missing link

"This is similar to finding the missing links in an assembly line," says Dr. Dang, UBC Okanagan Principal's Research Chair in Natural Products Biotechnology.

Lanne’s skull was sought to prove since-discredited theories about Tasmanian Aboriginal people - that they were the missing link between humans and Neanderthals, a distinct race so primitive they didn’t even know how to make fire.

"During periods of rapid growth, such as those associated with spring algae blooms, nearly 20% of the cells were infected, which explains the low cell numbers. So, phages are the missing link explaining this mystery."

Upcoming research projects in Hetzer's lab are set on finding these missing links and understanding the biological characteristics of these long-lived RNAs.

"Understanding human exposure to these chemicals may help explain a missing link in how some neurological diseases arise."