{"id":21907,"date":"2020-02-20T15:10:28","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T15:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/?p=21907"},"modified":"2020-02-21T16:48:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T16:48:07","slug":"germinating-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/germinating-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Germinating Solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='fullscreen_slider_1'  class='avia-fullscreen-slider main_color   avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_image  avia-builder-el-first   container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><a href='#next-section' title='' class='scroll-down-link av-control-minimal' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue877' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/a><div   data-size='no scaling'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='21908'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='true'  data-bg_slider='true'  data-slide_height='100'  data-handle='av_fullscreen'  data-interval='5'  data-class=' '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id='fullscreen_slider_1'  data-scroll_down='aviaTBscroll_down'  data-control_layout='av-control-minimal'  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption=''  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment='scroll'  data-min_height='0px'  data-stretch=''  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-1 av-slider-scroll-down-active av-control-minimal av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-no scaling av_fullscreen   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 61%;' ><li style='background-position:center center;' data-img-url='https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Germinating-Solutions-Intro.jpg' class=' av-single-slide slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_1'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-21907'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div  class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_fullscreen  el_before_av_hr  avia-builder-el-first  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img class='avia_image' src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Germinating-Solutions_Headline-1.png' alt='' title='Germinating-Solutions_Headline' height=\"550\" width=\"1100\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div  style='height:25px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_image  el_before_av_one_fifth '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_three_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><div   class='hr hr-default   avia-builder-el-5  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-6  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_full  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:13px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: center;\">By <b>Paul Alongi<\/b><br \/>\nPhotography by <b>Josh Wilson<br \/>\n<\/b>Illustration by <b>Chris Koelle<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-9  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-10  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><div   class='hr hr-default   avia-builder-el-11  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-12  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_full  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-13  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_hr  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:33px; color:#006a8d; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Mark Blenner\u2019s work with yeast could help humans in the quest to reach Mars and the quest for new pharmaceuticals on Earth<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div  style='height:25px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-15  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-16  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_image  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:17px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p class=\"p1\">Yeast might be Earth\u2019s most underappreciated lifeform. These single-celled members of the fungi kingdom get plenty of credit for turning barley into beer, grapes into wine and wheat into bread. But their range might not be limited to the blue planet for long.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">M<span class=\"s1\">ark Blenner, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">the McQueen-Quattlebaum Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering at Clemson University, is engineering yeast to do things nature hasn\u2019t yet figured out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The potential is wide-ranging. Ble<span class=\"s2\">nner is helping yeast produce two very different products \u2014omega-3 supplements and polyester \u2014 that astronauts could use on missions to Mars. He is also using yeast to explore new ways of developing drugs, and to create sensors that would help search for radiation from nuclear weapons production.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">For Blenner, the research is a platform to teach students how to ask and answer critical questions. He also sees his work as a potential catalyst for a cutting-edge industry that South Carolina could lead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">His colleagues are recognizing his work. Last spring, Blenner was named Clemson University Junior Researcher of the Year. He conducted research in the fall at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center. Over the summer, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the nation\u2019s highest honor bestowed on young faculty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cI use him as an example to my current students,\u201d says Scott Banta, a professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University and Blenner\u2019s former Ph.D. adviser. \u201cIf you want to go into academia, this is what it should look like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">Blenner likens his work to installing software in a computer. He and his students use bacteria to construct DNA \u2014 the software \u2014 and then install it into the yeast \u2014 the hardware \u2014 to create the desired molecule.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">The scientific community\u2019s advances in DNA sequencing and synthesis over the past 10 years have helped break open the field to new possibilities, Blenner says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cI think we\u2019re going to see a lot more solutions to problems that are microbial based,\u201d Blenner says. