communication could be considered complete without mentioning his landmark research achievements.”
'Just Like in a Honey Bee Colony'
Leal recently was named the 2024 recipient of the UC Davis Academic Senate's Distinguished Research Award, and will present a lecture on “Just Like in a Honey Bee Colony--It Takes a Team in the UC Davis Hive to Win an Award” at the Academic Senate's Faculty Distinguished Research Award Lecture Lunch on Tuesday, May 7 from noon to 1 p.m. in the UC Davis Conference Center.
Leal is the first UC Davis faculty member to receive the Academic Senate's trifecta of awards: outstanding teaching, public service, and research. Leal received the Academic Senate's 2020 Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching, and the 2022 Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award.
Among Leal's many honors: Fellow of the Entomological Society of America (2009), American Association for the Advancement of Science (2005), and the National Academy of Inventors (2019). He was elected a trustee of the Royal Entomological Society in February 2024.
Leal holds a Ph.D. in applied biochemistry from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, with subsequent postdoctoral training in entomology and chemical ecology at the National Institute of Sericultural and Entomological Science (NISES) and Cornell University, respectively. He was the first non-Japanese person to earn tenure at Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Of course!
Marielle Simone Hansel Friedman, a second-year doctoral student in the lab of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, got swept in the Barbie movie craze last year--like so many others--so this year she decided to do something special for the Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) T-shirt booth at the 110th annual UC Davis Picnic Day.
She designed a pink Barbie "Bugbie" t-shirt illustrated with a rosy maple moth, Dryocampa rubicunda.
EGSA not only sold them in its booth, but the students staffing the various insect, nematode and arachnid booths at Briggs Hall wore them as they greeted visitors and talked about their projects.
They also wore them at the popular cockroach races ("Run, roach, run!) and at the maggot art tables.
Briggs Hall got pinked! Indeed, it was like seeing a flock of flamingos.
And the crowd learned that moths can be pink. Rosy pink.
"I love moths," Marielle said, "and had seen photos of rosy maple moths before, and thought it would be the perfect bug to put in the Bugbie promo because of its bright pink and yellow markings and adorable face.”
ESGA sold a total of 482 shirts that day, with 60 of them Bugbie shirts, "putting it in our top three best sellers of the day!” Marielle commented.
She also designed the monarch butterfly, swallowtail butterfly, milkweed bug, and Bugbie stickers sold at Picnic Day.
Her doctoral work at UC Davis involves "exploring the role of urbanization in herbivory of non-native plants within the context of our changing climate."
Marielle recently co-authored a research article, "Biology of Immature Stages and Host Range Characteristics of Sudauleutes bosqi (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a Candidate Biological Control Agent of Exotic Ludwigia spp. in the USA," published in October 2022 in the Florida Entomologist. (See https://tinyurl.com/8csactwb)
Meanwhile, “Bugbie” is being sold on the EGSA website for $25 each at https://ucdavisentgrad.square.site/.
One of EGSA's all-time best sellers is The Beetles, mimicking the Beatles' Abbey Road image. The inventory also includes bees, cicadas, nematodes, a whip scorpion and a praying mantis.
They all pale in comparison to the hot pink Barbie "Bugbie" T-shirt.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Show me the honey? Show me the California Honey Festival.
The annual event, which emphasizes the importance of bees, and promotes honey and honey bees and their products, will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 4 at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, 1250 E. Gum St., Woodland (a change from downtown Woodland.) The venue was moved due to "unpredictable weather and high winds."
It's free and family friendly. It traditionally draws a crowd of some 40,000.
Amina Harris, who retired last June as director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, co-founded the honey festival in 2017 with the City of Woodland. She actually "retired" to the family business, Z Food Specialty and The HIVE, Woodland, where her title is "Queen bee."
The California Honey Festival continues to partner with the Honey and Pollination Center in presenting the festival.
The organizers promise "something for everyone." You can expect honey tastings, bee observation hives, kids' activities, cooking demonstrations, live music, vendors and much more. The UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program, which uses science-base information to educate stewards and ambassadors for honey bees and beekeeping, will not be participating this year. But science-based information on bees will be provided by the California State Beekeepers Association and the Sacramento Area Beekeepers' Association.
Ask them questions! And remember you can sign up for classes with the California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMPB), founded (2016) and directed by Elina Lastro Niño, associate professor of UC Cooperative Extension, apiculture. She is a member of the faculty of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. As the CAMPB website indicates: The organization is "a continuous train-the-trainer effort. The CAMBP's vision is to certify Honey Bee Ambassador, Apprentice, Journey, and Master level beekeepers so they can effectively communicate the importance of honey bees and other pollinators within their communities, serve as mentors for other beekeepers, and become the informational conduit between the beekeeping communities throughout the state and UCCE staff. Explore the Certifications Page for more information."