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Ancient Biomaterials Institute |
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Russell Vreeland (Biology) and Anthony Nicastro (Physics) are the directors of WCU’s Ancient Biomaterials Institute, which seeks to establish at WCU an outstanding combination of natural science laboratories dedicated to the study of ancient biomaterials and their preservation. This mission is of fundamental importance because increasingly diverse biomaterials are being discovered with greater frequency in an expanding range of locations. These ancient biomaterials represent our only genetic link to the distant past and provide information on evolution, genetics, and biology, yet they are only of value if they are handled and analyzed properly with minimal modern contamination.
Results and Their Importance
To date, the Ancient Biomaterials Institute has to its credit microbes discovered in salt, amber, mummies, permafrost, and glaciers; five-million-year-old live animals found in an Israeli cave; soft tissue found in bones, amber, and a woolly mammoth; and DNA and viruses identified in all of these listed sources as well as in rocks. The study of ancient biological materials uses methodologies from and is of great potential interest to several disciplines, particularly chemistry, physics, biology, geology, anthropology, and criminal justice.
The Ancient Biomaterials Institute will offer numerous advantages to the University. These are expected to include a world-class research facility that serves both WCU students and faculty and external researchers, the ability to attract high-profile projects and individuals to WCU, and significant opportunities for outreach to schoolchildren and other members of the public. Outside agencies ranging from NASA to the FBI have also expressed interest in the institute’s work.
Plans for the Future
The institute is seeking grant funding and hopes eventually to develop an integrated set of laboratories, classrooms and lecture halls, support spaces, and offices focused on the study of ancient biomaterials. Currently, the directors are organizing the first International/Interdisciplinary conference on Ancient Biomaterials for October 12-16, 2008. The organizing committee for the conference, which will be held at WCU, includes members from Korea, Japan, and Denmark, as well as the U.S. |
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