SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH
PAPER OF THE MONTH APRIL 2023
The Committee for Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Biology selects the leading scientific article each month from all the scientific articles published for that month.
We are pleased to announce that the winner of April’s article is the Ph.D Student Guy Levin from Prof. Schuster’s lab. The article was published in The Plant Journal.
On the occasion of the win, we asked Guy to provide us with some interesting details about the study and the path that led to the research, and a bit about him.
Hi, could you introduce yourself in a few words?
Hi, I’m Guy, married to Nofar, with one more year left on my PhD program.
Could you explain what Prof. Schuster’s laboratory is all about?
Our lab does research in various fields. Starting from studying nucleases (RNAse J) and up to producing electricity via photosynthesis.
Could you tell us about your current article/research what was the main purpose of the research and what did you discover?
In my research that was performed with the help of Michael Yasmin from our lab and Rawad Hannah from the Kleifeld lab, we discovered a unique mechanism of photoprotection in the green algae Chlorella ohadii. This mechanism allows the algae to thrive in the extreme conditions of the desert, in which they are exposed to very intense light. Most photosynthetic organisms cannot survive such extreme light intensities, and die.
Can you elaborate on the importance of the discovery? How will it serve you and what directions does it take? What is the application of the discovery (domains, solutions)?
As mentioned above, most plants and algae cannot survive in such extreme light conditions. We hope the unique mechanism we discovered will be used in the near future to increase the yield and survivability of agriculture important crops. There is a huge need for inventing new solutions for the rapidly increasing global food shortage.
What drew you to the current lab/project?
I wanted to make a change, and I felt like a PhD at Prof. Gadi Schuster lab was the best mean to do so.
When you are not “doing” science, what do you do?
I love watching movies and hang around nature or the beach. I’m also a dedicated fan of Liverpool Football (not soccer) Club.
When you grow up who do you want to be?
An astronaut of course!
what are your plans for the future of your career?
Right now, I’m really focused on my current research. I still have almost a year to go and plenty of work to do. I assume that once I finish my PhD I will search a post-doc position in a leasing lab abroad.
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