Author Archives: Becky Li

There’s been so much going on these past few weeks that it’s hard to sum it all up into words.

But through the insightful faculty talks, new friendships, and of course deeply involved lab experience, I can definitely say that this was an unforgettable summer.

Week 1, I felt like a “lost little lamb”, suddenly immersed in a new environment. It seemed like the more papers I read, the more I realized there was so much more I didn’t know. However, into week 5, when I finished my pilot and started my big experiment, I realized that a lot had already sunk in as I prepared my chalk talk. Now, week 8, everything I’ve done, from material preparation to analyzing my results, is coming together into a poster presentation…and I feel so proud to have something I can call my own.

Although I have not determined whether or not I want to be a researcher, my ideal career now has aspects that closely resemble one. I don’t want a desk job, but one where I can be on my feet, doing something potentially different everyday. I want the access my creativity and design/discover something new, something I can call my own. And most importantly, I want to be working in something that I’m really passionate about, to the point where my face lights up when I’m talking about it (as I’ve seen from the faculty talks).

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my view on science has definitely broadened, because now I’m not just seeing the “facts” printed in a textbook, but I witnessing it being brought to life and put to work. I’m witnessing the uncertainty, the speculations, the mistakes, the weird results we can’t explain but they encourage us to search more. In that way, it feels like I’m witnessing life play out before me, because there’s change, discovery, frustrations, and mistakes all in just one project. It was through this summer that I realize this, and seeing this whole new side has made me love science even more.

Thank you to the wonderful faculty for sharing your passions this summer. Thank you to my roommate and other fellows who I can now happily call friends. Thank you to my mentors Dr. Kathleen Donohue and Brianne Edwards for your time leading this “lost little lamb” around.

But of course, this shall not be the end. On to more science, more learning,

more adventures~

Part of what I love about the faculty talks, is that we’re not just learning “facts” you can  get out of a science textbook. We’re seeing how science is actually being applied to the real world. We’re not hearing about the stuff that everyone is so sure about, but the speculations, the strange occurrences that we’re all trying to explain, the results that can potentially lead to something no one’s ever heard about.

One of the talks that I enjoyed the most would have to be Dr. Nijhout’s lecture. I was enraptured by the case of polyphenism in butterflies–how two butterflies of the exact same genotype could look completely different, just because of the amount of light they were exposed to as a larvae. In a way, that also makes sense, because the differing amounts of  light can signal different environments that the butterflies have to adapt to.

It wasn’t just the butterflies that sparked my interest, but the case of the juvenile hormone that’s present in organisms like bees, ants, and dung beetles. In ants, this hormone controls the head proportion ants have–an increase in juvenile hormone was found to be followed by an increase in soldier ants (with larger head proportions) . Dr. Nijhout also explained, however, that these soldier ants are only 20% of the population because solider ants release a hormone that raises the threshold for others to be soldiers..so the more soldiers there are, the harder it is others to be as well. To me, it’s such an interesting phenomenon, because it seems that mother nature just seems to know how to prevent an excess of soldiers.

Dr. Nijhout also explained the high-low-no hypothesis, which tried to explain how the juvenile hormone worked to control metamorphosis. It was the one of the cornerstones of that science for three decades, until it was proven to be wrong. As discouraging as that may seem, that information we believed to be true for three decades to be proven false, it was actually quite refreshing to hear.

It just shows the uncertainty science really is. What’s right today can be wrong tomorrow, and that’s fine because it just proves that anything is subject to change in the real world–a thought that’s both daunting fascinating.

I can definitely say that after six weeks, I have a better feel of what research is all about.

What I love about it is the independence and freedom to create your own methods. And I was actually able to do this on my own project. During the pilot of my experiment, we found that it took a substantial amount of time to just transfer the seeds; after we rinsed them in a funnel, we had to chase the seeds with a pipette in order to pick them up.  Thus, Bri mentioned that it’d be easier to rise and transfer using mesh, and gave me time with the materials to figure it out. After a few hours of trial and error and  brainstorming, my workable ideas started merging into a plan. I really enjoyed that I could try something that no one’s ever come up with–like I found out that a weigh boat can fit perfectly over a funnel, so I cut a hole out of it and placed the mesh over it, and made sure the mesh and seeds didn’t pass through the hole when I pipetted water over it. To me, the process of figuring this out was rewarding; there was something I could be proud of and say that I contributed all by myself. Who knows, maybe the procedure can help someone else’s project in the future!

