生物科学专业

Liora埃德尔斯坦, 切丽Musgrove 和 贾斯汀Bala-Hampton

这些学生进行了研究实验. Wrischnik's lab using the experimental technique known as RNA干扰 (RNAi) to efficiently “knock out” genes in fruit flies. 学生参与RNAi载体的构建, 它们被设计用来破坏果蝇DNA修复基因的功能. 除了学习分子生物学的基础知识, these three students learned how to microinject DNA into fly embryos to get their DNA inserted into the fly genome. 后一项研究得益于该部门先进的显微注射设备.

梅丽莎Lipat

Melissa在Dr。. Wrischnik's laboratory building several types of DNA vectors that facilitate visualization of the expression of DNA repair genes in fruit flies during development. 她用了部门的新, high-end inverted fluorescence microscope to visualize where these genes are expressed in live 和 fixed organisms. She also performed real-time PCR analysis to help confirm when these genes are expressed during fruit fly development.

Khanh cloned several of the homologous recombinational repair proteins from the parasite 阴道毛滴虫, 一种有着非常古老血统的单细胞生物. 用局里的ABI DNA测序仪分析她的克隆体, 她揭示了这种修复途径进化的新信息, 同时也产生了数据来帮助理解单细胞生物的性别进化.

科比·拉·马蒂纳

Coby在Dr. 来阐明黑寡妇蛛丝的分子特性. She routinely dissects the abdominal silk-producing gl和s from the spiders to isolate RNA molecules that encode silk proteins. 采用实时荧光定量PCR分析, Coby已经确定了几种不同蚕丝基因的表达谱. 除了, she has learned how to screen cDNA libraries to hunt for new spider silk genes found in egg case silk, 它们代表着蜘蛛体内最古老的丝线之一. 这些研究依赖于质谱法和分子生物学的使用.

罗素绮, 亨利常 和 香农麦克纳瑞

这些学生也在Dr. 从黑寡妇蜘蛛中分离出新的丝基因, 以及丝在细菌和酵母中的过度表达. 过去的两个夏天, they have worked full-time on the manipulation of spider silk genes using recombinant DNA methodology. Their studies have led to a better underst和ing regarding the molecular constituents of black widow silk, which has helped advance our knowledge with respect to the incredible tensile strength 和 elasticity found in silk threads. 长期目标包括能够为商业应用进行合成生产, 其中包括使用合成丝做绳子和绳索, 医用缝合线, 防弹背心和轻型飞机机翼材料.