Portland State Magazine Fall 2017

FALL 2017 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 5 P A R K B L O C K S IF ASTRONAUTS are ever able to fly to Mars, they may have a PSU student and a faculty member to thank for it. Engineering student Kyle Viestenz and engineering professor Mark Weislogel designed two experiments essential to long-distance manned space travel, and astronauts aboard the International Space Station performed them this summer. The experiments explore technologies to recover potable water from urine, vapor and other sources, and to scrub carbon dioxide from the air so that it’s safe to breathe. Space station astronaut Jack Fischer is seen here with CO -scrubbing hardware. Photo courtesy of NASA. BIOLOGY professor Ken Stedman received a $540,000 grant from NASA to study the evolution of viruses, which may shed light on how viruses form, adapt and infect hosts. The study stems from a bizarre virus Stedman (pictured here) discovered in a hot spring at Lassen Volcanic National Park five years ago. The virus’s genetic code is derived from both DNA and its evolutionary predecessor, RNA. The vast majority of life on Earth switched its genetic code from RNA to DNA about four billion years ago, so the fact that this virus has both is highly unusual, according to Stedman. Studying the hybrid virus may show that viruses themselves paved the way for genetic evolution eons ago. Experiments in space Bizarre discovery leads to NASA grant 2