Duke University | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Program

The past seven weeks have been really amazing, tiring but amazing!!! I've learned a lot about biology and met many new and interesting people. This week has been a little slow, due to the fact that my poster and research is done, but its given me a lot of time to think, mostly to look a colleges online and work on summer assignments for the upcoming year.

I really enjoyed the program, mostly because it was so different from anything that I've done before, it was a new enivroment, full of new experiences. I go to school at Durham School of the Arts, which as you would expect, science isn't really stressed or anything. This year will also have been my seventh year there. What this means is that I haven't really been exposed to science in the same way with the program, it goes in depth in a way that I never really thought about before. Also all the people in the program really enjoyed science and everything that goes along with it, which again isn't something that's as abundant at DSA. My point is that its very different from what I'm used to and I really enjoyed it because of that. My teacher, Mr. Berry, says that the way a person grows and learns is by putting themselves out there into where they're uncomfortable. I think this was really true for me, and for that I'm really happy.

As for what happens next, I still want to contiue my interests in science. However not in biology. I kind of felt this way before the program, but I wasn't quite sure. Now don't misunderstand, I had a great time in my lab and researching and making taqman plates and running PCR reaction and interpreting the datat and finally making a poster. But its not something that I'm passionate or fascinated about enough to contiue to persue (in life or as a college degree). So in that sense I got an answer about what I want to do with myself, which I was hoping would come along, but I'm still left with many options to think and choose from.

I want to thank everyone in the Howard Hughes Program: Debbie, Kriti, Tanya and Chris for helping me put together the poster and for working in the program. I also want to that the CHG: Mike, Karen, Kaia, Melanie, Heidi and Megan for training me in the lab and answering all the questions I had. For editing my abstract, helping me understand what I was doing, and making me feel like a part of the lab!  And helping me with my chemistry assignment when I was lost (thanks Megan!). I would especially like to thank Dr. Allison for being my mentor and giving me a research project for the summer. I learned so much, and I had a great time!

This week will wrap up the taqman plating and SNP submission. Out of my 25 SNPs, 5 have been giving me trouble. As of today, I am down to only four SNPs left! On the positive side I've learned a lot more from the SNPs giving me trouble, than the ones that have worked. I now understand much more of how to judge the data collected from a SNP. Also how the data can be altered to give a more desired and readable information by changing temperature and number of cycles in the PCR reaction. In this way I feel I'm getting more out of the program and the lab, because its expanding my knowledge and allowing myself more independence in the lab work, which is alway appreciated and exciting.

Now as soon as the SNPs are all submitted I will move on to the statistics side of the work. We're going to mostly use a computer, I think, but I will also get to work out a couple by hand to understand better what it all means. I've never taken statistics and next year will be calculus. Because of this I'm generally looking foreward to it as something new and as a turning point in my research towards the results!!!

Overall what I'm looking for in this program is insight into the workings of a lab, and what that work might be for me if I chose to become a lab technician or statistician (that part will come next week). So far I like the lab, and I like the dynamics of it too. I do work on the computer, but I also get hands on work too with the DNA and PCR reactions.       I like the variation of it. 

My lab is located on the third floor of the building with the CHG, (I think the building is actually called the MSRB, however I'm not entirely sure.) My days start off in the Biological Sciences building with the morning meeting and various, engaging lectures.
Afterwards I head off with Helen to the lab.

Thus far my daily activities alternate. One day is usually spent running SNPs and making multiple Taqman plates. One SNP takes 3 plates for my study. My personal record is six SNPs a day, a number which I am proud of having. This takes up most of the day. I do all this work at the work bench, and am constantly having to run up to the fourth floor, (only I'm not given access to the stairs so I make do with the back elevator). On the fourth floor reside the PCR blocks, which is where the plates go to heat them up so that the PCR reaction can occur. A typical reaction of 50 cycles, will take about 2 hours, luckily I can fill up the blocks before I leave and go home while the blocks work their magic.

Usually the next day I spend at a computer, either at my desk or at the scanner. The scanner takes the bar code and matches it with the plate and then scans the aftermath of the reaction. After this is done, which takes about four minutes a plate, I go to my computer at my desk. At my desk I open up SDS and add detectors and markers to the program, so that it can read the data. The data is brought up in a convienent graph, which I read and make sure that all the alleles are where they are supposed to be. Then I save the data, and submit it to be interpreted at a later date.

These days usually alternate, or combine, or I do something totally different such as make Taqman plates on the Biomek. This is a very, very long process, and can be pretty boring too. But it must be done.

I generally like my work, I like filling the Taqman plates more than working on the computer. Though mostly I am gratefull for the variety, and that it changes day to day.

My schedule will change again soon. As I wrap up the SNP seqencing, I will be moving on to statistics and interpretation! And then finalizing my poster and data.

When a woman is pregnant she may develop Preeclampsia, a condition  characterized by pregnancy-induced hypertension, and protein found in the urine. This is bad for both the mother and the baby, as a concequence the baby will need to be delivered early. Early delivery often results in low birth weights and high mortality. The research project which I am a part of is called Healthy Prenancy, Healthy Baby. My DNA samples will be looking at the vascular side of hypertension in pregnant women, and the possiblitiy of a genetic connection between hypertension in pregnant women and early birth. The entire study looks at the genetic, social and enviromental effects that can create adverse birth effects, and whether or not it is African American mothers have genetic differences in the candiate genes which lead to the risk.

Within the Healthy Pregnancy Study I am  working on identifying specific allele differences with in candiate genes, and how these differences afffect the populations risk to develop adverse bith outcomes and maternal medical complications. A mixture of DNA is placed into wells of Taqman plates, a Polymerase Chain Reaction is run on the plates to amplify the DNA.

The amplificatin process (which I think is really cool, now that I understand it) happens by the splitting of the double helix, creating two separate strands. These other halves of the strands are then created by free floating nucleotides, A, G, C and T, phosphates and sugars. Probes are also added to the mixture, they are smaller DNA fragment with a fluorescent marker at the end. As the fragments are attached to the halves, the Primers (the Primers are a short sequence of DNA that defines the beginning and the end of the fragment to be amplifies) break off the fluorescent marker at the end. As this happens all the markers collect together, the intensity of this collection is what the scanner reads!

After the data has been scanned by the scanner, I analyze the data, sorting it into hopefully nice allele groups. After all the information has been run, I will get to interpret the information using statistics!

I'm pretty excited to see it all coming together now, and to understand it all!!!

 this is my work bench, where I fill plates with the special secret mixture!

another view of the work bench

a close up of my bench, with all the pipettes and tips that I use, which is to say  A  LOT!

this would be my desk where I analyze and submit the data gathered from the scanner, check my e-mail and occasionally blog

this is the hallway that my stretch of lab (work bench and desk) are located in. As you will see the rows look very similar, and so I often walk past or walk into the wrong row. more of the rows....

Helen!!! Taking care of the poor and neglected plants (which are blocked by the inflatable dinosaur, Dinny or Donny (?)).

This was a sample of images from my labratory and I didn't even show the fourth floor or the elevator, which I spend quite a bit of time in as well!!