Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/68643
N The one thing I can tell you about bacteria is… they make our smartest people look dumb. When I am working in the lab I am…not the smelliest organism in there. What I really love about pathogenic fungi is …they use Boolean gates just like your cell phone does. When I was a boy I always wanted…to be able to pre- dict the future. The scientist I most admire…Bruce Ames (Editor's Note: Ames is a biochemist focusing on biogenetic damage in humans). The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is… complete the nitrogen cycle. There is nothing more relaxing than…not relaxing. The best advice I gave my children is to…figure it out for themselves. I've never met a weed that…a killer fungus didn't like. Sometimes I'm unsure…about the second law of thermodynamics, living systems outwit it. My 5 word epitaph should read…read more. The most surprising discovery of my career was… that freshmen can be significantly smarter than professors. Nothing makes me angrier than…running out of gas in front of a place I shouldn't be seen at. A snowflake…how does each arm know how to look just DAVID SANDS, a plant pathologist at Montana State University, has worked on numerous research projects over 40 years involving enigmatic bacteria as they relate to crop diseases, as biocontrol agents of noxious weeds, and their aerial acrobatics in the clouds. Sands' group has developed new gluten-free food crops in order to aid people who cannot eat wheat. He also has a project developing a fungus to kill witchweed, the parasitic weed that prevents food production in many African countries. He sometimes writes poetry, example below. Rainy Summer It rained so much The trout swam into the clouds And left their rainbows. O like the other five? My most prized, non-human pos- session is…any blank piece of paper and a pen with ink. experienced…that zinc deficiency can make you violent and that we have solutions to that problem. The oddest scientific discovery I ever People don't realize that Montana State...could easily evolve into a truly great university. My favorite pizza topping (besides mushrooms) is... there is mushroom for improvement. My research could change...yes I have classic symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder. I have a real weakness for…originality. Thank you, David! The one thing I can tell you about bacteria is…they make our smartest people look dumb. www.distinctlymontana.com 89 M O O O K U N D T L A H A S N S Y DAVID SANDS RESEARCHER, PROFESSOR U N W !