Duke University | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Program

Being that I'm a student using the word seminar probably wasn't the best way for the Howard Hughes program to get me excited about our biweekly guest speakers! Surprisingly enough, I actually came to enjoy our seminars.  It was a great way for me to learn about the research being conducted at my own institution and about what is going on in the science community in general.  In a sense, it gave me insight into who's who at Duke and what they do to contribute to the functioning of this institution.

I think what I liked most about the seminars was that it gave me a chance to see how people from several different fields could come together to create amazing projects, and how research that was started years ago can suddenly become one of the major research topics of today, such as Dr. Koelle's research on infectious diseases like influenza.

So, even though I didn't always completely understand the topics of the seminars I feel as if they had a great affect on me.  They made me more aware of all of the options available in research, and even helped in sparking my current consideration of getting an MD/PhD (I'm just not sure if 7 years of schooling after college is for me).  Overall, taking two hours out of my week to listen to someone talk, really wasn't that bad.  In fact it was enlightening; I have a sense of who's who at Duke!!

With only two weeks left until the end of the program, and a week before my poster is due, it is time for me to begin my data analyses.  In the last few weeks I have been sequencing nuclear genes in addition to the original mitochondrial gene that I was working with on my samples.  I am including the nuclear genes as verification of the results that I will obtain when analyzing the mtDNA sequences. 

My data analyses will consist of adding my DNA sequences into a database containg known sequences of different species of mouse lemurs, and building a phylogeny tree to determine what species my samples are based on the mtDNA.  Since mtDNA is only inherited from the mother, we will also build a phylogeny tree using the nuclear DNA sequences to see if they yield the same results as the mtDNA; this will help us better identify hybrid individuals from our sample.

Although I have completed PCRs for all the samples using the mtDNA gene, I am currently working on PCRs and sequences for 2 nuclear DNA sequences.  Even though I probably won't finish both nuclear genes for all the samples before the program ends (due to the long time period it takes for reactions to run and the fact that sometimes these reactions don't work) I am planning on continuing in the lab during the school year, so I will be able to return and complete my project. 

I have only built a phylogeny tree once (with assitance), and although I will have help I am sure this week will probably my most difficult and rewarding.  I am looking forward to discovering just which fury, adorable species my samples belong to!!

This week we were allowed to choose our own topics for our blogs, so I decided to dedicate this blog to a man who has been a great inspiration to me and the world, Michael Jackson.  No, I haven't forgotten that Howard Hughes is a research program and as such these blogs should be scientifically related; I will get to that part in a few.  I just thought we should all pay respects to a musical genius who broke down racial barriers, was involved in more charities than any other single entertainer (39), and who created the best selling album of all time.  Michael Jackson was a living legend and icon, but most importanly he was a kind hearted man who wanted to use his talents and status to make a positive difference and help save the world.

So how does this relate to my research.  Well, this week I began to identify what species of mouse lemurs some of my samples are.  So far my samples have fallen into two species categories, but as the weeks progress I will be adding more samples.   This may result in some samples belonging to a third species, but will also allow me to compare samples of the same species to one another to determine what area in the range these species are found do my samples come from.  At first I was just excited that I had actually done something like this, but then I began to realize just what this all means.  My work could potentially help others better understand life on Madagascar and just how importan it's ecosystem is.  By assisting others in understanding how the diversity in this country has come about, I could possibly be helping to make an important scientific finding and a reason for people everywhere to understand the importance of conserving the animal and plant life that is constantly being destroyed.

So I've discussed what I've learned and realized this week, but what did I remember? I remembered that my most important goal is not to get into medical school or to become a pathologist, but that it is to know that when my time on Earth is over I know I would have touched just one person in a positive way and made a difference in their life.  This is why my research and Michael Jackson are related.  He showed us all how one man could impact the lives of millioins.

As I conclude, I would like to say thank you to the Howard Hughes Research Fellows for giving me this opportunity, thank you to the Jackson family for sharing such an amazing member of your family with the world, and thank you to Michael Jackson for the many memories we will have because you've touched us.

We love you and we will continue your mission to heal the world!

This week's Howard Hughes lesson was on responsible conduct in research.  Here's my opinion on the matter.

I think the one thing everyone can agree on when discussing research is that there are many different responsibilities involved in this process.  There are personal responsibilities, such as simple tasks as cleaning up messes and taking very clear and thorough notes, and there are responsibilites held by those of lab managers and principle investigators to monitor the work that is being conducted in the labs.  However, in today's competitive society of science, moral responsibility in research is becoming ever more important.  As a researcher, you have a moral responsibility to yourself, your lab, and the people who will benefit from your work to be honest about what you have discovered and the interpretation of that data, regardless of whether that information is beneficial or not. 

In my opinion, research misconduct is becoming a bigger issue as the world struggles to find cures to diseases and conditions that affect many.   Some of the driving factors that lead to research misconduct are pressure from peers, supervisors, and the general public to find vaccines and cures, the race to obtain credit and awards for certain discoveries, the competition involved in recieving grants, and even the desire to finally finish your scholarly work.

There are several ways to help minimize misconduct in the research community.  One is for those heading labs to play a more active and hands on role in the projects being conducted in their labs. Review boards at research centers, colleges and universities, and science journals also help to identify misconduct once the information has been written in a formal manner.  Most importantly, education of the moral issues that go along with research misconduct is very important.  Sometimes knowing how many people can be negatively affected by your wrong doings is enough to keep people from falsifying data or claiming someone elses as their own.

So, research responsibility is a serious topic and I'm very grateful that it was included as a lesson in this program.  Not only did I learn a lot about the pressures within the scientific community, but I also had the chance to be introduced to an amazing movie (And the Band Played On-based on the book about the discovery of HIV/AIDS) that deals with the matter.

I hope you have learned something by reading my blog! Feel free to read the retracted paper I found on the BRCA1 gene.  The paper discusses the gene as being involved in tumor suppression and a form of DNA repair.  Although much of the data is thought to be accurate, one of the writers has unfortunately been found to have falsified data, which resulted in the retraction of the paper.www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/281/5379/1009.pdf

If you are readiing this blog or have read previous blogs then you may be interested in my research. The real question is what exactly am I researching, what is my research question?  As I've stated in a previous blog I am copying and sequencing samples from unknown DNA samples from two species of mouse lemurs.  As such, my research questions are which species do these samples come from and how did the two species diverge?

Hopefully my work will help answer these questions!