Sharing oak wilt detection thesis in under three minutes
Written by Vinni Thekkudan Novi, P.h.D candidate
The Saint Paul Science in Seconds competition (SIS) 2022, was held on October 17th among three different colleges, CBS, CFANS and CVM. I was representing BBE among five other CFANS participants from other departments. While each college had a winner who would go on to compete at the university level, the People’s choice award was determined by the number of audience’s votes received for the best presentation among all the participants from all three colleges. So, I won this award by competing with 11 other contestants. The SIS presentations are held in the same format as the three-minute thesis (3MT) competition that happens across several universities all over the world. And my 3MT presentation titled “How copying and clumping DNA can prevent an oak tree epidemic” was based on one of my thesis projects.
The broad topic of my thesis is developing rapid diagnostic tests for the early detection of food and environmental pathogens. One of the projects that I’m working on involved modifying and optimizing a DNA amplification assay called the loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for the detection of a fungal pathogen called the oak wilt. This fungus causes a terminal illness in oak trees and significantly reduces their lifespan. The only way to solve this problem is removing the infected tree before it spreads to the next one, which requires early and accurate detection of the disease. This is currently not available, and my project’s objective is to fill this gap by using the concept of LAMP and making it specific for the detection of the oak wilt fungus, which was never done before. The assay makes multiple copies of the fungal DNA, which can be detected through fluorescence. To make it feasible for onsite detection I’ve been working on modifying the process in such a way that the amplification process can be done using a single handheld heating block. Also, instead of having to use a fluorescence detection device, the amplified DNA will be treated with compounds that can cause them to clump and form a white cloudy layer. The goal of this process is to visually see the difference between healthy and infected samples in the field. As of now, I’ve been successful in showing that the designed test is highly specific to oak wilt pathogen and can be done in under 30 minutes using a heating block. Further tests will be done to confirm the feasibility of the detection system directly in the field.
Participating in the SIS 2022 competition and representing BBE was a great experience. I got to learn what other students from different colleges and departments did as part of their research. Being able to explain a potentially 50,000 words long thesis in just three minutes with as little jargon as possible is no small feat. A science communication class (BIOL 5701) I took in Spring 2021 helped me think of how I could make my presentation understandable and interesting to the audience. The experience taught me how we as scientists should not only be experts in communicating to the scientific world, but also be able to bring that knowledge to the non-technical community as well.