Duke University | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Program

 I have enjoyed most of the seminars that I have attended over the last six weeks. The semiars have given me some great insight on the many different job fields within the sciences. I did not find every topic enthralling, but it was interesting to learn about some of the other research projects that exist on campus and the breadth of subjects that are being investigated at Duke. Some of the seminars really interested me and in the future I plan to take a course in some of the subjects that were discussed. I am also planning on taking classes taught by some of the faculty members who were really passionate about their research and whose research was intriguing.
The most valuable knowledge I took away from the seminars was that there is no direct road to becoming a scientist. Many of the faculty and P.I.’s that spoke had taken ten years off before graduate school or undergraduate school. They switched their profession in later years or tried out a variety of jobs before becoming a biologist. This fact was reassuring to me because I am not completely certain of my career just yet and now I know that I can make my own path on my journey to doing whatever I want to do. Sometimes the seminars were a blessing that ended my workday early and other times they were inconvenient and interrupted a project I was focused on completing. But overall, the seminars were one of the highlights of the program for me and I am thankful that I made an effort to attend them all.

Over these past few weeks at the Sherwood Lab, I have gone from lost and confused assistant to a more inquisitive member of the research team. I am working on my own research project and gathering my own data. I have been doing research outside of lab and now am much more familiar with the work being done in my lab. When I walk into lab in the mornings, I don’t sit around waiting to be told what to do. I now take initiative by learning more about my specific project, reading up on research done by the other members of my lab, and trying to obtain results for my own research assignment.

Running a PCR, doing electrolysis, flipping flies, squishing flies, and virgining, were all foreign terms to me four weeks ago. Now I hear these words and begin working without my co-workers’ assistance. I can easily remember how to make squishing buffer and know how to find the PCR machine and analyze the results. In the last month, I have gained a great deal of confidence within the lab and learned that it is good to ask questions. My lab has taught me that research is not always getting the right answer but it is questioning the old methodology and trying a hundred new ways to reach the correct answer. So, though I may not yet be “A Big Deal” in the science world, I am making my own contribution in my own lab, and it feels good.

So I am working with drosophila, more commonly known as fruit flies, and anyone reading this is probably wondering why. Well the purpose of my research is to learn more about the gene spastin which, if over expressed, can cause neurodegenerative diseases in humans usually resulting in a life confined to a wheel chair. In my research, I have been crossing flies of different genotypes to create a generation of flies with the human form of the spastin gene. I am testing these flies and analyzing the difference between spastin expressions in various conditions. Hopefully, this research will be able to help us discern more about how spastin functions and how neurological functions are affected by outside influences. This information can then be used to help humans suffering from spastin related neurodegenerative diseases. My small part in research this summer could potentially aid many people suffering from the degeneration of their neurons.

During my time at the Sherwood lab this summer, I'm sure I will learn a great deal about Biology. I hope to learn about basic laboratory techniques and protocol, which will carry over into other work experiences in the science field. Being part of the lab will also help me to decide on my future profession. I will learn a great deal about the anatomy and life cycle of drosophila and how their diseases and disorders can help to better the conditions of humans. My work in the Sherwood lab will give me a better understanding of genetic biology and gene coding as well as the link between genotype and phenotype expression. I will also be doing a great deal of data analysis and data presentation at the close of the program. As such, I will have to learn how to interpret complex data and introduce this data to those unfamiliar with my research project. I am excited for this summer learning experience.

 In the Sherwood Lab, I work with drosophila and the affects of proteins that can lead to neurodegenerative diseases in humans and drosophila. These proteins cut the microtubule cytoskeleton in neurons and I am specifically studying the protein spastin. The human genome is very closely related to the genome of drosophila and by studying their genome we can learn more about humans. I spend a typical day in the lab analyzing the phenotypes of different flies and determining the genotypes that correspond. I am also crossing flies of different genotypes to study the DNA of the progeny through electrolysis. These are some of the things that I look at in an average day: