Author Archives: Morayo Abbey-Bada

I truly enjoyed all the different faculty that came to speak this summer, and I am grateful that they took the time to speak to us about their science and journey. All the different stories were fascinating and opened my eyes to how science and research are not a “one journey, one story” type of field. The faculty talk that stood out the most to me was the first one of the summer by Dr. Charmaine Royal. 

It is funny because I had a friend who took her class and would talk very highly of it after every session. Now, I know exactly why she loved that class. In the hour and a half that she spoke, she opened my eyes to a lot of different topics in regard to race and genetics. She opened up her presentation by asking us about our definition of race. While I had an immediate answer to her question, I knew how complex “race” is when trying to define it in our day-to-day life. If you asked 5 different people about what race was, you are very likely to receive 5 different answers. Before reflecting on what she talked about, I think a lot of these differences in our ideas of race stem from early educational knowledge. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that there are very few genetic variations between different races and you can find more genetic variations within the same race. The lab I am currently working in does work on Neurogenetics, but I never about how to think of race within this field of genetics and genomics. 

In high school, I did research on how to change the medical school curriculum to target implicit bias. In short, the conclusion was that the topic was multifaceted and required schools to work within the context of their student body and curriculum. Dr. Royal is doing many different forms of research in trying to help the public to understand race/ racism. I think there are a lot of different “buzz words” that circulate around, but most people do not understand the science and facts behind different concepts. She ended by giving us advice and stated “be conscious of my science and my impact on society.” This is something that stood out to me and something I hope to carry as I continue to research and enter the scientific field. 

Mentors: Chengcheng Du, Shania Appadoo, Pelin Volkan, Ph.D. Department of Biology 

The social environment modulates animal behaviors in many aspects. Studies have shown that male Drosophila raised in social isolation perform differently from those presented in groups in the courtship behavior assay. However, the mechanism under this phenomenon is unclear. The olfactory system is integral to the normal courtship behavior of flies. In Drosophila, pheromones are detected by receptors expressed in sensory neurons. Two of these olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs), Or47b ORNs and Or67d ORNs,  have been found to be involved in regulating male fly courtship behaviors. Therefore, our hypothesis is that the difference between group-housed and single-housed male flies is due to the difference in detecting odors like pheromones in different environments. To test this, we studied if disturbing the detection of pheromones using genetic mutants of Or47b and Or67d will influence the courtship behaviors of male flies through a series of behavioral experiments this summer including isolating flies, group housing flies, and recording courtship behavior. Our findings suggest the influence of social experience on male flies’ courtship behavior partially relies on the normal detection of odors.

The scientific journey of Dr. Volkan started in Turkey where she was born and completed her Undergraduate and Masters in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Interestingly, she initially had a strong interest in film but decided to go down the science route and into academia–an ambition she had since high school. This decision brought her to research neural development in the retina and what the genetic mechanisms were in that developmental process. She quickly learned that mammalian research was not for her, so, when Drosophila research gained traction in the 1990s, Dr. Volkan jumped at the opportunity. 

To further develop her career, Volkan knew she had to leave Turkey and ended up down the street at UNC-Chapel Hill to study fly genetics and development for her Ph.D. Her initial work in Bob Duronio’s Lab used Drosophila as a way to understand how cell cycles in the body are regulated through development. This gave her the background she needed in working with flies and learning fly genetics. At this point in her career, Volkan was still figuring out what she wanted to do for her postdoc. She found cell cycles to be fascinating, but it was too crowded and full of opposing ideas. This ultimately brought her back to Neuroscience and across the country to Los Angeles. 

“It [Neuroscience] has always been very interesting for me–from understanding how the brain is organized, how it orchestrates all our behaviors and thoughts, sensations, feelings, and I still wanted to stay in fruit flies, so I decided to do a postdoc in Howard-Hughes lab at UCLA.”

The next layer she wanted to unfold, using her background in developmental biology and genetics, was genetic programs that build nervous systems and connected cells and neurons in different ways to form neural circuits. Two questions that guided this research were 1. How do you wire these circuits correctly? 2. How is the architecture of the circuitry regulated during development? Little did she know that right when she started to get involved in this area, the fly olfactory system would get deciphered and the organization of the system would be already discovered. However, during the genetic screening, she stumbled onto a specific mutation and was influenced by a book she was reading about the life of Seymour Benzer (Time, Love, and Memory) to focus on how to quantify behaviors within the systems of neural circuits which ultimately led her back to North Carolina and to Duke. 