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s going to be part of the solution to helping us survive on Mars and other planets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div  class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-18  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img class='avia_image' src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Space-transparent.png' alt='' title='Space-transparent' height=\"2700\" width=\"2700\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-19  el_after_av_image  el_before_av_image  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:17px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><b>YEAST IN SPACE<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The work that has earned Blenner<\/span> the most headlines focuses on how yeast could help astronauts reach Mars and survive once they land. Yeast would act as a recycling center, allowing astronauts to reuse molecules that are plentiful on Earth but will be precious beyond the atmosphere that sustains life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">One area where Blenner sees promise is using yeast to produce omega-3 fatty acids. The essential nutrients are critical to the brain and help prevent heart disease. On Earth, omega-3 fatty acids are a dwindling resource available mostly from fish, and from supplements, such as fish oil, but their shelf life is limited to about two years. Any supplies carried from Earth wouldn\u2019t be sufficient for a mission that lasts longer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">This is where a species of yeast, <i>Yarrowia lipolytica, <\/i>would come into play. The yeast would be genetically modified to create omega-3 fatty acids and would need two main ingredients to grow: nitrogen and carbon. Astronauts could produce both from their own bodies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">For nitrogen, they could harvest urea from urine. Carbon could come from the carbon dioxide in their own breath or the Martian atmosphere. Put it all together, and astronauts could make their own nutritional supplements to keep themselves healthy planets from home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Another strain of <i>Yarrowia lipolytica<\/i> could be engineered to create biopolymer PHA, a type of polyester similar to the kind used to make clothes. But instead of using the polyester to weave double-knit suits, astronauts could feed it into a 3D printer to make tools.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Blenner says the NASA-funded project is progressing well and that his major focus now is on yeast cells themselves: \u201cOne of the common ingredients in microbial growth media is something called yeast extract, which is basically partially degraded yeast cells. You need a mountain of cells to get a product from the cells, and that\u2019s a lot of good carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and oxygen that could be put back into the manufacturing process. I\u2019m evaluating now the chemical composition of the different cell biomasses and seeing how much reusability you can get out of them before perhaps toxic things start to accumulate in that biomass.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div  class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-21  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img class='avia_image' src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Anti-malarial-transparent.png' alt='' title='Anti-malarial-transparent' height=\"2700\" width=\"2700\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-22  el_after_av_image  el_before_av_one_full  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:17px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>ENGINEERING BETTER MEDICINES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Blenner\u2019s work with yeast<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> could also help tease new drugs out of plants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Many plants hold promising pharmaceutical compounds but in quantities too small to develop into marketable drugs. Plant growth cycles are slow and subject to seasonal and regional variation in output and quality. Further, land use for the compounds and other natural products often competes with land use for much-needed food.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The antimalarial drug artemisinin, for example, takes over 12 months to produce from planting to extraction, whereas the same can be done in a week with yeast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Blenner says that placing a plant gene in yeast can be done inexpensively. However, the yeast often fails to make protein correctly, and the critical challenge in the new research is to figure out why, he says. The team plans to analyze the genetically modified yeast with bioinformatics \u2014 computer algorithms that help researchers understand large sets of biological data.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cIn this case, we\u2019re looking at changes in the number of different RNA molecules that are made in each cell,\u201d Blenner says. \u201cRNA molecules are the precursor to making protein. We can use bioinformatics tools to count the number of RNA molecules for each gene in the entire genome of the cell, and if we know what most of those genes do, we can start to understand what the cell does in response to making new proteins.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-24  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:33px; color:#006a8d; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The antimalarial drug artemisinin, for example, takes over 12 months to produce from planting to extraction, whereas the same can be done in a week with yeast. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-26  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_image  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:17px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><b>SEARCHING FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Blenner team is also collaborating <\/span>on research aimed at creating devices that sound like they could have come out of the latest James Bond epic. The devices would be disguised, maybe as leaves, and search for evidence of nuclear-weapons production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">But before it\u2019s ready for the real-life 007, researchers need to show the approach could work. They are now developing some very simple sensors that will show how yeast and bacteria respond to different types of radiation sources, such as plutonium and a type of radioactive nickel. Then they need to see if the information they are gathering can be put together to tell the difference between natural radiation and weapons material.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cI was pleasantly surprised to see we\u2019re getting very unique signatures from the couple of different radioactive isotopes we\u2019ve tried so far,\u201d Blenner says. \u201cI think that has a lot of potential for being transitioned to an end user. Certainly, the findings are important for developing the feasibility of the approach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div  class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-28  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img class='avia_image' src='https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Economic-transparent.png' alt='' title='Economic-transparent' height=\"2700\" width=\"2700\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-29  el_after_av_image  el_before_av_fullscreen  avia-builder-el-last  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:17px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><b>SPARKING NEW INDUSTRY<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Blenner is now starting to experiment<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> with a species of yeast, <i>Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosus,<\/i> that remains largely unexplored. It has similar properties as <i>Yarrowia lipolytica<\/i> but has a set of additional capabilities, according to Blenner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cIt grows under a wider range of conditions, it grows faster, it makes more lipids,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s bigger, better, stronger, faster than <i>Yarrowia lipolytica.