Markita del Carpio Landry

Markita del Carpio Landry is a Bolivian-American chemist who is an associate professor in the department of chemical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research considers nanomaterials for brain imaging and the development of sustainable crops. She was a recipient of the 2022 Vilcek prize for creative promise. del Carpio Landry's work has been featured on NPR,[1] popular mechanics,[2] the San Francisco Chronicle,[3] and C&E News.[4]

Markita Landry
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Scientific career
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Osaka University
Duke University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
ThesisSingle-molecule methods for an improved understanding of biophysical interactions: from fundamental biology to applied nanotechnology. (2012)
WebsiteLandry Lab

Early life and education

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del Carpio Landry's parents are both teachers, and she has said that her early training was in curiosity-based science.[5] Landry earned her bachelor's degrees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in both chemistry and physics.[6] She moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for doctoral studies and earned a Ph.D. in chemical physics. Her research considered the development of single-molecule spectroscopies for investigating DNA polymer oxidative damage.[7] del Carpio Landry was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She performed research at both the Technical University of Munich and Osaka University.[6] del Carpio Landry is a fluent speaker of French, English, and Spanish.

Research and career

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In July 2016, del Carpio Landry was appointed to the faculty at Berkeley, where she started to explore nanotechnology-based approaches to image neuromodulation in the brain using synthetic nanoparticle-polymer conjugates.[8] Such materials are incredibly versatile, with tunable chemical and physical properties. They can be processed using low cost fabrication techniques, permitting the creation of biomimetic structures. She uses functionalism carbon nanotubes to detect the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine with high spatial and temporal resolution.[9] She simultaneously develops near-infrared fluorescent probes to explore fundamental biological processes.[10]

del Carpio Landry has also demonstrated that carbon nanotubes can be used to deliver DNA into plant cells [9][11] with applications in plant genome editing.[12] Delivering DNA to plants is complicated due to the rigid, multi-layer cell walls, yet del Carpio Landry has also demonstrated that nanoparticles can be used to deliver RNA into plants.[13][14] During the COVID-19 pandemic, del Carpio Landry started to explore nanosenors for detecting the spike proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)[15] and to increase the sensitivity of RT-qPCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections.[16]

Awards and honors

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Selected publications

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References

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  1. ^ "Scientists Thread A Nano-Needle To Modify The Genes Of Plants". NPR.org. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  2. ^ Kiedaisch, Jill (12 March 2019). "An Advance in Bioengineering Could Pave the Way for Tomorrow's Superplants". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  3. ^ Ho, Catherine (12 June 2017). "Shedding light on how antidepressants affect the brain". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Carbon nanotubes deliver DNA into plant cells". Chemical & Engineering News. 28 February 2019.
  5. ^ a b "2018: Markita Landry, PhD". Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Diverse Sources | Science, Health and Environment experts available on deadline". diversesources.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  7. ^ Landry, Markita P.; McCall, Patrick M.; Qi, Zhi; Chemla, Yann R. (21 October 2009). "Characterization of photoactivated singlet oxygen damage in single-molecule optical trap experiments". Biophysical Journal. 97 (8): 2128–2136. Bibcode:2009BpJ....97.2128L. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2009.07.048. ISSN 1542-0086. PMC 2764082. PMID 19843445.
  8. ^ "Markita Landry". www.aiche.org. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "Nanomaterials whiz is developing tools to deliver DNA to plants and detect brain chemicals". cen.acs.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Markita Landry announced as 2020 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  11. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 1733575 - EAGER: Bio-Mimetic Molecular Machines Driven by Brownian Motion of Synthetic Peptoid Polymers". nsf.gov. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  12. ^ Demirer, Gozde S.; Silva, Tallyta N.; Jackson, Christopher T.; Thomas, Jason B.; W Ehrhardt, David; Rhee, Seung Y.; Mortimer, Jenny C.; Landry, Markita P. (March 2021). "Nanotechnology to advance CRISPR-Cas genetic engineering of plants". Nature Nanotechnology. 16 (3): 243–250. Bibcode:2021NatNa..16..243D. doi:10.1038/s41565-021-00854-y. ISSN 1748-3395. PMC 10461802. PMID 33712738. S2CID 232215258.
  13. ^ Zhang, Huan; Goh, Natalie S.; Wang, Jeffrey W.; Pinals, Rebecca L.; González-Grandío, Eduardo; Demirer, Gozde S.; Butrus, Salwan; Fakra, Sirine C.; Del Rio Flores, Antonio; Zhai, Rui; Zhao, Bin (22 November 2021). "Nanoparticle cellular internalization is not required for RNA delivery to mature plant leaves". Nature Nanotechnology. 17 (2): 197–205. Bibcode:2022NatNa..17..197Z. doi:10.1038/s41565-021-01018-8. ISSN 1748-3395. OSTI 1923762. PMC 10519342. PMID 34811553. S2CID 244480538.
  14. ^ Demirer, Gozde (2020). "Carbon nanocarriers deliver siRNA to intact plant cells for efficient gene knockdown". Science Advances. 6 (26): eaaz0495. Bibcode:2020SciA....6..495D. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz0495. PMC 7314522. PMID 32637592.
  15. ^ a b "University of Illinois Alumni". University of Illinois Alumni. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  16. ^ Jeong, Sanghwa; González-Grandío, Eduardo; Navarro, Nicole; Pinals, Rebecca L.; Ledesma, Francis; Yang, Darwin; Landry, Markita P. (22 June 2021). "Extraction of Viral Nucleic Acids with Carbon Nanotubes Increases SARS-CoV-2 Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Detection Sensitivity". ACS Nano. 15 (6): 10309–10317. doi:10.1021/acsnano.1c02494. ISSN 1936-086X. PMC 8204751. PMID 34105936.
  17. ^ Engineering, National Academy of (22 January 2018). Participants. National Academies Press (US).
  18. ^ "Innovative Young Engineers Selected to Participate in 2017 US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium". www.naefrontiers.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Markita Landry". IUPAC 100. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  20. ^ "45 Gilliam Fellowships Support Students and Advisers Committed to Increasing Diversity in Science". HHMI. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Past Fellows | Alfred P. Sloan Foundation". sloan.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Markita Landry". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Prytanean: Prytanean Faculty Enrichment Award Winners | CAA Alumni Chapters". alumnichapters.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  24. ^ "Markita Landry receives 2018 DARPA Young Faculty Award | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Spectroscopy Magazine Announces the 2020 Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy". Spectroscopy Online. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  26. ^ Termini, Christina. "100 inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists in America". crosstalk.cell.com. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  27. ^ "2021 Winners | Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Women in Science". www.nature.com. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  28. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 1213622 - Near Infrared Fluorescent Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes as Novel Solution Phase Optical Sensing Materials Proposal Renewal". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  29. ^ "Markita del Carpio Landry". Vilcek Foundation. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  30. ^ "Alum Markita del Carpio Landry wins Vilcek Prize | Chemistry at Illinois". chemistry.illinois.edu. Retrieved 4 November 2021.