Areas of Study

Biofilm form when bacteria attach to wetted surfaces, and begin to excrete a slimy, glue-like substance. Colonies of biofilm bacteria carry out a variety of detrimental or beneficial reactions that affect all of us daily. 

At the Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE), multidisciplinary research teams find solutions and applications for industrially relevant problems and potentials of microbial biofilm formation. The CBE was established in 1990 as a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center to foster a new approach to university engineering and science education. 

Collaborations among the cell biology laboratories and with other scientists at MSU help create a fertile environment for pursuing answers to questions of cellular structure, function and development. They employ a wide variety of approaches, instruments and techniques that characterize modern biology: cell culture, chemistry, genetics and molecular biology. The interdisciplinary faculty in Cell, Developmental, & Molecular Biology educates students who can apply the techniques of modern molecular biology, genetics, cell biology, and immunology, in conjunction with the methods of classical experimental embryology, to solving the questions of how embryonic development are achieved. 

Bioinformatics and computational biology use of techniques from applied mathematics, informatics, statistics, and computer science to solve biological problems. The terms bioinformatics and computational biology are often used interchangeably, although the former typically focuses on algorithm development and specific computational methods, while the latter focuses more on hypothesis testing and discovery in the biological domain. In general, this type of research includes the development and testing of software tools to generate new knowledge from primary source information deposited in databases and the literature. 

Genomics is the large-scale investigation of the structure and function of genes. Understanding the structure and function of genomes aids in drug discovery and development, agricultural research, and other fields. 

Proteomics is the genome-wide analysis of protein regulation, expression, structure, post-translational modification, interactions, and function. This term was coined to make an analogy with genomics, yet proteomics is much more complicated than genomics. The genome is a rather constant entity, while the proteome differs between cell types and fluctuates in response to interactions with the environment. 

The interdisciplinary MSU faculty in Bioinformatics, Genomics, and Proteomics developed teaching and training programs that responds to current and future needs of the field.

Chemical biology is an emerging area at the boundary between chemistry and biology. The editors of Nature Chemical Biology state that chemical biology "focuses on understanding biological systems at the molecular level and using these mechanistic insights to expand chemistry and biology in new directions."   Chemical biology encompasses well-established divisions of chemistry such as bioorganic, biophysical, bioanalytical, bioinorganic and biochemistry and is supported and further enhanced by the highly interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment in the life sciences at MSU. 

We feel that a burgeoning area of research of such import is an ideal theme around which to focus graduate education. The research expertise and the instrumentation for chemical biology at Montana State University are outstanding.  By fostering an environment that stimulates substantive communication between chemists and biologists, MSU has created a catalyst for new research opportunities and discoveries that will greatly enhance our knowledge of living systems. 

*Editorial, no authors assigned. "A community of chemists and biologists" Nature Chemical Biology, 2005, 1, 3.

The Center for Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials at MSU is an multidisciplinary research and education center focused on utilizing our fundamental understanding of the formation and hierarchical construction of biological materials such as viruses, cells, and biominerals (bones, teeth, seashells, etc.). One extension of this fundamental work is the utilization of biological macromolecular assemblies as templates for the construction of novel functional nano-materials. However, the goal of the center is to encompass the study of the wide range of materials, beyond those of biological origin, to achieve unique physical properties by design.

Virology is the study of viruses, which are small genetic elements that are similar to one of our own genes, and which are ubiquitous in nature and are found in every known species and kingdom of life. Viruses differ from our own genes in that one of these “selfish DNA or RNA molecules” is basically a small set of instructions that can direct a cell of the host (e.g., a person) to halt its normal metabolic activity and do nothing but 1. make hundreds of copies of the viral genetic element, 2. enclose each new viral genetic element in its own protective shell, and 3. release hundreds of new virus particles (virions) that can infect neighboring cells in the body or can infect new hosts when transmitted in aerosolized droplets or bodily fluids. 

Many viral infections produce no discernible symptoms, and thus these viruses occur at frequencies of >90% in the host species without producing any disease. However, a subset of viruses can change in their properties over time and can begin to produce diseases such as diarrhea, AIDS, hepatitis, hemorraghic fever, or viral encephalitis. 

The virology research programs at MSU seek to understand the biology of a wide range of viruses that are unique in their medical relevance, genetic properties, or ability to survive in extraordinarily harsh environments (e.g., boiling acid). If we are to prevent viral diseases such as AIDS, which currently claims the lives of over 8,000 people per day worldwide, then it is essential that we train a new generation of virologists whose understanding of molecular virology is matched by an even greater respect for the complex biology of the bacterial, plant, or animal hosts that viruses infect. 

