While an undergraduate at
Saint Louis University in the 1990s, Lents conducted research with Biology Department chair Robert I. Bolla on the biochemical interactions between
soybean plants and the
soybean cyst nematode, a key cause of soybean crop loss in the United States. Specifically, he discovered that the CF-9 gene cluster correlated with resistance to nematodes in soybean strains. During this same time period, Lents also worked in the fermentation research division of
agribusiness giant
Archer Daniels Midland, conducting basic microbiology research on the soil bacteria
Corynebacterium glutamicum, which is used in the production of amino acids for food additives. Specifically, he worked on the production of
lysine, a product that was the subject of a
global price-fixing conspiracy. ADM
plead guilty to antitrust violations and was forced to pay $100 million, the largest antitrust fine in US history. Several top ADM executives served prison sentences, but none of the scientists in the lysine group were implicated in any wrongdoing. Since 2000, Lents has published research reports in the area of cell and cancer biology, genetics, forensic science, as well as the teaching and learning of science, particularly evolution. Lents has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the US Department of Education. In addition, as a PhD student, Lents developed an innovative "reverse mutational" approach to discovering key phosphorylation sites on the
Retinoblastoma protein, one of the most important
tumor suppressors. In 2008, Lents discovered a new splice variant for the
Mdm2 oncogene that is induced upon treatment with DNA-damaging cancer chemotherapies. His laboratory later discovered new genetic connections between Vitamin D, the transcription factor
MZF1, and the CCN gene family, work that has led him and others to call for exploration of the usefulness of vitamin D as a possible enhancement for cancer treatments. Lents has also published research in the area of forensic biology and toxicology. His laboratory was among the first to note that zinc supplements can be effective in masking the presence of certain drug metabolites during routine drug testing. In 2016, he published work on the skin
microbiome of decomposing human cadavers. He also developed and patented a DNA-based forensic method of species identification of trace plant material. Most recently, Lents has turned his research focus to the evolutionary genetics of human uniqueness. His laboratory recently discovered a set of
microRNA genes on
human chromosome 21 that are not shared with other apes and that appear to have originated de novo through genomic rearrangements. == Books ==