The Life Sciences Institute 
at the University of Michigan 
received 
$45 
million 
in 
funding 
to 
advance 
their 
research initiatives, as a result 
of President Mark Schlissel’s 
Biosciences Initiative which 
was announced in November. 
One of their largest projects 
is 
the 
Expanding 
Natural 
Products Drug Discovery at 
the University of Michigan 
Biosciences Synergy Initiative, 
led by principal investigator Dr. 
David H. Sherman, medicinal 
chemist and professor in the 
College of Pharmacy. 
Utilizing their new funding, 
Sherman and his team have 
traveled around the world in 
search of natural products that 
could facilitate the creation 
of new life-saving drugs, such 

as antibiotics and anti-cancer 
agents, primarily in marine 
microorganisms. They scuba-
dived their way through Costa 
Rica, the Red Sea and Papua 
New Guinea, and most recently 
traveled to the Boiling River in 
the Peruvian Amazon.
Until its official scientific 
discovery in 2011, the Boiling 
River was thought to be a 
myth. The river reaches up 
to 200 degrees Fahrenheit 
with no apparent heat source, 
and maintains a culture of 
extremophiles 
and 
life 
in 
this extreme heat. Sherman 
was intrigued by the Boiling 
River because it is a sect of 
the Amazon River rich in 
biodiversity 
but 
virtually 
untouched 
by 
outside 
researchers. 
It took months for Sherman 
and his team to get the legal 
permits necessary to study the 

land and to take samples out 
of Peru to bring back to the 
U.S. However, Sherman said if 
there is a commercial success 
from the benefits of Peru’s 
natural products, then some of 
those benefits will go towards 
helping sustain the area of 
origin. 
On the ground in Peru, 
Sherman was accompanied by 
several members of his team, 
various 
researchers 
from 
National Geographic, Peru and 
Brazil, as well as educators 
and artists. 
“There were a number of 
other people there with us 
focusing on different aspects 
of that habitat in the Amazon, 
so we were there and it was 
pretty much science heaven,” 
Sherman said. 
The river, boiling for miles, 
hosts bacteria and natural 
products that could hold 
the genomic key to new 
life-saving 
medicines. 
Rosa 
Maria 
Cristina 
Vasquez 
Espinoza, 
a 
Peruvian 
fourth-year 
chemical biology student 
on Dr. Sherman’s team, 
recalled her experience 
in an interview with The 
Daily. 
Espinoza 
explained 
arriving at the portion 
of 
the 
river 
she 
was 
studyinging 
required 
a 
trek. 
It 
was 
quite 
inaccessible, she said.
“To get there there was 
no path at all — we actually, 
we had to get some of the 
locals to come at 7:00 a.m. 
one day and open a path for 
us, so it was a very virgin 
area,” Espinoza said.
The group of natives 
known as the Shipibo 
have lived in this part 
of 
the 
Amazon 
for 
thousands of years and 
assisted 
Sherman’s 
team 
to 
navigate 
the 
treacherous 
parts 
of 
the river. Despite the 
dangers, 
Espinoza 

enjoyed the expedition and 
has high hopes for the results 
of their research. 
“There are multiple benefits 
that we as humans can get 
out of this work, but I think 
that whatever results we get 
can also benefit the Amazon, 
especially in its critical times 
right now, where we are losing 
about two soccerfields of the 
Amazon per minute,” Espinoza 
said.
The Peruvian samples are 
due to arrive at the University 
within the next week, and are 
expected to be available for 
University-wide use within 
the 
next 
year. 
Ashootosh 
Tripathi, director of Natural 
Products 
Discovery 
Core, 
is 
a 
close 
colleague 
of 
Sherman and helps lead the 
Expanding Natural Products 
Drug 
Discovery 
project. 
Tripathi explained once the 
samples are in the lab, his 
team will work on isolating 
the 
microbes 
to 
expedite 
the process of further drug-
related research.
“Say if you have a drug 
target in mind, you can come 
to the center for chemical 
genomics, which is down the 
stairs, and access the library 
produced from these microbes 
and you can just screen it and 
let us know and know that hey 
we found these extracts that 
are active and what we will do 
is we will go deeper into it and 
find the molecule associated 
with it,” Tripathi said.
Ultimately, 
the 
team 
is 
hopeful about the implications 
of their research, particularly 
in regards to the potential 
it has for further life-saving 
drug development.
 “What we’re really excited 
about is when we find some 
brand 
new 
compound 
and 
get that kind of opportunity,” 
Sherman said.

