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YADAV ENGLISH
BIOLOGY Her first full-length manuscript of po-
ems, The Disappearing Act, won the 2016
Y ou’ve probably heard of the sugar substi- Adrienne Bond Award for Poetry. “The
tute called stevia. Dr. Pushpa Yadav, poems in this collection explore the role of memo-
assistant professor of Biology, and some of ry in shaping one’s identity,” says Dr. Sara Pirkle
her students have been conducting tissue culture Hughes, lecturer of English. “In particular, the
research on this natural, zero-calorie sugar plant. title of the book refers to a recurring idea in the
Stevia is native to Paraguay and Brazil and is com- book that time is a magician, and every moment of
monly known as “honey yerba” or “honey leaves.” life that passes pulls a disappearing act. In attempt-
Worldwide demand for the plant is increasing ing to preserve these moments in poetry, I am
as the healthcare industry looks for ways to help trying to complete the illusion that time has begun:
people control obesity and to treat Type 2 diabe- the reappearance after the disappearance.”
tes. However, “seeds of stevia have less vigor and
are mostly unviable and thus the germination rate HUGHES
in this plant species is only around 10 percent,”
Yadav says. “Therefore, stevia seeds cannot be The book will be published by Mercer
used for mass propagation.” University Press in 2018. Hughes has other poetry
Yadav’s research goal was to establish the published in national and international literary
plant in the laboratory through micropopaga- journals. Here is her poem “My Father Holding His
tion (rapidly multiplying stock plant material to Father’s Hand,” which was published in Juxtaprose
produce a large number of progeny plants, using Literary Magazine:
modern plant tissue culture methods) and subse-
quently enhance its sugar content production. As he takes his father’s hand,
The project gives MGA’s undergraduate Biol- his father says, Forgive me,
ogy students the opportunity to learn how tissue I know you belong to me,
culture is performed; what the importance of but I don’t know your name.
hormonal balance and the nutrient components
in tissue culture is; how to regenerate the whole His father’s mind is a wind-up boat
plant from explants; and how to work aseptically caught on a stone in a creek.
in the lab. If he could, my father would wade in,
Some of Yadav’s students have already pre- free the toy on a clear path.
sented findings at MGA’s undergraduate research
conference. Her current students are designing Standing knee-deep, he would see
and setting up an experiment for polyploidy for himself how swiftly the current
induction. sweeps away all a man has ever
known, all a man belongs to.
12 MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