<\/i> We\u2019ve even shown it can degrade some of nature\u2019s toughest biopolymers \u2014 something called lignin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Lignin, the substance that gives trees their strength, ends up as a byproduct of wood-processing with few uses, other than burning it, Blenner says. But it could be possible to engineer <i>Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosus<\/i> to turn lignin into omega-3 fatty acids, biofuel or biopolymers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Blenner took leave from his Clemson duties in fall 2019 to conduct research at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. While his efforts were directed at the stars for a few months, he still had some ideas brewing for his work back in South Carolina.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Blenner says his research has the potential to catalyze a center dedicated to biomanufacturing and synthetic biology, involving a small group of faculty at Clemson already focused on the field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cI think South Carolina is poised to transform into a microbial-industrial-biotech hub,\u201d he says. \u201cI think all the components are there \u2014 the right governmental policies, the workforce. We need some kind of sustained effort to build on the successes we\u2019ve had and catalyze this new industry and industrial growth in the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">David Bruce, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, says the quality he likes best about Blenner is that he is forward-thinking:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cMark Blenner is constantly thinking about how he can do the next experiment, how he can teach his class better, what the students are going to need tomorrow and where the research in the field is going. He\u2019s constantly trying to stay ahead of the game \u2014 and that\u2019s impressive.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- close content main div --><\/div><\/div><div id='fullscreen_slider_2'  class='avia-fullscreen-slider main_color   avia-builder-el-31  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full   slider-not-first container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div   data-size='no scaling'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='21913'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='false'  data-bg_slider='true'  data-slide_height='100'  data-handle='av_fullscreen'  data-interval='5'  data-class=' '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id='fullscreen_slider_2'  data-scroll_down=''  data-control_layout='av-control-default'  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption=''  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment='scroll'  data-min_height='0px'  data-stretch=''  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-2  av-control-default av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-no scaling av_fullscreen   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 66.6666666667%;' ><li style='background-position:center center;' data-img-url='https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Germinating-Solutions_Lab.jpg' class=' av-single-slide slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-2' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_2'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-21907'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div first  avia-builder-el-32  el_after_av_fullscreen  el_before_av_hr  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='padding:100 100 100 100 ; border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:17px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><b>INVESTING IN THE NEXT GENERATION<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Mark Blenner oversees one of the biggest labs in Clemson\u2019s College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences: 16 undergraduates, one master\u2019s student, nine doctoral students and four postdoctoral researchers.<\/p>\n<p>Blenner says that when he works with undergraduates, he tries to be empathetic to their needs and stresses, yet maintain high expectations: \u201cIn some places, undergraduates clean glassware in the lab, and that\u2019s all. I want students to feel like they have a purpose and know what their work is going to contribute to the group and the scientific community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blenner\u2019s work with students is also planting the seeds for a more diverse future in chemical engineering. A team he led recruited eight Ph.D. students from groups underrepresented in engineering, including women and African Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Those students are now working toward doctoral degrees in chemical engineering and plan to pursue careers in education and research, with a goal of being role models for others who follow them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you develop six faculty members, you\u2019re making six people who are going to influence about 100 students a year for the next 30 or 40 years,\u201d Blenner says. \u201cThe initial investment creates 4,000 engineers for each faculty. You\u2019re basically investing in better preparing the next generation of engineers and scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div  style='height:50px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-34  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_fifth '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-35  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_three_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-36  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><div   class='hr hr-default   avia-builder-el-37  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-38  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_hr  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div  style='height:50px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-39  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-40  el_after_av_hr  el_before_av_three_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-41  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='font-size:13px; color:#000000; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Paul Alongi<\/b> is a technical and news writer for Clemson\u2019s College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-43  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_hr  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div  style='height:100px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-44  el_after_av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-last '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mark Blenner\u2019s work with yeast could help humans in the quest to reach Mars and the quest for new pharmaceuticals on Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":21908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[221,247,165,240,246,82,248,245],"coauthors":[17],"class_list":["post-21907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-2020-features","tag-mars","tag-medical-research","tag-nasa","tag-nuclear-weapons","tag-research","tag-space-travel","tag-yeast"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/Germinating-Solutions-Intro.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9IEky-5Hl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21907"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=21907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}