OFF C A M PUS HOUS ING

2A — Wednesday, October 9, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Kinesiology freshman Cella Vanheest and Nursing freshman Jolene Soriano speak with a representative for Courtyards Apartments during the Off-
Campus Housing Fair at the Michigan League Tuesday morning. 

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MONDAY:
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ABBY TAKAS
Daily Staff Reporter

University’s Life Sciences Institute receives $45 million in funding from Biosciences Initiative

UM research team travels to Peruvian 
Amazon for drug development research

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700 demonstrate on Diag, show solidarity for Israel

October 10, 1973
A 
crowd 
of 
about 
700 
persons gathered peacefully 
on the Diag yesterday to 
express solidarity with Israel 
on the occasion of the latest 
outbreak of war in the Middle 
East.
The demonstration began 
with a short statement in 
Hebrew. The introduction was 
followed by a
short speech by Psychology 
Prof. Alexander Giuora. He 
claimed 
the 
Israelis 
were 
aware of Arab mobilization, 
but first move or risk being 
branded were counseled not to 
make aggressors in the court 

of world opinion. Israel had 
been betrayed, he concluded, 
attacked in a weakened state 
on their holiest day, Yom 
Kippur.
A BREAK in the speeches 
was provided by Jill Coliman, 
LSA, as she lead the crown in a 
song supporting life for Israel.
The 
main 
speaker 
of 
the 
afternoon, 
History 
Prof. Arthur Mendel, next 
addressed the rally. making
“I have addressed other 
rallies for other causes before, 
but this is the first
time I’ve spoken for my 
people,” 
he 
said. 
“During 
my recent trip to Israel I 

discovered my people and 
what they do mean to me.” 
The 
mood 
of 
the 
demonstration 
was 
far 
from 
militaristic. 
Speakers 
regretted that the bloodshed 
was taking place for any 
reason. Mendel emphasized 
that spirit when he said, “It’s 
obscene to rejoice in the 
destruction of our enemies, 
for in a fundamental sense 
they are our brothers.”
He quoted Golda Meir as 
saying, “We forgive you for 
killing our sons. We can not 
forgive you for making us kill 
yours.”
MENDEL concluded with 

an appeal for help. “If you’re 
just here for a cheap thrill or a 
tingle running and down your 
spine, it would be better if you 
stayed home,” he said. “Let 
your actions speak for your 
heart.”
A 
check 
at 
the 
United 
Jewish Student Appeal booth 
revealed that it was doing 
brisk business.
After a prayer for peace by 
the Reverend Ed Edwards and 
a few more songs, the rally 
ended.
The 
gathering 
was 
sponsored by the Coalition 
of Concerned Students and 
Faculty. The groups behind 

the name are the local Hillel 
organization and the Israeli 
Student Organization.
A spokesperson for Hillel 
added that in a larger sense 
the demonstration was really 
sponsored by
the people of the community 
rather 
than 
any 
formal 
organizations.
AS THE CROWD dispersed, 
the Arabs, who had been 
marching silently during the 
demonstration, began to chant 
slogans 
supporting 
their 
position in the Middle East.
President 
of 
the 
Arab 
Student Organization, Ahmed 
Beshareh, 
stated 
that 
the 

Arabs were there to show 
disagreement with what they 
termed the Israeli aggression. 
Beshareh said, “who started 
the war is immaterial. This 
is a continuation of previous 
hostilities and can’t be treated 
separately.”
“We are not aggressors,” he 
continued, “we’re attacking 
land which is our own. We 
support the various United 
Nations 
resolutions 
which 
call for an end to Israeli 
aggression.”
Following 
the 
afternoon 
 
demonstration, the Arabs left 
en masse.

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