Duke University | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Program

As I arrived a two weeks ago, I really had very little idea what to expect and was honestly kind of happy about that. (I realize that its been three weeks now but forgot to click publish when I wrote this up over a week ago). I had no clue about anything from my apartment to the lab. My past experience in labs has been largely limited to coursework and working in a lab full time was a new experience altogether. The only thing that I was actually aware of was the subject of this lab's research. They worked with HuR and other RNA binding proteins and I did find that emerging area of genetics to be nothing short of fascinating. Its one of the last truly unexplored fronteirs of molecular biology.

Of course, two weeks here does help to put things into perspective a bit. After talking for hours with several guys around the lab I found that the world of post-transcriptional regulation far surpassed any expectation I could have ever harbored. That world proved huge, fascinating, and, best of all, full of unanswered questions. I have also begun to the slow acquisition of the vast library of lab techniques used to tease apart the mysteries of microbiology.

As for my expectations for the rest of this summer, its always difficult to tell exactly what the future holds. I have managed to start up my own experiments for the summer project (more on that next time) and I certainly expect to see those to completion over the following weeks. Additionally, I know that whatever twists the summer takes, this lab will continue to teach me both the biology and the analytical skills necesary to make progress into the unknown.

Why were you originally drawn to research?

Science was always something I was interested in. My dad was an engineer and scientific conversation was a big part of my home. There was no one moment where I decided to follow it as a carreer track. I just loved the way it blended logic and creativity...that really drew me in but not to molecular biology originally. I looked into chemistry and physics but I took and loved a biochemistry class and started working in a molecular biology lab. That eventually drew me into this field.

What kind of research did you take part in as an undergraduate?

Sophmore year I started to work in a lab as a glass washer becuase I needed some money. It worked out well and I hung around the lab after I was done and talked and listened a lot. Eventually, some the graduate students started to set me up little projects and I got more involved in the research. That job continued through my undergraduate years.

What track did you follow onward to graduate school?

After graduating I worked in MD Anderson's lab for a year. I did that to help myself decide if this was really what I wanted to do with my life and to make a little bit of money. It was a cancer research lab and I became really interested in that while I was looking for graduate schools to apply to. I applied to Duke, Cornell, Baylor and others such as Wash U. Duke felt good. I didn't want to be in the middle of a big city or out in the middle of nowhere and Duke felt about right.

How did you settle on Keene Lab as the place to do your graduate reasearch?

I intended to come and kind of wander through my rotations to see what I was interested in but most of the students set up all of their rotations really early and I was having trouble getting into some of the labs because of the tight limits on rotations student numbers that they had. I saw Jack give a talk and thought that it seemed like really cool stuff. I went to him and he had a rotation spot. The lab was very open and seemed conducive to big ideas so I dove into the work and have been here since then.

What elements of the modern research proccess bother you?

You can complain about a lot different things and I do but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Theres always impatience with publishers and politics but that stuff is just human nature and can't really be changed. The one thing that does frighten me a bit is the sway that national politics has over our work. The government provides the funding so their political bent at a given time really effects our jobs and what we can do. It's a kind of irrational element of stability or instability but does really insulate against ups and downs in the economy.

As a member of this year's Howard Hughes research program, I have begun work at Keene lab. Over the first week I have learned a variety of lab techniques as well as the basic science behind the general research interest of the lab and the individual projects. They are among a growing number of scientists who have turned to the study of RNA regulation in an attempt to connect the genetic code to its functional output.

Hints that the RNA is as or more important than the actual DNA sequence abound. For instance, mice have 25,000 genes while humans have only 23,000 but, counterintuitively, humans are larger and more complex organisms. Keene lab looks at the RNA binding proteins that, by carefully regulating the timing and stability of mRNA, effectively fill the information gap that allows organisms to acheive great heights of complexity without impossibly high numbers of genes. Teasing apart the intricate modes of post-transcriptional genetic control have required pioneering new methods of data collection and analyis. The lab's most pivital recent creation has been the RIP CHIP. This technology immunoprecipitates certain RNA binding proteins and then analyzes the actual RNA sequence attached to the protein. Using this technology to explore HuR (a particularly widespread and important RPB) the lab has uncovered fascinating connections between regulation by RPBs and functional changes within the cell.

As a more specific project, Neel (my mentor) and I will be attempting to understand the dynamic nature of HuR regulation in cells undergoing stress. HuR is capable of regulating the expression levels of multiple mRNAs simultaneously and thus provides an excellent source of coordination within cells responding to stressful situations. Moreover, it is possible for HuR to actively change the groups of mRNA that it effects by altering its phosphoralation pattern. We are attempting to explore the connection between phosphoralation patterns and functional changes in the cell.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the lab. Enjoy!

This is Matt. He is checking cell cultures at the microscope for confluency and contamination.

Here is my office, which I share with Neel and Matt.

Here's the lab bench for running gels.

I'll leave you with that reassuring sight.