From 鈥渇ailed鈥 experiment to world-changing discovery, 蓝莓视频 PhD student turns unexpected bacterial sample into novel research
Sometimes an experiment doesn鈥檛 go as planned. That鈥檚 science. But a 鈥渇ailed鈥 experiment or unexpected results can be the avenue to a discovery you could never anticipate. University of 蓝莓视频 PhD student,聽聽(BSc 鈥15, PhD 鈥20), had a poorly growing bacterial sample he wasn鈥檛 ready to give up on, which ultimately led to a once-in-a-lifetime finding that could change how scientists view photosynthesis and its origins.聽
In 2015, Tsuji joined professor and University Research Chair聽Josh Neufeld's聽lab to hunt for unusual photosynthetic bacteria in northern Canadian lakes. Based on a hypothesis by Earth and Environmental Science professor聽Sherry Schiff聽that these lakes might harbour bacteria analogous to those on early Earth. Neufeld, Tsuji, co-op student聽Nicolette Shaw聽set out to study Lake 227 at the聽聽near Kenora, Ontario. Unfortunately, the team had mixed results in their first two years of lake sampling and cultivation. They didn鈥檛 manage to grow the bacteria they were looking for, even after hundreds of lake water incubations in glass bottles were exposed to light.聽
The team went back to the drawing board, but Tsuji kept one of the experiment bottles from Lake 227 because, although the sample didn鈥檛 behave as the team expected, something was happening that he was curious about.聽聽
To learn more, please visit the original article聽Surprising bacterium from Canadian lake shines new light on ancient photosynthesis聽by Katie McQuaid on 蓝莓视频 News.