Summer Research Series: DNA Origami

Emmanuel College’s summer research program offers students and faculty alike the distinct opportunity to collaborate on scholarly work. This summer, 45 students across multiple disciplines and Academic Schools are conducting research with Emmanuel faculty. 

Throughout this series, we will highlight the research going on throughout the summer, which will conclude with a poster session in the fall. 

Professor of Chemistry & Physics and Chair of the department at Emmanuel – Dr. Aren Gerdon – is working with chemistry major Georgia Kazis ’27 on the now five-year research effort.

Originally funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, Kazis and Dr. Gerdon are investigating and replicating biomaterials (in bones and teeth specifically) in an effort to better understand the processes that develop those materials within the body. With that better understanding, the research can provide insight into what is happening when there are problems with those molecular structures within the body: like with osteoporosis, kidney stones or certain cancers.

“The end is in sight,” Dr. Gerdon said, expecting experiments to be concluded by the end of the summer. They are working on the publication piece-by-piece as they go, but he said they hope to complete it sometime this fall.

Kazis began her research journey early on in her Emmanuel career, and over time has developed a love for it. After completing some key preparation over the previous summer and academic year, she’s eager to now spend the summer fully focused on the research.

“It’s an immersive experience for our students,” Dr. Gerdon said about the College’s summer research program. “I want them to be thinking about their experiments during breakfast!”

Working one-on-one with a faculty mentor throughout the summer allows students to achieve a level of immersion in a topic or field of study that they can’t reach during the school year when they are balancing other coursework, extra-curricular activities, social lives and more.

There’s also no pressure of a grade or needing to find a pre-determined answer, Dr. Gerdon added. Students can just pursue the science, which he said is often an eye-opener in itself. “The chemicals are always going to do what they’re naturally supposed to do, we just have to wrap our minds around what we see…There’s no such thing as a failed experiment.”

Kazis focused on nailing down the process for building the DNA arrays they need – folding them into complex 3D structures. Now with upcoming experiments, she’ll be able to play around with particularly unique models and observe “wild and crazy” designs.

Those structures – or arrays – are programmable, Kazis explained. The strands of DNA, like thread, are bound together into bundles, like rope, which is then woven into a cloth, which mimics the collagen in bones.

She said one of the best skills she’s developed through the research process is her troubleshooting. It has helped her have a more open understanding of potential results, and she has gotten used to trying things and not knowing what to expect from the outcome: a skill that will help her not only in research, but also in life.

Seeing where she started – advancing the groundwork of a now Emmanuel alum – compared to the level of understanding she has now, has been super gratifying for Kazis. And when the work is published she looks forward to having such a significant accomplishment on her resume, which can help get her into graduate school and stand out amongst the competition.

That plan in particular is a relatively new one, too. Developing her love for research and discovering it so early at Emmanuel helped her to visualize graduate school as a possibility, and now it’s officially one of Kazis’ future goals.

Her journey so far has allowed her passion for chemistry to flourish, and even more so when she got to see and network with so many industry professionals at the American Chemistry Society (ACS) conference. Back in March, a group of Emmanuel students and faculty made the trip to San Diego for the conference, where the students were able to present their ongoing work.

“I just thought – all these people around me are chemists – that’s just so cool,” Kazis said.

Kazis is someone who loves to hear from others about what they love about their research and field of study. To have chemists from all over the country approaching and asking her the same questions as she presented – that was a dream.