astronomy

Jasna Rakonjac

Jasna Rakonjac is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jasna Rakonjac rather than just read about it. In short: Jasna Rakonjac is a New Zealand microbiologist, and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in the biology and structure of bacteriophages, and the development of technology for use in veterinary, medical, and agriculture fields. Rakonjac has founded two biotechnology spin-out companies.

Key takeaways

Jasna Rakonjac belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jasna Rakonjac to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jasna Rakonjac from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jasna Rakonjac is a New Zealand microbiologist, and is a full professor at Massey University, specialising in the biology and structure of bacteriophages, and the development of technology for use in veterinary, medical, and agriculture fields. Rakonjac has founded two biotechnology spin-out companies.

Academic career Rakonjac was born in Serbia, and travelled to the US for a Fulbright Fellowship in New York. Rakonjac completed Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in molecular biology and biochemistry at the University of Belgrade, and then a PhD in biomedical sciences at the Rockefeller University. After postdoctoral research at Rockefeller, Rakonjac joined Plant & Food Research in New Zealand in 1990. Rakonjac joined the faculty of Massey University in 2003, rising to full professor in 2023.

Research Rakonjac specialises in the biology and structure of bacteriophages, and the development of technology for use in veterinary, medical, and agriculture fields. In 2003, she was awarded a Marsden grant to study bacteriophage technology, and in 2010 she was an associate investigator on a Fast Start Marsden grant led by Massey researcher Dragana Gagic, titled Stuck on you: exploring the role of adhesins in microbial symbioses. Rakonjac invented a new technology for the production of nanorods from bacteriophages, and is the recipient of several MBIE-funded grants to explore antibiotic resistance, develop diagnostic tests for COVID-19 and develop the nanorods production system. Rakonjac has founded two companies, Nanophage Technologies and Retrabac Therapeutics. Retrabac Therapeutics is developing topical antibiotic treatments for drug-resistant bacteria, while Nanophage Technologies, a collaboration with BridgeWest Ventures, is developing technology for diagnostic tests and delivery of vaccines. Rakonjac led the redesign of the microbiology degree at Massey.

Honours and awards In 2019, Rakonjac was awarded the New Zealand Microbiology Society's Distinguished Orator Award.

Selected works

Jasna Rakonjac; Nicholas J. Bennett; Julian Spagnuolo; Dragana Gagic; Marjorie Russel (18 April 2011). "Filamentous bacteriophage: biology, phage display and nanotechnology applications". Current Issues in Molecular Biology. 13 (2): 51–76. doi:10.21775/cimb.013.051. ISSN 1467-3037. PMID 21502666. Wikidata Q33876273. R Casellas; T A Shih; Markus Kleinewietfeld; Jasna Rakonjac; David Nemazee; Klaus Rajewsky; M C Nussenzweig (23 February 2001). "Contribution of receptor editing to the antibody repertoire". Science. 291 (5508): 1541–1544. doi:10.1126/science.1056600. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 11222858. Wikidata Q57198265. SARA A SCOTT; JOHN D BROOKS; JASNA RAKONJAC; KYLIE M R WALKER; STEVE H FLINT (13 April 2007). "The formation of thermophilic spores during the manufacture of whole milk powder". International Journal of Dairy Technology. 60 (2): 109–117. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0307.2007.00309.x. ISSN 1364-727X. Wikidata Q125184635. J V Rakonjac; J C Robbins; V A Fischetti (1 February 1995). "DNA sequence of the serum opacity factor of group A streptococci: identification of a fibronectin-binding repeat domain". Infection and Immunity. 63 (2): 622–631. doi:10.1128/iai.63.2.622-631.1995. ISSN 0019-9567. PMC 173041. PMID 7822031. Wikidata Q36712396. Anne Mai-Prochnow; Janice Gee Kay Hui; Staffan Kjelleberg; Jasna Rakonjac; Diane McDougald; Scott A. Rice (July 2015). "'Big things in small packages: the genetics of filamentous phage and effects on fitness of their host'". FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 39 (4): 465–87. doi:10.1093/femsre/fuu007. ISSN 0168-6445. PMID 25670735. Wikidata Q28086818. Jasna Rakonjac; Model P (1 September 1998). "Roles of pIII in filamentous phage assembly". Journal of Molecular Biology. 282 (1): 25–41. doi:10.1006/jmbi.1998.2006. ISSN 0022-2836. PMID 9733639. Wikidata Q32023718. Rakonjac J; Feng J; Model P (1 June 1999). "Filamentous phage are released from the bacterial membrane by a two-step mechanism involving a short C-terminal fragment of pIII". Journal of Molecular Biology. 289 (5): 1253–1265. doi:10.1006/jmbi.1999.2851. ISSN 0022-2836. PMID 10373366. Wikidata Q54091874. Rebecca Conners; Rayén Ignacia León-Quezada; Mathew McLaren; Nicholas J Bennett; Bertram Daum; Jasna Rakonjac; Vicki A M Gold (11 May 2023). "Cryo-electron microscopy of the f1 filamentous phage reveals insights into viral infection and assembly". Nature Communications. 14 (1): 2724. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37915-w. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 10175506. PMID 37169795. Wikidata Q125184584.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)

References

External links Nanophage Technologies website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jasna Rakonjac

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jasna Rakonjac claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jasna Rakonjac before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jasna Rakonjac ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jasna Rakonjac

In research: Jasna Rakonjac appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jasna Rakonjac in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jasna Rakonjac is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academic staff of Massey University, Biotechnologists, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jasna Rakonjac outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jasna Rakonjac in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jasna Rakonjac means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jasna Rakonjac out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jasna Rakonjac in simple terms?

Why does Jasna Rakonjac matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jasna Rakonjac?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jasna Rakonjac.