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300 pix khatibi

Piyum Khatibi is a Ph.D student in the Schmale Lab.  He grew up on Long Island, NY and received his B.S. from James Madison  University. His interests include science, playing/watching sports,  weight lifting, watching the news, listening to Pearl Jam, and a good  beer. Piyum is developing transgenic hulless barley plants, which contain a gene that inactivates dangerous fungal toxins called trichothecenes.  His aim is to reduce the concentration of trichothecenes in distillers grains, a byproduct of ethanol biofuel production.  The distillers grains harbor these lethal toxins and are fed to livestock, ultimately posing a threat to human and animal health.