Biological Engineering Undergraduate Student Co-Authors First Paper

Biological engineering student Kristine Peterson had her first peer-reviewed article published last month.

Peterson is one of the co-authors for the paper “Development of Transient Recombinant Expression and Affinity Chromatography Systems for Human Fibrinogen” that was published by the International Journal of Molecular Science. The study explores how the blood protein fibrinogen, which gives blood clots structure, can be isolated and used in other applications.

“This biomaterial can be used to create structures for healing, and it’s compatible with our body already,” Peterson said. “So if we can use it, we can create scaffolds for creating tissue on. It can be used in healing processes as well as parts of drug delivery.”

Peterson participated in this research project at East Carolina University as part of an Undergraduate Research Experience funded by the National Science Foundation. She worked on creating the purification system required to separate fibrinogen from the blood. For her, the most exciting part of this research is the fact that when the protein is separated, it is still viable.

Participating in this project took Peterson out of her comfort zone. She encourages other students to take the leap and do the things that scare them as well.

“A big part of engineering is application,” she said. “The more opportunities I get to apply the things that I’ve learned, the more I’ll be able to actually understand. While I have all this background from my undergraduate classes, the thing that’s really going to move me forward is trying it out.”