Barton rocks CBS segment

[Wayne Harrison]

Microbiologist crawls through caves to research tiny organisms


by Jennifer Corbett
Issue date: 9/26/07

<img src="http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2007/09/20/image3280638g.jpg" align="left">Not many people can say they are a "bona fide 'rock' star."

But to Hazel Barton, it's all in a day's work.

Barton, a biology professor at Northern Kentucky University, was profiled on CBS's The Early Show in a segment called "Keoghan's Heroes," with Phil Keoghan from The Amazing Race, for her underground research in caves around the globe.

"Caves are one of the last unexplored frontiers on earth and amazing discoveries are made each year," Barton said.

Debra Pearce, chair of biological sciences, agrees with Barton.

"Like rainforests, caves are unharvested but fragile biological niches that hold potential for expanding scientific horizons, including new compounds that may have medical significance," she said.

In the video, Barton and her student group are exploring a cave in a remote area of Kentucky with Keoghan. She is researching extremophiles, which thrive without sunlight or any other source of energy. The video points out that the enzymes from the extremophiles could lead to powerful new antibiotics.

Pearce said the video was very well done.

<a href="http://media.www.thenortherner.com/media/storage/paper527/news/2007/09/26/News/Professor.Rocks.Cbs.Segment-2991069.shtml">via The Northerner</a>

<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/24/earlyshow/series/keoghansheroes/main3292008.shtml?source=search_story">CBS Story with video</a>