Jordan Crib
Background
I am an aspiring virologist who is pursuing a degree in immunology. My end goal is to work for a governmental institution that allows me to pursue my various theories on the mechanisms of viruses of all kinds. I hope to be able to create cures for many chronic illness causing viruses like HSV1, HSV2, and HIV.
Research Project
Watershed protection using duckweed.
Agricultural runoff, especially manure applied to farm fields is a massive problem in the USA and in the Chesapeake Bay watershed in particular. I am part of an NSF funded nitrogen recycling project studying the use of cow manure as nutrients for the growth of duckweed that can then be fed to cows or used as a biofertilizer. I am working on the transient expression of proteins for animal supplementation in duckweed. This includes the creation of a disarmed non-necrotic suicide agrobacterium, creation and optimization of gene cassettes and transformation vectors optimized for gene expression in duckweed and the selection and collection of high lysine, methionine, and histidine proteins.