CBS4 (Denver, Colorado) 05 April 06 CU Professor Uses $1M Award To Study Pythons (Shaun Boyd)
Boulder, Colo.: A scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder received a windfall as part of a prestigious honor. The money will help pay for a first of its kind research project involving pythons.
Dr. Leslie Lienwand has taught for 25 years, headed up major research projects and received national recognition.
For all the hard work, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute awarded Lienwand $1million to launch a study of snakes that has the potential to change the lives of people with heart disease.
"I still feel like I'm walking on air," Dr. Lienwand said.
The Python Project is driven by six undergraduates and unlike any other.
"A lot of people think that you can only do research that's medically relevant in a medical school and that's just not true," Leinwand said. "My goal is to give undergrads a real research experience so that they're finding out something that nobody else knows.
Pythons have hearts that enlarge after a large meal and than shrink after they digest it.
"So we can find out, for example, if they have something in their blood that we can apply to cardiac or heart cells and see if it makes them get bigger or smaller," Dr. Leinwand said.
The study is the kind of medical research rarely found at the undergraduate level and funding is scarce.
"You have to start someplace and hopefully this will start something that will spread," Leinwand said.
In addition to the snake study, the professor is also creating a new course at CU that will involve professors from various departments to make science fun and relevant.
CU Professor Uses $1M Award To Study Pythons
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CO Press: $1M Award To Study Pythons
Replies (1)
Well, it's been pretty well known that they can do that...especially Burms, but this is a good way to actually put it to the test. A side effect would be to determine, as with snakes, if the other organs do the same. Instead of shrinking stomachs by stapling them, maybe there's an alternative. Amazing idea.
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