Mark Griep (born 1959) is a chemistry professor at the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. He has a bachelor’s and doctorate in biochemistry from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. He studies the enzymes

primase DNA primase is an enzyme involved in the replication of DNA and is a type of RNA polymerase. Primase catalyzes the synthesis of a short RNA (or DNA in some living organisms) segment called a primer complementary to a ssDNA (single-stranded ...

and

DnaB helicase DnaB helicase is an enzyme in bacteria which opens the replication fork during DNA replication. Although the mechanism by which DnaB both couples ATP hydrolysis to translocation along DNA and denatures the duplex is unknown, a change in the quat ...

in his search for antibiotics that inhibit them. He is co-author with

Marjorie Mikasen Marjorie Mikasen (born 1959) is an abstract, geometric, hard-edge acrylic painter working in Lincoln, Nebraska. She has a degree in studio arts from The University of Minnesota. She is co-author with Mark Griep of the nonfiction book '' Re'A ...

of the nonfiction book Re''Action!'' Chemistry in the Movies.

Biochemist

Griep studies the proteins that synthesize DNA, namely

and

. Of these, most of his work concerns primase, the enzyme that initiates DNA synthesis during

DNA replication In molecular biology, DNA replication is the biological process of producing two identical replicas of DNA from one original DNA molecule. DNA replication occurs in all life, living organisms, acting as the most essential part of heredity, biolog ...

. His goal is to discover the next generation of

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

by searching for inhibitors of bacterial primase. To help him do this, he seeks to understand the structure and function of primase from many bacteria. For his science outreach efforts, he studies the chemistry found in feature films and then communicates his findings to the other chemists and the public. In recognition of this work, he was awarded a Distinguished Teaching Award from the

Author

Griep is the coauthor with artist

of the nonfiction book Re''Action!'' Chemistry in the Movies (2009

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

). It gives the perspectives of a scientist and artist on the dark and bright sides of chemistry found in over 110 films. He and Mikasen were awarded an

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support origina ...

Fellowship in the area of Public Understanding of Science to research and write the book. The appendix describes ways to use movies or movie clips in the chemistry classroom. Griep also contributed 10 movie boxes to the chemistry textbook "The World of Chemistry". His innovative entries relate in-chapter chemistry concepts to eight contemporary and two classic films. Word problems are included in each movie box for possible student assignments.

References

External links

2008 Nebraska Public Radio Interview by Jerry Johnston titled “Chemist, Artist Explore Chemistry in the Movies”2006 Nebraska Public Radio Interview by Jerry Johnston “UNL Prof Finds Chemistry in the Movies”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griep, Mark 1959 births Living people University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences alumni American biochemists American science writers Cultural historians Writers from Nebraska