BGSU Zoom News

Monday, October 2, 2017

Solungga Liu to perform at the Library of Congress | Julia Wildschutte taking a new look at the canine genome

Solungga Liu

SOLUNGGA LIU TO PERFORM AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
BGSU PROFESSOR OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE STUDIES TO PREMIERE A CHARLES GRIFFES PIECE

Little did pianist Solungga Liu dream seven years ago when she released a CD of music by the late composer Charles Griffes that it would result in her being invited to perform at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. But on Nov. 4, Liu, a professor of music performance studies at Bowling Green State University, will not only give a concert there but will also premiere a Griffes work never before performed in public.

Part of the mission of the concert series is to feature works housed in the library, Liu said. The intimate, 500-seat concert hall in the stately Thomas Jefferson Building has been the site of many eminent premieres, including Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.”

Liu’s recording of music by the early 20th century American composer Griffes was admired by a concert manager who serves on the program committee of the library, which houses the manuscripts of the work, and when this year’s performance schedule was being planned, unbeknownst to Liu, he recommended she be included.

25 Years of Digital Arts @ BGSU - Toledo Blade
Presentation on banned popular music - Toledo Blade, BG Independent News

Dr. Julia Wildschutte (right) with graduate assistant Abigail Jarosz.

JULIA WILDSCHUTTE TAKING A NEW LOOK AT THE CANINE GENOME
BGSU VIRUS-HOST INTERACTIONS SPECIALIST HAS RESEARCH AWARD TO STUDY RETROVIRAL ELEMENTS IN DOG

Dr. Julia Wildschutte, an assistant professor of biological sciences, is taking a new look at the canine genome, and her research is beginning to reveal that some long-held held beliefs about what it contains may not be entirely accurate.

A specialist in virus-host interactions, Wildschutte has a $300,000, three-year Academic Research Enhancement Award from the National Institutes of Health to study "The Properties and Impact of Endogenous Retroviral Elements to the Canine."

“When a retrovirus infects a cell, it integrates a DNA ‘copy’ of its genome, or ‘provirus’, into the nuclear genome of that cell. This means that if a retrovirus is able to infect a germ cell, the provirus may inadvertently be passed onto offspring. And this unlikely scenario has happened a lot in mammalian evolution. Fully 8 percent of the human genome is derived from retroviruses. In mice, it’s about the same. But dogs are interesting,” she said. “In dogs, it’s only .15 percent. How did it happen that dogs have missed such a rich history of retroviruses infecting their germ line?” she said.