Dozens of donors and their guests gathered at the John W. and Jeanne M. Rowe Center for Research in Virology on April 30 to get a hands-on, up-close look at Morgridge Institute science.
The Rowe Center, launched in 2018, is home to the labs of Paul Ahlquist, Tony Gitter, Tim Grant, and Megan Spurgeon. To put on a special iteration of “Night in the Lab,” a series for supporters of the institute, the labs created eight activity stations for attendees to learn about some of the core techniques they use to study virus structure, replication, and activity.
“You’ll have a sense of wonder as you go through the evening,” CEO Brad Schwartz noted in his opening remarks, “learning about these remarkable little particles that have so much impact on our lives and in our world.”
Ahlquist, who directs the center, said that “following viruses into the cell gives us great insight into fundamental cell biology,” and that the center amplifies this by taking a broad view of virology.
Scientists from the labs introduced both “bread-and-butter” virology techniques, allowing participants to set up their own PCR gels, for example, as well as cutting-edge approaches, like machine learning models designed to accelerate drug discovery. And the wonder Schwartz anticipated was borne out across the third floor of the Discovery Building, as attendees donned VR headsets to peer into viral structure; watched roses shatter like shards of glass after being frozen to the cryogenic temperatures used in cryo-EM; and saw the moment HIV crosses a cytoskeleton bridge to infect a cell via fluorescence microscopy.
Many attendees said they appreciated meeting four labs in one night, a chance to “see the big picture” by flowing from one station to the next. “Did we ever!” one attendee remarked on how much they learned during the event, capturing the spirit of the evening.
Ahlquist noted that the learning experience is mutual: “This is a growth experience for us, helping us think in broader terms about what we’re doing.”
Check out the photos below to revisit the experience. Photography by Joey Cleveland.
