Ali Erkin of Tyler Conducting Biology Research at Southwestern University this Summer

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Ali Erkin of Tyler is conducting biology research at Southwestern University this summer. (Photo by Lance Holt)

GEORGETOWN, TX (07/15/2013)(readMedia)-- Ali Erkin of Tyler is one of 31 students conducting research at Southwestern University this summer as part of a new student-faculty collaborative research program called SCOPE.

The SCOPE program is part of the HHMI-Southwestern Inquiry Initiative, which is funded by a $1.3 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Students participating in the eight-week program get their housing paid for as well as a stipend.

Erkin is working with Martin Gonzalez, associate professor of biology, to characterize the activity of specific enzymes called secondary proteases on a protein subunit of DNA polymerase V, an enzyme integral to DNA synthesis. The two also are studying the roles of proteases in regulating spontaneous mutagenesis in E. coli bacteria.

Erkin will be a senior at Southwestern in the fall and is majoring in biology. He hopes to attend medical school.

Southwestern University is a selective, nationally recognized undergraduate liberal arts college with an enrollment of 1,400 students. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in Texas. For more information on Southwestern, visit www.southwestern.edu.