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learn which essential oils the bees prefer and to colonies and to continue researching the
learn more about feeding behavior in general. antibacterial characteristics of honey.
Many beekeepers believe that honeybees are As a side project, students learn to make lip
attracted to certain essential oils and that others balms, hand creams, etc., from hive products such
might be important in keeping colonies and hives as bee’s wax and honey. They have also been
healthy. Students will present their findings at the making candles from the wax.
2017 undergraduate research symposium, as they “Our work is helping to educate students
did last year. One of last year’s students, Hannah and the community about the importance of
L. Smith, went on to a summer internship at protecting our pollinators,” Ready says. “Our
Georgia Tech to help maintain their campus program is self-supporting and a great resource
for undergraduate research projects.”

Middle Georgia State University faculty members are engaged in a wide
scope of research, scholarship and creative work, some of which gives their
students opportunities to apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom.

BIOLOGY SWENSON 9

T ardigrades, also known as water bears or be used to lengthen the shelf life of vaccines and
moss piglets, are microscopic invertebrates. increase the viability of organs during organ
They have eight legs, no respiratory or transplants, and could be used to preserve many
circulatory system and have been found on every dehydrated products.”
continent. Tardigrades are able to survive condi- Swenson says there has been little research on
tions that would kill most other animals, such as tardigrades in Georgia. A 2007 survey found that
extreme heat and cold, lethal doses of radiation only three species had been located and recorded
– even the vacuum of space. How? According to in the state. No surveys had been done in Bleckley,
Kirby Swenson, assistant professor of Biology, Dodge, Houston, Laurens, or Bibb counties. So
tardigrades slow their metabolism during extreme Swenson and two of his students, Colleen Clark
environmental conditions and shrivel to a third of and Laura Cocoma-Hernandez, are searching for
their original size and enter what’s called a “tun” and collecting tardigrade specimens on MGA’s
state. They are able to expel nearly all of their five campuses and placing them in their respec-
body fluids and replace them with a sugar called tive families. As of this spring they had identified
trehalose. During dehydration, they accumulate six specimens on the Cochran Campus and were
trehalose in order to protect their bodies from preparing to begin their survey on the Macon
cellular damage. Trehalose’s properties act as anti- Campus. After additional research, Clark and
freeze for tardigrades. Cocoma planned to present their findings at
These are not just fun facts to know and tell. MGA’s spring undergraduate conference.
“Researchers are currently looking into the pres-
ervation properties of trehalose and how those MGA Faculty continues on page 10
properties may be applied to humans,” Swenson
says. “Scientists have speculated it may minimize MGA TODAY
cell death in the brains of patients with Hunting-
ton’s or Parkinson’s disease. One study showed
trehalose exhibited antidepressant properties in
mice. Other studies speculate that trehalose may

Spring 2017