The E. N. D.
You know what I have always wanted? A baby with a face that looks like a cross between a hockey mask, a disco floor, and the matrix. And this week that life goal came closer to being realized upon the release of the Black Eyed Peas new Album, The E. N. D. This acronym, surprisingly enough, does not stand for the Epic of Newborn Drosophila, instead it is expanded to "The Energy Never Dies."
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The Album is categorized by tradition BEP beats, will.i.am's fearless, lyrical rapping, and Fergie's angelic swooning. But really, the music, although lacking meaningful lyrics in most songs, is slowly growing on me, and songs like "I Gotta Feeling" and "One Tribe" are truly masterpieces. If you like the BEP, this CD is definitely worth the money, if you havent heard of them and like a good beat then this is still a good buy. Plus anyone who incorporates lechiem or mazel tov into their music wins my award of approval
But anyways, on to the stuff I am actually supposed to be writing about. Hi bloglodytes! My name is Julian, and I am a PC. Err I mean I am a lucky member of the group of Duke students chosen to participate in the Howard Hughes Research Fellowship over June and July. Here is a picture of me outside my castle.
It needs a little bit of work, but I find the dependable hardness of the stone and protection afforded by the crumbling towers to be a constant comfort. And roofs are definitely overrated. Although it was tough to leave behind this security, I am glad to be back at Duke. And I brought my longbow just in case. For the next two months, and hopefully longer, I will be working in the Kiehart lab on the third floor of the FFSC. My PI is Dan Kiehart, a benevolent, intelligent, and generally excellent man. Although he has been gone for most of the week I have been here, I can already tell that he works very hard, seeming to have all the answers while knowing all the questions.
This is Ginger. Ginger is my mentor. But more importantly, Ginger is amazing. She is a grad student here at Duke and knows just about all there is to know about Dorsal Closure in Drosophila. Which leads me to discussing my research!
The Kiehart lab focuses on a biological process in embryonic drosophila melanogaster known as Dorsal closure. Basically, this process is the closure of an epidermal opening on the dorsal side of the embryos and the subsequent apoptosis of amniserosal tissue that composes this opening. They use many types of imaging and time lapse photography to study the mechanism of cell structure and shape change for morphogensis in this process. The Kiehart lab actually works together with phyisics and math labs as well (not sure which ones) to apply mathematical models to this dorsal closure process and discover correlations that help us to better understand the underlying mechanisms. Dorsal closure itself is very similar to wound regeneration, and thus the ultimate goal of this research is to extrapolate the knowlege gained from observing embryonic drosophila to larger eukaryotes. Here is a link to a video showing the time lapse photography and how we use it to record the progress of dorsal closure.
And if the awesome people and fascinating research were not enough, they also have tea time! I mean, what could be better. And look at the acclectic assortement of tea avaliable for general consumption. It is absolutely fantastic, no wonder everyone in the lab seems so pleasant all the time.
Happy Trails!
-Julian
