嘿嘿视频

Challenge and Conviviality Across the Pond

嘿嘿视频 vs. Cardiff University in the Eric Conn Biochemistry Quizzes

Quick Summary

  • A different kind of Zoom event proves to be unforgettable experience for students
  • 300 people log in for two 嘿嘿视频 prelims, followed by the main event
  • See the connections between 嘿嘿视频 and Cardiff faculty

They reached across the ocean, 5,000 miles away, and delighted in the challenge, the congeniality and the conviviality of the final event in the Eric Conn Memorial Biochemistry Quizzes.

The final, last Wednesday (March 10), not only memorialized a 嘿嘿视频 plant biochemist, but offered 鈥淶oom fatigue relief鈥 for 嘿嘿视频 undergraduate students and Cardiff University students, said the organizer and moderator, Walter Leal, 嘿嘿视频 distinguished professor of molecular and cellular biology.

QUIZ NAMESAKE

Professor Conn (1923-2017), a 嘿嘿视频 faculty member for 43 years, was the third recipient of the 嘿嘿视频 Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement. He received the Academic Senate鈥檚 Distinguished Teaching Award in 1974 and the senate鈥檚 highest honor, the Faculty Research Lecturer Award (now called the Faculty Distinguished Research Award), in 1977. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences., and hear from him in this .

 

鈥淭hey had so much fun,鈥 he said. 鈥淭en years from now, most of these students will be in another field and professions unrelated to biochemistry. Those not remaining in biochemistry will probably forget everything they learned this quarter. However, all students who participated will never forget this experience. In the middle of a pandemic and suffering from Zoom fatigue, they made new friends across the pond. Eric Conn would be happy to see undergraduate students having this experience.鈥

嘿嘿视频 won the event, but 鈥満俸偈悠 had a competitive advantage because this was their second game,鈥 Leal noted. 鈥淓verything was new for Cardiff. Additionally, the contents of our syllabi differ.鈥

Screenshot shows biochemistry question and figure.
Ironic Bonds captain Catherine Rodriguez, upper right, answers a question about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease, or COVID-19.

Catherine Rodriguez, a microbiology major, captained the six-member 嘿嘿视频 team, called the Ironic Bonds. Fellow team members: Mary Aina (psychology major), Kelly Brandt (biochemistry and molecular biology), Jiaying Liu (biological sciences), Aly Lodigiana (cellular biology) and Efrain Vasquez Santos (neurobiology, physiology and behavior).

The Cardiff team: spokesperson Jessie Vaughan and members Kia Blackburn, Marianna Gisdaki, Alice Pike, Anastasia Rouchota and Ellie Whitworth.

鈥楾he world we live in鈥

鈥淭he Cardiff team did a marvelous job,鈥 Leal said. 鈥淚t was a pleasure seeing Jessica and her team more than 5,000 miles away playing on the screen. That鈥檚 the world we live in: global learning.鈥

xxx
Ironic Bonds team member Aly Lodigiana, upper right, invites the Cardiff team to visit the 嘿嘿视频 Arboretum and Public Garden some day.
 

The event also created friendships. 鈥淎 student from 嘿嘿视频 reached out to become an electronic pen pal with Cardiff students,鈥 Leal said, adding that 鈥渂oth Cardiff and 嘿嘿视频 parents wrote direct emails indicating how pleased they were with the event.鈥

The deans will exchange hoodies and all participants will receive certificates and gift cards.

嘿嘿视频 Chancellor Gary S. May delivered the welcoming address. While the students worked on their answers, Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at 嘿嘿视频 Children鈥檚 Hospital, answered questions on COVID-19 vaccines.

Nearly 300 people logged in for the day鈥檚 program, which started with two 嘿嘿视频 semifinals 鈥 Ironic Bonds vs. Gibbs, and Alpha Helices vs. Beta Strands, the teams that advanced from campus preliminaries in February. The Ironic Bonds team, victorious in its semifinal against Gibbs, would be joined by one member of the Alpha Helices in the final vs. Cardiff.

Davis-Cardiff connections

Although the two universities are an ocean away, several faculty share close ties. One of the Cardiff judges, Professor John Harwood, did his first postdoctoral studies at 嘿嘿视频 with the late Professor Paul Stumpf, who, along with Conn, founded the Department of Biochemistry. Harwood knew both Conn and Stumpf well, especially with their labs close to one another.

Clark Lagarias headshot
Lagarias
Charles Gasser headshot
Gasser

Other judges were Charles Gasser, 嘿嘿视频 professor emeritus; Clark Lagarias, 嘿嘿视频 distinguished research professor and a member of the National Academy of Sciences; and D. Dafydd Jones of the Cardiff faculty.

Professor Conn also enjoyed close ties with Professor Gasser. 鈥淚t was Eric who persuaded Charles, then in the private sector, to apply for a position at 嘿嘿视频,鈥 Leal said. 鈥淭hen when Charles joined 嘿嘿视频 faculty, Eric gave him his lab, which he used until his retirement.鈥

Two Cardiff faculty members with links to 嘿嘿视频 assisted with organizing the event and reading the questions:

  • Mark Young, a senior lecturer, lived in Davis as a child while his father, Thomas Young, taught brewing at 嘿嘿视频
  • Wynand van der Goes van Naters, a lecturer, is an associate of Leal鈥檚, going back to when they both lived and worked in Japan. 鈥淗is research is also focused on insect olfaction,鈥 Leal said. 鈥淗e was the person I reached out to make the initial contact.鈥

Questions and answers

Biochemistry quiz screenshot shows question and aerial view of 嘿嘿视频 Health Stadium.
Clock ticks down as team members work on their answer, while the audience sees an aerial view of the 嘿嘿视频 campus.
 

Here are some of the questions from Wednesday鈥檚 program (click each question to see the answer):

  • What is one of the ways that humans adapt to high altitudes by virtue of what happens to hemoglobin?
  • Increase production of a compound named 2,3-BPG that leads to increase delivery of oxygen.
  • Which portion of the spike protein moves up and down to either evade the immune system or allow virus entry to the host cell to occur?
  • The receptor-binding domain.
  • A1c is a blood test that measures your average blood sugar levels over the past three months. The A1c test measures the percentage of your red blood cells that have sugar-bound hemoglobin. Which ligand binds to hemoglobin as your blood sugar does, albeit in a reversible fashion?
  • Carbon dioxide.
  • Why can crocodiles stay underwater for such a long time without drowning?
  • Their hemoglobin binds to bicarbonate and reduces affinity for oxygen (at the tissues).
  • In the so-called UK variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the amino acid residue asparagine in the receptor-binding domain at position 501 is replaced by which amino acid?
  • Tyrosine.
  • Why the change of a single amino acid, glutamic acid to valine, in hemoglobin leads to sickle cell disease?
  • It causes aggregation of hemoglobin due to hydrophobic interactions.

Media Resources

Kathy Keatley Garvey is a communications specialist with the Department of Entomology and Nematology. Email: kegarvey@ucdavis.edu.

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