Pages 19-20: Chemistry and Forensic Science
The Chemistry Doctoral Program began admitting students this semester. The program's approach: capitalize on UCF's biggest strengths-materials chemistry, environmental chemistry, and forensic science and prepare students for a wide range of career paths. Here are a few examples of UCF Chemistry research.
Page 19: Forensic Science: What's That Stain?
Expanding the Forensic Science program to include a doctoral option was a natural direction for UCF. The university boasts the largest Forensic Science program in the nation and the campus is home to the National Center for Forensic Science.
In the mess and confusion of a crime scene, the origin of a particular stain is not always apparent-was it saliva, blood, semen, or vaginal excretion? For investigations that type of knowledge could be vital, but until recently all body-fluid identification testing was expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive (and they could not even identify saliva). Now, thanks to breakthroughs from Dr. Jack Ballantyne's laboratory, mysterious stains can be discerned quickly, accurately, and efficiently.
When Dr. Ballantyne started working on the body-fluid identification problem he had certain criteria that he wanted to meet. Namely, the tests needed to be parallel (that is, all of the body-fluids needed to be checked for at one time), and the new tests needed to be compatible with the current DNA analysis methods.
Messenger RNA analysis held the key. Messenger RNA, unlike DNA or other types of RNA, is expressed differently in each type of bodily tissue. Researchers knew that if the type of messenger RNAs present in a stain or tissue sample could be determined, then it would be possible to definitively identify the tissue or body fluid in question, but RNA was thought to be too unstable to use.
Dr. Ballantyne's laboratory team demonstrated that it is possible to isolate a sufficient amount of good-quality RNA from biological stains. (Their experiments proved that it was actually a widely-held misconception that RNA was unstable.) Then, using those techniques, the team devised tests for each type of common body fluid (blood, saliva, semen, and vaginal secretions).
This unique approach to comprehensive and definitive body-fluid identification has stimulated the interest of the broader forensic community. The laboratory is now collaborating with the FBI to validate the messenger RNA analysis methods.
Page 20: Environmental Chemistry: PCB Removal
PCB stands for Polychlorinated biphenyls. PCBs are a cocktail of chemicals, first created in the 1920's, that were used in the manufacturing process of numerous items: from electronics to paints. In the 1970's, PCBs were linked to environmental and medical problems including cancer in humans and were consequently discontinued. Today, PCBs are illegal to produce, but many older products (such as rocket launch platforms and navy ships) contain PCBs and are still in use.
Using nano-sized iron and magnesium particles in a special process, Drs. Christian A. Clausen and Cherie L. Geiger have found a way to safely breakdown the PCBs in materials without harming any of the surrounding structures. This process is much better than current PCB-removal technology, which simply consist of burying PCB-laden objects in a landfill.
When will the PCB removal process be ready for public use? UCF chemists, with support from NASA, have been working on this technology for the past three years. This spring they will conduct the first large-scale field test of the PCB-removing chemicals, but since they have already conducted many laboratory tests, no one is worried about the results.
Page 20: Materials Chemistry: High-Density Disk
One materials research focus entails the fabrication high-density data recording disks. These next generation DVD-type storage disks can hold unprecedented volumes of data. Dr. Kevin D. Belfield's molecular electronics research group, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Army, are investigating these new materials.
How are the high-density storage disks different from conventional storage disks? The high-density disks encode, manipulate, and retrieve information at a molecular level, as opposed to current semiconductor techniques, which rely on miniaturization of bulk devices such as integrated circuits.
When will these disks reach the market? Two US patent applications have been filed on the technology, which could pave the way for next generation, ultra high-density optical data storage for tomorrow's computational needs.
More Information: www.cas.ucf.edu/chemistry
Key Faculty: Glenn N. Cunningham (chair), Jack Ballantyne, Kevin Belfield, Andres Campiglia, Christian A. Clausen III, Cherie L. Geiger, Florencio Eloy Hernández, Stephen M. Kuebler, Brooks C. Madsen, & Robert Y. Ting
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