Multidisciplinary program
prompts examination of
college experience
By CARLY NOAH
Daily Staff Reporter
An interdisciplinary course at the University
is offering students the chance to rethink higher
education.
Titled “Education by Design,” the class
centers on the idea of the “Campus of the
Future” and aims to allow students the chance
to reinvent the university experience through
real-world solutions.
Materials Science Prof. Joanna Mirecki
Millunchick,
who
co-directs
the
course
alongside Political Science Prof. Mika LaVaque-
Manty, said now is an exciting time for learning
at a university. She noted both emerging
technologies, along with increased accessibility.
“Historically, universities were the keepers
of knowledge, but now information is readily
available,” Millunchick said. “College used
2 — Friday, April 10, 2015
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Class asks
students to
rethink higher ed.
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Political Science Prof. Mike LaVague-Manty works with students in the three semester course on higher education that
he co-teaches with Materials Science Prof. Joanna Mirecki Millunchick. The course aims to allow students to reinvent
the university experiences.
With Buenos Aires
team, ‘U’ shows
DNA in brain
controls obesity
By KATIE PENROD
Daily Staff Reporter
New research conducted by a
University team in tandem with
the University of Buenos Aires
has revealed the influence certain
segments of DNA in the brain have
on the regulation of appetite and
weight, in addition to influencing
obesity.
According to a University press
release, this study is the first to
document exactly how a brain cell
gene is involved in weight regulation
functions.
The team was led by Malcolm
Low, professor of molecular and
integrative physiology, and Marcelo
Rubinstein, professor of physiology
and biology at the University of
Buenos Aires.
The research focused on genetic
triggers inside a specific type
of neuron in the brain called a
proopiomelanocortin, or POMC,
located
in
the
hypothalamus.
Previous studies of the role of POMC
neurons in regulating sensations like
fullness or hunger have shown that
neurons without POMC can cause
obesity in both animals and humans.
However, according to the new
research, obesity can also result
when certain genetic triggers are
missing from the POMC neurons —
even if the neurons themselves are
present. Low and Rubinstein’s study
focused on these triggers and their
impacts on regulating weight.
The study identified the genetic
triggers as enhancers named nPE1
and nPE2, which are attached to
a transcription factor called Islet 1
that is then attached to the POMC
neuron.
Low
said
enhancers
help
distinguish different cells in the
body from each other.
“Every cell in the body has
the same DNA, but they’re all
very different. And the way that
comes about is the little DNA
sequences
called
enhancers,”
Low said. “They’re responsible
for determining the expressions
of genes in certain cells. The ones
we’ve discovered are very specific
for turning on this POMC gene.”
The study was conducted on mice
in two parts and published in two
separate papers. Low said in the first
paper, published in Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences,
they removed the enhancers nPE1
and nPE2 in the mice. In the second
paper, published in PLoS Genetics,
they removed only the transcription
factor, Islet 1. Both times, mice
became obese.
Low said the findings showed
that nPE1 and nPE2, as well as
Islet 1, are necessary for a fully
functioning POMC gene and the
healthy regulation of weight and
appetite.
“The transcription factor is a
protein and it recognizes the letters
of the DNA sequence and binds to
it very specifically,” he said. “The
one factor can bind to both of the
enhancers. So they probably act as
a unit when all of them are bound.”
Though the study was not
conducted on humans, Low said he
was confident there is a significant
link to human obesity. He noted that
scientists already know that when
children have mutated POMC genes
they can become dangerously obese,
which suggests that the likelihood
of specifically enhancer mutations
causing similar issues is high.
“We have every reason to believe
that would be true because we’ve
compared the sequence of these
enhancers
and
they’re
almost
identical in every mammal,” Low
said.
In
an
e-mail
interview,
Rubinstein wrote that he also
believes the translation to humans
is quite probable due to the similar
location and roles POMC neurons
play in mice and humans.
“Mice
born
without
the
enhancers nPE1 and nPE2 are
genetically programmed to have an
impaired satiety circuit and will be
hyperphagic and obese,” Rubinstein
wrote. “Since these systems are
extremely conserved at the genetic,
anatomical and physiological level it
is highly likely that humans without
these enhancers will have the same
phenotype as mice do.”
First-year
Medical
student
Stephan Diljak, president of the
University’s chapter of the American
Medical Student Association, said
he believes study was important
because it has the potential to lead
to a drug that could help people deal
with obesity.
Additionally, both Low and Diljak
spoke to the importance of this
study in proving that though fitness
and healthy eating are key factors in
maintaining a healthy weight, genes
do also play a crucial role in the
obesity problem facing many people.
Diljak said the study has the
power
to
disprove
common
misunderstandings
people
have
about obesity and its causes, as well
as the methods used to combat it.
“When a lot of people think
about obesity, they think about
eating associated with this — stuff
like McDonald’s — basically not
exercising and not doing anything
University researchers find link
between neurons and weight
to only be available to the elite,
and now about 65 percent of all
high school graduates enroll in
college. Lectures consisted of
sage professors soliloquizing to a
group of rapt and silent students.
But now we know that the best
kind of learning is interactive and
loud.”
LaVaque-Manty
said
the
Multidisciplinary
Design
Program, housed in the College
of Engineering, allows students of
all disciplines to engage with the
topic. He said this effort allows
anyone interested in questioning
the
purpose
of
college
or
wanting to shape the future of
the institution, regardless of a
student’s academic pursuits.
“It gives the students an
opportunity
to
understand
better their own experience at
Michigan,”
LaVaque-Manty
said. “They learn what’s unique
about Michigan, what is not
unique about Michigan, what
the challenges facing higher
education are and what kinds of
strategies there might be to deal
with them.”
The course began with a focus
on the history of the University,
as well as some common ideas
about where it might be heading.
The class later moved into a
discussion about aspects of the
college
experience
students
were interested in examining or
modifying.
Students chose to work on
projects ranging from increasing
engaged learning on campus to
alumni engagement.
LSA
sophomore
Lauren
Shepard
said
the
class
has
allowed her to develop concrete
suggestions
to
improve
the
undergraduate experience at the
University.
“I have gotten to critically
examine
the
credit
system,
the physical spaces in which
students learn, and the way that
the courses are actually taught,”
Shepard said. “I think that the
class teaches you to think about
higher education in a completely
different light.”
LaVaque-Manty
said
the
purpose of the class is to allow
students
to
think
critically
about both current education
system and their own academic
experiences.
“Part of our goal in the course
is to think about the academic
infrastructure of the University —
the credit hour economy, grades,
majors,
disciplines,
degrees,”
LaVaque-Manty said. “Do they
make sense? Do they still make
sense?”
LSA junior Eni Kruja, who is
currently enrolled in the class,
said she believes the course is
especially important because of
its student-centered approach.
“We, the students, are not just
given a syllabus, the required
tasks for passing, and period
instructions — we work with the
professors to decide the direction
of the class based on what we
recognize as our needs for success
and what the professors see as
important resources for us to
use,” Kruja said.
LSA senior Michael Moreno practices slacklining on the Diag on Monday. (David
Song/Daily)
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