But I must say, the fact that I’m clumsy does not help my project. There have been a number of plates that I’ve accidentally dropped, making some of the seeds come off the filter paper. Thus, I’ve had to re-census the seed germinants subtracting the ones that stuck to the lid. It’s made me realize: research isn’t exactly forgiving to human error. Often times, one mistake can ruin everything and you have to re-do the procedure from the beginning.

On the other hand, I do have to admit, accidents have also led to scientific discoveries,  or else Louis Pasteur wouldn’t have come across the discovery that would lead to immunizations.

So I guess the end message is that there’s bound to be mistakes in science…which can be 90% annoying, and 10% enlightening..but the 10% makes it worthwhile.

I’ll just have to remember that the next time I drop a plate~

End of week 5 and we finally know what everyone’s projects are about!

I really love how varied our projects are: from music, mantis shrimp, and cancer cells, to pain maps, smooth muscle, and my plants. Some projects do share similarities in involving mice or cancer applications though. Honestly I was surprised that no one was working with plant biology like I am.

A number of projects really stood out to me, but the one that is among my top 3 favorites is definitely Hannah’s project, investigating the effects of voluntary exercise on hippocampal neurogenesis in immunodeficient mice.

As someone with no prior neuroscience knowledge, my initial reaction to her project was ”huh?”. Thus, I was pretty grateful that Hannah started from the basics, explaining that neurogenesis, as explained by its name, is the birth of ”new neurons”, which predominantly takes place in the hippocampus and the SVZ in the adult brain. It was surprising to learn that the immune system also helps with neurogenesis, since T-cells are involved in adult neurogenesis/spatial learning/memory. Therefore immunodeficient just means that the mice lack T-cells.

Whole Brain Irradiation (WBI) is a form of cancer treatment that comes at the cost of it preventing hippocampal neurogenesis form occurring. But Hannah’s  hypothesis, based on results from another study, is that voluntary exercise can actually recover  hippocampal neurogenesis in mice even after treated with WBI! How will she be testing this? She’ll be assessing their spatial memory through maze tests, where the mice have to find a hole on a circular table.

What really amazes me though is the implications of Hannah’s project. It really shows us how powerful exercise can be. Apparently mice (with and even without WBI treatment) that voluntarily run a great distance (a mile!) are already exhibiting an advantage in memory. I don’t know about you, but that definitely encourages me to get up out of this chair and move. Of course, I know that doesn’t mean that I’m going to have improved memory. (Plus, these mice are running all day, and not everyone has time for that). It’s just good to know there’s growing evidence that exercise is a great benefit.

Time to hit to gym! (but not really ha..)

There really is no ”typical” day for me here at Donohue lab.
As I go through my experiment from start to finish, I find that I’m doing something different everyday.

To illustrate:

• My first day, I was taught how to do various things like seeding and how to use the autoclave.
• By the end of my first week here, I was already immersed in a pilot of my experiment, setting up materials.
• By the end of the second week, I had already done most of my pilot, seeding around a hundred plates and observing them on a daily basis.
• By the end of the third week, I had analyzed results of my pilot experiment and started planning for the big experiment.

This week was the busiest it’s ever been, seeding all day for two days, rinsing and transferring all day for two days, and even a day where I got to practice my chalk talk in front of my lab.

Speaking of my lab, throughout these past few weeks as I’ve been here, I keep on seeing instances of the comradery of my lab. The thing is, experiments here at Donohue lab are often on such a large scale that you can’t do them alone. The reason why we’re all able to do these big experiments is because everyone helps each other. When I was seeding for my pilot, at least two other people were helping beside me. And just yesterday, when Bri and I were  rinsing and transferring seeds, consumed by the amount of work to be done, throughout the day, people like Eli, Hannah, Logan, and Gaby all stopped by and asked if we needed any help. If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have been able to leave the lab until 10pm.

