Its been three weeks already, but it definitely does not feel like it. When working in the lab there are never enough hours in the day.
I am David a molecular biology student working with Dr. Rosalina Hristova and Dr. Betsy Read. We are researching the toxic cyanobacteria Phormidium which has been growing in increased numbers in northern California. It has been a really fun and interesting experience thus far working between two labs. Things have been moving fast in my lab. Week one was spent prepping, and week two marked the start of our experiment/project. This week we worked on coming up with an RNA extraction procedure that would work for the Phormidium. Every procedure we tried seemed to yield contaminated RNA. We decided on making new reagents and working with younger cultures, and that did the trick producing pure RNA. Now we will be moving forward to test the integrity of the RNA. This week we were visited by Dr. Inigo Valiente Alandi who does bioinformatics and genetics work for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. Inigo discussed the importance of NGS in his work to restore populations of endangered species. Inigo is currently doing research on the Northern white rhino. We were also able to talk with Inigo about his career and insights into doing research in the industry and in academic settings.
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Watch this space for weekly updates!Every week, one of our CSUSM NSF REU students will post their blurb, summarizing their week, and chronicling our program. AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
August 2023
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