REU internship at Danforth Center has UMSL student researching oilseed lipids for biofuels

UMSL Daily

Senior biochemistry and biotechnology major Lauren Jenkins checks the seed pods of a Camelina sativa oilseed plant. Her REU internship research at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center has her quantifying the levels of acyl carrier proteins, which are crucial in the plant’s production of lipids that can be used for biofuels. (Photographs by August Jennewein)
Many people watch the seeds they’ve planted mature into flowers and other garden greenery over the sun-filled summer months. Lauren Jenkins, on the other hand, has spent the summer analyzing seeds from crops that can be used for biofuels.
It’s research Jenkins does as an intern in the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center’s Research Experience for Undergraduates Summer Internship Program.
Part of the nationwide REU program funded by the National Science Foundation, the Danforth Center is one of a select number of sites across the country hosting REU internships that are highly competitive.
Jenkins, an Opportunity Scholar and Pierre Laclede Honors College student at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, was one of 20 students selected from 237 total nationwide who applied to intern at the Danforth Center.
The senior biochemistry and biotechnology major is working to quantify levels of acyl carrier proteins in oilseeds, including Camelina sativa (commonly known as “false flax”), soybean and canola.
USDA Research Scientist and Danforth Center Associate Member Doug Allen (at left) teaches Lauren Jenkins about the seed pods of the Camelina sativa. Allen has guided and taught Jenkins during the 11-week, full-time REU internship she’s had in his lab, which investigates plant metabolism.
The project, based out of the laboratory of USDA Research Scientist and Danforth Center Associate Member Doug Allen, is a “challenging one,” according to Allen, who investigates plant metabolism.
“Lauren’s project is complex,” he said. “Quantifying levels of this group of proteins poses a lot of difficulties because they are ...

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