MSU’s Biomedical Sciences are committed to developing scientists who will contribute new knowledge in the biomedical disciplines through creative research and scholarship. This is accomplished through a curriculum of course work and research training that prepares our students to critically evaluate existing knowledge and to advance the frontiers of new knowledge in the biomedical sciences. 

Immunology is the study of how animals react to foreign substances such as infectious agents and allergens. The host immune system consists of hundreds of molecules, cells, and lymphoid organs such as the bone marrow and spleen. Because we live in a sea of microbes, the immune system is constantly engaged in a battle that prevents microbes from invading and consuming the cells of our bodies. Immunology research at MSU focuses on improving our basic understanding of how the host immune system functions, such that new approaches can be developed to vaccinate against a broader spectrum of infectious diseases in people and animals, and so that new approaches can be developed to prevent detrimental immune responses such as asthma or organ transplant rejection. 

Infectious diseases of humans and animals are caused by a wide spectrum of microorganisms including single-cell bacteria, multicellular parasites, viruses or infectious proteins known as ‘prions’ (i.e., causative agent of ‘mad cow disease’). Infectious disease research at MSU focuses on understanding the biology of each specific group of infectious agents and learning how these specific microbes produce disease when infections are established in people or animals 

Biophysics applies the principles of physics and chemistry and the methods of mathematical analysis and computer modeling to understand how the mechanisms of biological systems work. It seeks to explain biological function in terms of the molecular structures and properties specific molecules. The multi-departmental group consists of faculty drawn from a variety of fields employing biophysical and computational techniques. 

MSU faculty work in extreme environments from hot of Yellowstone National Parks geothermic sites to cold of the ice found in the dry river beds of Antartica. 

Thermal Biology research at Montana State University is conducted by a multidisciplinary team of scientists studying the unique thermal environments in Yellowstone National Park. The close proximity to one of the largest geothermal areas in North America provides the researchers the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research focused on the chemistry and biology of geothermal systems. 

MSU scientists work in other extreme environments too including the cold reaches of Antartica. MSU has internationally known scientists studing microbes found deep in the Antarctic ice. They are also currently constructing a 2,700 square foot Subzero Research Facility which will be a cold research facility like no other found in the world. 

Environmental microbiology is a diverse discipline that ranges from the study of pathogens in drinking water to the critical relationship between microbes and geochemistry.  Microbes are intimately involved in the transport, transformation and cycling of many different elements and chemical compounds, including pollutants.  Learning and understanding these processes can allow us to use microbes, for example, to clean up environmental hazards such as oil spills and to create new products through biotechnology. The discipline of environmental microbiology encompasses some of the most fundamental principles of hygiene and sanitation to our use of the most advanced molecular tools to identify unknown organisms in our environment. 

The environmental microbiology research programs at MSU provide world-class training opportunities for graduate students interested in solving future problems.

MSU’s graduate programs in the Plant Sciences primarily train students in the genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry of plants and plant pathogens. From this educational experience, students will gain the academic and technical knowledge to change agricultural systems to feed expanding global populations, protect the food supply, and develop lifesaving medicines. The curriculum of study, which incorporates physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology, consists of some of the most cutting-edge research in the country. The close proximity to one of the largest geothermic sites in North America provides the researchers at Montana State University a unique opportunity to study some of the most unique plant species in the country.

Research in the ecological and environmental sciences at MSU is based on a broad and extensive collaboration among faculty in multiple departments across the university. Opportunities for graduate student research are available over a diverse array of topics in the ecological sciences. MSU’s location provides immediate access to the unparalleled natural laboratory that is the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Particular program strengths include: terrestrial and aquatic ecology, environmental biogeochemistry, evolutionary biology, hydrology and watershed analysis, quantitative ecology, invasive plant ecology and management, conservation biology, land rehabilitation/restoration ecology, environmental microbiology, remote sensing and spatial sciences.

Neuroscience is the study of the structure and function of nervous systems. It is a highly interdisciplinary field that spans many levels of analysis, ranging from molecular and cellular to cognition and behavior. It is a field that incorporates a wide range of disciplines including molecular biology, biophysics, physiology, anatomy, psychology, engineering, mathematics, computer science and medicine. 

The Neuroscience group at MSU spans many of these levels and disciplines. The faculty employ a wide array of experimental and theoretical approaches to study the nervous systems of organisms ranging from invertebrates to non-human primates, and to investigate functions ranging from neuronal excitability and neural development to information processing, perception and cognition.