It’s striking to see how helpful everyone is. For example, even with the chalk talk, Bri had me practice in front of her and other experts in my subject, something I actually found scarier than the actual chalk talk. It’s amazing though that they even took the time to listen to my talk  and that  each of them gave such supportive and constructive feedback. Again thank you thank you thank you to Bri, Gaby, Logan, Eli, and Hannah~

Until the next week~

So a lot of the projects in my lab are working in FLC, a gene also known as Flowering Locus C that is in a lot of plants.

So what does it do, you may ask?

Have you ever wondered how plants just know when to flower? In Arabidopsis, that’s where FLC comes into play.

Ecotypes with FLC expression require a cold period to flower. You would expect a gene that’s known for flowering to actually encourage flowering when expressed, right? But that’s not the case. FLC actually represses flowering.  It is when the plant is exposed to vernalization, a prolonged period of extreme cold (like winter for example) that the plant can flower, because vernalization lowers FLC expression.

FLC is actually pleiotropic, where being the gene superstar that it is, actually influences not just one, but multiple phenotypic traits: flowering time AND germination. That’s what my project is concerned in.

As my PI and secondary mentor, Dr. Donohue and Bri, explained to me before, my project serves a purpose in the lab, as a convergence of the lab’s previous work with the projects being done now. Previously, The lab has been curious about the genetic differences associated with physiological parameters. Now, there are projects more concentrated on the pleiotropy of FLC that I mentioned before,  how variation in flowering time is related to variation in germination.

My project is testing how a genotype can respond to different stressful environments. Using seeds with different levels of FLC expression, I’m going to expose them to various low water potentials, and see how that affects their germination rates. From this, we’ll see if there’s any genotype-specific differences in germination.

So in terms in procedure, I’ll first be incubating seeds for 3 days in PEG (polyethylene glycol) solution, which basically lowers the amount of pure water available to the seeds. Then, they’ll be rinsed and transferred to a plate with pure water.  I’ll be monitoring for germination daily after that.

And this all starts next week! Can’t wait!

Salutations everyone!

So my primary mentor is unfortunately out of town this week, but instead this post gets not one, but TWO interviews from the people who have both taught me everything I’ve learned since Day 1: the most senior member of my lab (Gabriela Auge) and my secondary mentor (Brianne Edwards–Hi Bri, if you’re reading this!). Talking to them with the excuse of  the interview, I really got to familiarize myself with their lives and interests; overall, it was an insightful and fun experience.

Since Dr. Donohue is on sabbatical, the most senior member of my lab is currently Gaby, a postdoc born and raised in Argentina–where she got both her bachelor’s degree in  biotechnology and PhD in molecular biology. She discovered her love for biology after her biology teacher gave a presentation on genetics when she was 15. Later on in college, she discovered that she favored plant biology when she took a general physiology course in college that encompassed the human, animal, and plant physiology. She came to Duke after getting an email with a list of postdoc positions. Funny thing is, she read the email the day before the deadline, so she sent in her application the day of the deadline and got a call back within the same day. She credits her familiarity with the FLC plant gene as the reason of being chosen (since the Donohue lab does a lot of work surrounding FLC). Coming to America, she was shocked of how different lab culture was here from Argentina. She explained that in Argentina, everyone in lab was social, always greeting each other everyday. Therefore, here she got to know everyone by changing the norm and making sure to say ”Good Morning” and ”Goodbye” to everyone. When I asked her of what her least favorite thing about work was, she admitted, ”I’m a lab rat”, and thus didn’t favor field site work.  However, as a ”lab rat”, she gets excited coming to work, because she continues to be amazed by every single result she gets, leading her to ask even more questions. Her love for plants is apparent even outside of work through her hobby of tending a vegetable garden. She also enjoys spending time with her 4-year-old daughter. I was particularly amused by her answer to a particular question:
Me: ”How do you approach failure?”

 ”I cry,” she jokingly replied. Realistically, she explained, one can try to do methods to avoid failure, but regardless, in science, there will be failures.

