atquang's blog

The first step to identifying our dog’s phenotype was to collect and isolate the dog DNA. Professor Kari Loomis gave the team a sample of dog DNA. The Dog DNA was obtained by drying swabbed cheek cells. Isolation/purification of dog DNA was performed by lysing cells (with 20 µL Proteinase K and 400 µL buffer AL in 56°C for 10 minutes), precipitating DNA with alcohol (using 95% ethanol) to collect on spin column and washing the DNA on the spin column by passing fluid through the filter while leaving behind solid DNA. The sample was rewashed using the supernatant six times at 1 minute, and one time at 3 minutes to ensure maximum concentration of DNA yield. The sample is then eluted (in 50 µL AE buffer) and is labeled Dog 9. The quantity and quality of the sample were checked using the NanoDrop machine, which calculates the concentration of DNA yield.

Today is Halloween, which means dining halls at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst will be preparing for their annual fresh lobster special. Fresh lobsters must be prepared in a particular way. Seafood should always be prepared with extra care because shellfish is a common allergen to the public. One topic that is talked about around lobsters is their innate ability to be immortal. Biological immortality in lobsters is expressed through the telomerase gene. When DNA is replicated, we lose DNA at the ends of our chromosomes (telomeres). Studies have linked the shortage of telomeres with aging. Telomerase is an enzyme that reduces the loss of telomeres. 

Today is Halloween, which means dining halls at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst will be preparing for their annual fresh lobster special. Fresh lobsters must be prepared in a particular way. Seafood should always be prepared with extra care because shellfish is a common allergen to the public. One topic that is talked about around lobsters is their innate ability to be immortal. Biological immortality in lobsters is expressed through the telomerase gene. When DNA is replicated, we lose DNA at the ends of our chromosomes (telomeres). Studies have linked the shortage of telomeres with aging. Telomerase is an enzyme that reduces the loss of telomeres. 

Genetics need variation to study the function of gene products. Because “mutations are very rare events,” UV-radiation will be used to speed up “induced mutations in [yeast]” (Loomis 2019). Yeasts are great experimental organisms because they are eukaryotic and versatile (smaller genome, reproduce both sexually and asexually). Yeast comprises of two mating types, a-type yeast, and α-type yeast. Each yeast strain can self-reproduce as haploids through the process of budding (mitosis). When in the presence of each other, the a-type yeast can release a-factor pheromones that α-type yeast responds to, while α-type yeast can release α-factor pheromones that a-type yeast responds to. The two yeast strains grow out towards each other in response to these pheromones, forming a structure called a shmoo. A MATa/α diploid results from a matured shmoo (also known as conjugation). This diploid can also self-reproduce through budding (mitosis), and can also undergo meiosis when its environment is nitrogen-deprived. During meiosis of a MATa/α diploid, sporulation and crossing-over occurs, resulting in two a and two α ascospores (four total ascospores).

Journal Article DOI: 10.2307/1937730
Review Article DOI: 10.2307/3546085

In Fall 2019, as part of the Junior Writing Class at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I conducted a project to produce careful writing such that an exact replica of the obtained results can be reproduced. The Methods project is influenced by the idea that scientists must be able to carry out an experiment and reproduce the exact results if they were to also perform the experiment. The goal of the Methods project is to learn how to create a multi-panel scientific figure and ultimately compare an image with someone else’s replicate of your image, who has followed your outlined methods. The topic of the experiment was phytophagy or the eating of plants. The subject that was chosen for this experiment was a leaf with a hole in it. This was inspired by the simplicity of the subject.

In Fall 2019, as part of the Junior Writing Class at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I conducted a project to produce careful writing such that an exact replica of the obtained results can be reproduced. The Methods project is influenced by the idea that scientists must be able to carry out an experiment and reproduce the exact results if they were to also perform the experiment. The goal of the Methods project is to learn how to create a multi-panel scientific figure and ultimately compare an image with someone else’s replicate of your image, who has followed your outlined methods. The topic of the experiment was phytophagy or the eating of plants. The subject that was chosen for this experiment was a leaf with a hole in it. This was inspired by the simplicity of the subject.

A recent story about a man on an airplane that was saved by a celebrity doctor has given rise to the news of a parasite (tick) that can make you allergic to red meats. "The "hygiene" hypothesis, now several decades old, suggests that with no parasites to fight, the immune system doesn't know when to quit and ends up targeting allergens." The symbiosis between parasites and humans is not well understood. Common allergens such as peanuts, bees, pets, and trees can be detected within the immune system while parasites are not. The fact that our bodies do not deal with every parasite suggests that the body purposely does not hurt specific parasites by turning this response off. Another theory could be that parasites have unique methods to alter their host's immune system. The relationship between a parasite-fighting immune system and the cause of an allergen must come down to similarity within the molecule composition and protein structure. "Using blood serum from parasite-infected people in Ghana, experimental studies finally revealed the first known example of a pollen-like protein present in a parasitic worm that gets targeted by IgE." The results reveal that immunotherapy may prove to be useful as long as the allergen-causing protein.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-do-humans-have-allergies-parasite-infections-trigger-180957101/?no-ist

The use of bacteriophages in modern medicine has proved to be useful. The term “bacteriophage” stands for bacteria eater. Bacteriophages occasionally remove a portion of their host cells' bacterial DNA during the infection process and then transfer this DNA into the genome of new host cells. This process is known as transduction. Phage therapy is the use of bacteriophage to treat bacterial infections. Phage therapy is typically used when conventional antibiotics are not effective.

https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/bacteriophage-phage-293/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phage_therapy

A recent story about a man on an airplane that was saved by a celebrity doctor has given rise to the news of a parasite (tick) that is able to make you allergic to red meats. “The "hygiene" hypothesis, now several decades old, suggests that with no parasites to fight, the immune system doesn't know when to quit and ends up targeting allergens.” The symbiosis between parasites and humans is not well understood. Common allergens such as peanuts, bees, pets, and trees are able to be detected within the immune system while parasites are not. This suggests that the body purposely does not hurt the parasites and turns this response off, or parasites are now equipped with ways to alter our immune system. The relationship between a parasite-fighting immune system and the cause of an allergen must come down to similarity within the molecule composition and protein structure. “Using blood serum from parasite-infected people in Ghana, experimental studies finally revealed the first known example of a pollen-like protein present in a parasitic worm that gets targeted by IgE.” This reveals that future technology in immunotherapy (desensitizing the body from allergens) may prove to be beneficial as long as we know the protein causing the allergy.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-do-humans-have-allergies-parasite-infections-trigger-180957101/?no-ist