Audrey Garcia of Cypress Conducting Biology Research at Southwestern University this Summer

GEORGETOWN, TX (06/27/2013)(readMedia)-- Audrey Garcia of Cypress 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.

Garcia is working with Martin Gonzalez, associate professor of biology, on R391, a very unique DNA molecule that can contribute to antibiotic resistance, and therefore needs to be repressed. Garcia is trying to characterize a protein known as SetR that is located on R391 and may be able to play a role in the repression of R391.

Garcia will be a sophomore at Southwestern in the fall and is majoring in biology.

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.