A group of students at The Riverina Anglican College will be at the forefront of future scientific breakthroughs after joining forces with researchers at Wagga's Charles Sturt University.
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With a mentor from the university, each of the year 12 science extension students have begun research projects intended to improve the health of animals and humans in the future.
Jessica Woodland has begun looking at the development of beak and feathers disease in juvenile powerful owl species with veterinary honours student Jessica Copp and researcher Andrew Peters.
"It's the biggest Australian owl, but it's surprisingly hard to see. They're not common anymore in Wagga but they're around the eastern Riverina area, the Snowy foothills, and the Victorian high country," Dr Peters said.
"A vet [in Sydney] collected a sample, a dead bird that was found by the public, which was sent to the lab late last year to diagnose the viral infection.
"We know it's beak and feather disease, which is common in parrots so we're looking at how powerful owls are infected. Are they using the same nest holes or eating parrots?"
In other news:
TRAC student Marta Gabra, 17, is working with PhD student Thilini Munasinghe to identify how the MERS-CoV - or Middle East respiratory syndrome - protein binds to human proteins, making people sick.
"This is the one from the Middle East, it comes from camels and bats mostly," the 17-year-old said.
"We're getting the proteins, growing it in large [bacterial] cultures and then purifying it to see where it binds with our proteins. Then we crystallize it, and under x-ray, we see the structure that we're then able to send out to make a vaccine."
Meanwhile, Mina Girgis, 17, is exploring the characteristics of the ReIB protein found in cancerous cells.
"Cancer is one of the most dangerous diseases in the world so this research will have a large impact," the student said.
"It's worth analysing as many solutions as possible for such a widespread disease."
This is the second year the school has run the mentoring program through the neighbouring university, but, following the COVID-19 pandemic, this year, the students will be able to spend more time in the laboratory.
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