A leading Canadian scientist uses the Whitley Hypoxystation to make breakthrough discoveries in how cells function in low oxygen environments.

Dr Stephen Lee, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa, has published a paper that answers the question: “how do bodily cells function when at high altitude where the air contains little oxygen?”

Dr Lee and his team discovered how cells make the necessary building blocks to sustain life in low oxygen environments. The paper “An oxygen-regulated switch in the protein synthesis machinery” was recently published in Nature, one of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals.

Go to the Ottawa Citizen website at http://www.ottawacitizen.com/ to see a short video interview with Dr Lee.

If you are interested in reading the full published article on Nature, the details are as follows:

An oxygen-regulated switch in the protein synthesis machinery

James Uniacke, Chet E Holterman, Gabriel Lachance, Aleksandra Franovic, Mathieu D Jacob, Marc R Fabian, Josianne Payette, Martin Holcik, Arnim Pause
and Stephen Lee

Nature 486, 126-129 (07 June 2012) doi: 10.1038/nature11055

Published online 06 May 2012

Please visit the Hypoxystation webpage if you are interested in the specification of an H35 Hypoxystation similar to that used by Dr Lee and his team.