Hey y’all! My name is Jenna Archambeau and I am a rising senior at American University in Washington, DC. I study biochemistry and statistics, which I have been able to apply here at CSUSM for next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics! For this summer, I have been working with Dr. Elinne Becket in her microbial genomics lab. We work with coastal water metagenomes to get a better understanding of horizontal gene transfers in response to tetracycline, which we hypothesize to have an impact on community antibiotic resistance. This week I have been assisting others in the lab on their projects. Last week, Ella (another REU student in Dr. Becket’s lab) and I troubleshooted the protocol for our RNA Library Prep because the samples contain RNA from both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. We are hoping to isolate our mRNA from bacteria, so we need to eliminate ribosomal RNA from the eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Depleting rRNA from both sources turned out to be more difficult than expected, so we had to consult with various biotech companies to figure out our best option moving forward. It was nerve racking to make all of the technical support calls; however, it was rewarding to get more pieces to the puzzle. While waiting for our supplies to come in, I have been helping other students in the lab with their projects. On Tuesday, we went out to Scripps Pier to take ocean water samples for one of our graduate students. I enjoy field work because seeing the environment we are studying makes our lab goals more tangible. The rest of the week I have been developing both dry lab and wet lab skills by working on code and DNA extraction. Though I have used R and CommandLine previously, it has been a welcome challenge to explore new pipelines and applications of these resources. It was fascinating to learn how many different ways you can manipulate the code to get results that are relevant and significant toward your research question. Lastly, I conducted a DNA extraction experiment from Vibrio bacterial cells for the first time. I had a lot of fun with the experiment, as you can tell from the picture. Outside of the lab, I have made a lot of great memories with my fellow REU students. This weekend, we celebrated our long weekend for the Fourth of July together by hanging out by the pool, going to the beach, and playing laser tag. I’m hoping to explore more beaches (maybe learn surfing?) and experience everything Southern California has to offer during my time here. It’s been amazing to connect with others, both inside and outside of the lab, and I look forward to what’s next to come in the next six weeks!!
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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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