Niema Razavian
A major breakthrough in cancer research over the past 50 years has been the discovery of tumor viruses, or cancer-causing viruses. Thus far, six viruses have been causally linked to cancer (the best known being human papilloma virus and cervical cancer). This SURF project investigates bovine leukemia virus (BLV) and its role in breast cancer susceptibility. Previous research has demonstrated that BLV in breast tissue is significantly correlated with the breast cancer risk, and that humans have antibodies against BLV. Expanding on this, the goal of my SURF project is […]
Lauren Zerbib
The basis of sexual reproduction is a perennial topic of interest in evolutionary biology. The rotifer, Brachionus Calyciflorus, is an interesting system to compare sexual and asexual reproduction because it is cyclically parthenogenetic, meaning it alternates between generations produced sexually and asexually. By understanding the mechanisms controlling the timing of sexual reproduction in such organisms, we can better understand how natural selection determines the balance between asexual and sexual reproduction. In this study I look at the contributions of three related factors in determining the proportion of sexually reproducing daughters […]
Scott Michael Coyle
Changes in cellular programming are often thought to be mediated by changes in regulation at the level of transcription. However, there is increasing evidence that changes in the regulation of translation may play an equally important role in the reprogramming process. In our lab, we have found that the transition from a vegetative to invasive physiology in the yeast S. cerevisiae requires a novel mode of regulation of translation. I recently identified a protein, Asc1, which is required for this transition and potentially acts directly at the level of translation. […]
Kamelia Ghazi
Curcumin (CUR), the active chemical of the Asian spice tumeric, has a strong anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory effect in preventing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers (AD), as well as an anti-proliferative effect on cancerous cells. Based on broad ranges of scientific literature on this topic, CUR has correlated with dramatic reduction in acetylation of histone. However, the precise mechanism by which curcumin achieves hypoacetylation and therefore represses the transcription of cancerous cells, is poorly understood. In this experiment, I will culture C6 rat glioma cells and through using immunostaining and protein assay, I […]
Isabela Le Bras
This summer I will be working in ion trap quantum computing. Quantum computing is an alternate form of computation that uses a quantum bit, called a “qubit”, in place of the binary system. My professor, Hartmut Haeffner, isolates ions in radio frequency traps to create qubits. This trapping must take place in an ultra high vacuum so that air molecules do not interfere with the ion. My project entails building RC filters for the ion trap that are compatible with the vacuum. These filters need to remove any radio frequency […]
Joo Yeon (Jenny) Ryu
9-cis-retinoic acid (9cRA) is one of the many derivatives of vitamin A. Although vitamin A derivatives are most known for their involvement in sight, they are involved in many physiological process such as the immune response, the development of many organs, and the maintenance of normal internal conditions like blood glucose. Normally, glucose levels are closely regulated by hormones of the pancreas such as insulin and glucagons. However in the case of diabetes, this tight regulation collapses. 9cRA has shown potential in correcting the hormonal imbalance characteristic of diabetes. How […]
Tianzan Zhou
My project concerns the regulation of transcription. Transcription is the process by which a DNA sequence is transcribed into an RNA sequence. This RNA sequence then gets translated into a protein, which is the basic machinery of life. Therefore, the mechanisms by which transcription is regulated are very important to understand. We have evidence for a novel mechanism that takes place during transcription and utilizes the creation of truncated, nonfunctional RNA transcripts of a gene to repress the formation of long, functional transcripts of that same gene. We do not […]
Spencer Christopher Wei
I will investigate the effects of specific histone acetylation on the locus of SOC1, a floral integrator gene. It is known that the acetylation status of chromatin modulates gene expression. I want to determine whether or not it is possible to modulate gene expression by specifically altering the histone acetylation status at the SOC1 locus using a fusion protein containing the DNA binding domain of OXS2, a transcription factor that specifically binds the SOC1 locus, and a histone acetyl transferase (HAT) in Arabidopsis thaliana. Following construction of a binary vector […]
Robert Bellerose
Biofuels have received much attention lately as the need for a renewable and carbon-neutral source of energy becomes increasingly important. We have assembled a biosynthetic pathway in Escherichia coli that produces butanol, a second generation biofuel, in six overall steps. However, there is a significant bottleneck at crotonyl-CoA reductase (Ccr) in the pathway that limits butanol production, which may be attributed to the observation that Ccr suffers from low solubility. The overall goal of my project is to carry out directed evolution of Ccr and generate a library of mutants […]
Lusha Liang
In bacterial genomes, functionally related genes tend to be grouped together in operons, possibly to facilitate co-regulation and coordinated horizontal gene transfer. However, co-regulation and the formation of selfish gene clusters cannot explain the co-localization of regulators and their target operons. Yet this co-localization of prokaryotic transcription factor genes and their binding sites is widespread and is a driving force in the specific organization of transcriptional units on the chromosome. Thus in this study I will use the paradigmatic model of gene regulation, the lac locus, to address a fundamental […]