Health Science Center brothers shine light on future

The work being done in the labs of the Gryczynski brothers is eye-catching. Lab benches hold bright lasers and glowing vials and computer screens show images that look like modern art

paintings.

At the Center for Commercialization of Fluorescence Technologies at the UNT Health Science Center, colorful research equipment is more than a way to get someoneÂ’s attention. The research being done is in various fields, from sensing and imaging to drug delivery methods, and beneath the flashy appearances are the same challenges that many researchers are facing in a world of fewer available funds.

“Obviously no one will buy science if it’s beautiful,” said Zygmunt Gryczynski, who goes by Karol. A professor of molecular biology and immunology, he realizes fluorescence technology is only as valuable as the work it can lend itself to.

Ignacy Gryczynski, a professor of cell biology and genetics, said researching fluorescence in part means tapping into things that exist in nature, despite the high-tech associations fluorescence has in todayÂ’s science.

“Butterflies or birds have very, very beautiful colors. Those are not dyes; they are small nanostructures that cause a photonic effect,” he said.

Fluorescence is actually an event or action, not an object that glows. It happens in billionths of a second: radiation at one wavelength is absorbed and then the particles emit radiation of their own at a different wavelength, and light is the result. Some organisms, like the firefly or a type of jellyfish, naturally glow, and scientists have been able to produce glowing cats and pigs by using genes from naturally luminescent creatures.

The Gryczynskis are not focused on making green piglets, though. Instead, they are working with other researchers at the Health Science Center and from across the globe to find practical applications to fluorescence.

With fluorescence, researchers can track a single molecule or can watch the interactions between several. Dyes can be put into red blood cells, where they will remain in the body for days instead of disappearing quickly when in the blood stream. Better sensing devices can be developed to see the intricate steps involved in a DNA strand fixing itself.

“This was inconceivable 10 years ago — forget about it,” Ignacy Gryczynski said.

The field of fluorescence research is small, Karol Gryczynski said, but it touches many other disciplines, like cell biology, chemistry, immunology and physics, just to name a few. The Center hosts visitors from many universities, research institutes and companies around the world on a regular basis, and in December will host the Short Course of Cellular and Molecular Fluorescence for researchers interested in using the techniques in their work.

Julian Borejdo, a professor of molecular biology and immunology, is credited for bringing the Gryczynski brothers to North Texas about three years ago. He said many academics are leaving universities to go work for large corporations that can more easily fund research.

“The quality of education is suffering greatly because of that,” he said.

Purely by accident, Borejdo and Ignacy Gryczynski found out they both attended the same university in Poland at the same time. Now in their laboratories they are finding it harder to attract young researchers because applying for grant funding is more competitive. Not only is science more advanced and sometimes require more expertise to carry out research, they said, but science has become more expensive and the grant dollars are dwindling.

Karol Gryczynski said as technology has advanced, equipment becomes more expensive and harder to buy for research institutions.

“The science is very nice but it’s very expensive,” he said. “The cheapest instrument is [the price of] a new car, and the most expensive is a few Ferraris.”

A tour through the laboratories at the Center demonstrates that even expensive equipment doesnÂ’t perform all the necessary functions; combinations of several different pieces of equipment are put together to serve specific research purposes. Even small things, like glass flasks, can cost hundreds of dollars. One small piece of equipment in one of the labs, only about 3 inches long by 4 inches, costs about $20,000.

While the researchers at the Center do many experiments, other researchers are welcome to come in and run their own experiments if there is enough funding. Karol Gryczynski said lending a hand to other researchers helps further science that will have greater applications for more people, in and beyond North Texas.

“What we do, we provide the technology . . . you can’t do everything,” he said.

Contact Bassett at ebassett@bizpress.net

Potential applications

for fluorescence

Blood glucose monitoring

Monitoring cardiac markers for heart disease

Pharmacological applications

Explosives detection

Monitoring markers for prostate and breast cancer

Source: University of North Texas Health Science Center