HOUSTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Two U.S. scientists at the University of Houston say they have created technologies for monitoring the sizes and genomic diversity of microbial communities.
Associate Professor Yuriy Fofanov and Professor Lennart Johnsson were named this month as the winners of the second annual Itanium Solutions Alliance Innovation Contest for the humanitarian applications of their team's research.
Microbes, responsible for more than 50 percent of the oxygen produced on Earth, play integral roles in human body function and ecosystems. The researchers said their team's new computational tools will lead to a better understanding of how human activities and environmental changes affect the multitude of microbial communities that govern human health and life on Earth.
Johnsson said the computational tools he and Fofanov developed use the latest genomic sequencing analysis technologies and will lead to less expensive and more reliable microbial tests that can be used across the globe.
The competition recognizes solution-based research projects in three categories: humanitarian impact, business application and entrepreneurialism. The winner in each category receives $50,000.
Itanium is the Intel Corp.'s brand name for its 64-bit microprocessors used in high-performance computing systems. The awards were presented last week in San Francisco during the Intel Developer Forum.