My secondary mentor is Bri, the lab manager here at Donohue lab. She originally majored in plant biology with the intention of fabricating make-up with plants, but that reason changed after taking a course about the evolution of plants in her senior year. She really appreciated how unlike other science classes based on memorization, this class compelled her to ask bigger questions. She also loved how evolutionary concepts had broader implications compared to other aspects of science. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, she looked for a job close to her home in North Carolina. Like Gaby, she found a job listing online, from a list-serve. After some time of serving as a lab technician at Donohue lab, she rose the rank of lab manager. She prefers working together with her the people in her lab on experiments, allowing her to become more acquainted with the people in lab.  She finds that collaborating with Dr. Donohue in particular to be one of the most motivating things about coming to work . When she’s not working, she takes pleasure in playing with her dog, Jagger, making her own jewelry, and relaxing with TV. When I asked her what her least favorite thing about work was, she couldn’t think of anything at first, proving her overall satisfaction with her job. She finally thought of her disappointment when things are going wrong in the experiment; nevertheless, she moves on and even keeps an optimistic outlook, because even those things can give a cool and unexpected result.  She takes pride in being able to make the workplace more efficient for everyone. For instance, when no one in lab was able to use the expensive labeling machine and resorted to writing all the labels by hand, she decided to persevere and master the labeling software. Her determination to continue in places where others give up made her realize that this was the job for her. Hopefully I can be like Bri and find a workplace that I love.

I’m really grateful to Gaby and Bri for guiding me through everything step by step, making it a smooth adjustment to a completely new environment. Even right after the interview, Gaby noticed I was reading a paper and kindly explained to me the terms I was confused with. Also, Bri was very patient with me this week when I was censusing seeds–looking at petri dishes of about 20 seeds each and counting how many germinated per plate. Having never seen seeds germinate in this type of environment, I asked Bri  confirmation on practically every single plate on the count, and when I couldn’t tell which seed germinated, she drew out a diagram to show me. After twenty times of going to her desk and asking her to confirm, I apologized for bothering her so frequently. Soon after, she approached me, making sure I knew that I wasn’t bothering her and that she welcomed my questions.

Clearly, it was an honor being able to interview these two fine teachers.

Greetings internet!

Wow, to think that it’s been a week already…

And to make things sound even more ephemeral, we are continuously reminded that our 8 weeks will fly by just like that. Keeping that in mind, I hope I can at least do the following things:

• Do something I’ve never done before. From my first week, I’ve already learned
  1. seeding-inserting these extremely tiny seeds into a plate with a probe
  2. how to use the autoclave
  3. how to tell census seeds, determining if arabidopsis seeds (as tiny as poppy seeds) has germinated
  4. how to prepare a PEG (polyethylene glycol) solution
     

     Hello PEG..I shall see more of you this summer..

  5. how to use an osmometer
  6. how to prepare a plate I’ll be using for my project
     

     preparing the weigh boats that will be wrapped in filter paper and then inserted into the plates

     Just a week ago, I felt like a lost little lamb, able to do nothing…now I’m probably still a lamb (insert “bahh” sound here), but it feels reassuring knowing that I’ll be growing and experiencing everything NEW in these next 7 weeks

• Answer Questions: As Dr. Grunwald explained to us in the beginning, I don’t expect to be answering science’s biggest mysteries this summer. Right now, the questions I’m focusing on are “What does that mean?”, “Why does that happen?”, “How do I do that?” At the very least, I want to develop an understanding of what I am doing and why I am doing it. And for me, the process of finding the answer is just as important. I know I’m responsible on my part for being more bold and asking the qualified mentors around me. Finally, the most important question I want to try to answer is: What do I want to be? Sure we all learn science in the classroom, but I want to see how it’s applied in the real world, and research is definitely one of the major applications. As someone who’s never done research before, being able to do this program is opening my eyes and  allowing me to see a day in the life of the researcher. Who knows, maybe by the end, I’ll know my career path.
• Make friends with my Howard Hughes fellows and the people in my lab: (because who doesn’t want friends)
  All jokes aside, I really do want to build relationships with all these talented people around me.
• Have fun: Of course, I saved the cheesiest one for last.