“What we found [at the start of the Volkan lab] was a sensor of environment that regulates the expression of these critical modulatory genes–what I have been waiting for all this time.” 

Dr. Pelin Volkan

Today in the Volkan Lab, Dr. Volkan continues to study developmental neurobiology and is also researching how sensory cues depicted by the peripheral nervous systems regulate behaviors such as courtship and feeding to change the expression of certain genes. Outside the lab, you can find Dr. Volkan enjoying music, art, nature, martial arts, film, cooking, and most importantly, spending time with her family. She describes cooking as her zen moment and enjoys continuous motions such as chopping vegetables. Her love for academia and art is shown in her office with diagrams and images all over the wall of Drosophila, but the closest image to her desk is one of her family. 

From Turkey to UNC-Chapel Hill to UCLA and back to Duke University, Dr. Pelin Volkan has a robust scientific career full of many stories. Sitting down with her for even 30 minutes–this is apparent. Another thing that is apparent is her love for science and exploring something new; this desire has led her to where she is today and continues to motivate her as she continues her personal research and expands her work in the Volkan Lab. I am grateful and excited to learn more from Dr. Volkan this summer. 

This summer I am working in the Volkan Lab. There are many exciting projects in the Volkan Lab ranging from behavioral studies to developmental biological studies using the Drosophila as a model. I will be working alongside Chengcheng Du and Shania Appadoo in the following study: How does the social experience regulate gene expression within a neuronal circuit to modulate animal behavior? 

This research question has a lot of integral parts that we can briefly break down below.

Social environments modulate animal behaviors in many aspects. Even in humans, social isolation can have negative effects such as psychological distress and increased risk of disease. To investigate the relationship between social experience and animal behaviors, we will use the courtship behavior of Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) as a model.  

Studies have shown that male flies raised in social isolation performed differently from those raised in groups in the courtship behavior assay, suggesting that the social experience can regulate fly courtship behaviors. However, the mechanism of this phenomenon is unclear. One possibility is that the difference between group-housed and single-housed males is due to the difference in odors like pheromones in different environments since the olfactory system is integral to the normal courtship behavior of flies. In Drosophila, pheromones are detected by receptors expressed in sensory neurons. The olfactory system of the Drosophila has a relatively small amount of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) in comparison to mice and is organized in such a way that has allowed researchers to map the complete olfactory receptor neuron connectivity. Two of these ORNs (Or47b ORNs and Or67d ORNs) have been found to be involved in regulating male fly courtship behaviors (Dweck, 2015). Therefore, we desire to study if disturbing the detection of pheromones by removing these two olfactory receptors will influence the courtship behaviors of male flies.

To evaluate the courtship vigor, we will use some parameters that can statistically describe male courtship steps. Male flies have distinct courtship steps: orientation, tapping, singing, licking, attempted copulation, and copulation. These steps allow for the recording of mating using distinct parameters: courtship index and copulation index. The courtship index measures the amount of time spent in the mentioned steps divided by the total time recording. The copulation index measures the amount of time spent in successful copulation, also divided by total time. Through a series of behavioral experiments this summer including isolating flies, group housing flies, and scoring mating behavior, we will explore the aforementioned research question and the impact of social environments on courtship behaviors.

I have an irrational fear of all types of bugs, including the illustrious Drosophila, also known as a fruit fly. Upon learning that I would be placed in the Volkan lab, I knew this fear would have to be faced.

What do I expect from my summer research experience? To sum it up, I expect to obtain an appreciation of Drosophila. This appreciation comes from an increase in knowledge and obtaining respect for the fantastic things one can learn from such a small creature. This appreciation also comes from experience in the lab and learning new tools to measure brain development and the impacts of social experiences on the brain. In my first week in the lab, I have already started to obtain this appreciation, and I even found myself speaking highly of the fruit flies and admiring the flies from under a microscope (see below). In addition, by the end of the week, I felt knowledgeable enough to train another graduate student on scoring mating behavior. 

Sexual dimorphism of Drosophila

In addition, I see this summer as an opportunity to also explore different career fields and join a diverse scientific community. I came into Duke with an idea of what I wanted to do after college, but you do not know what options are there for you without trying something new. I am using this opportunity to try something new and have an openness if it does not work out. Just this week, I have accidentally lost flies in the lab, and I expect to make more mistakes–understanding that it is the key to growth as a researcher. On my first day in the lab, I was greeted with excitement which allowed me to feel welcome in the environment. We ended the week with a “celebration” for the new people in the lab and the last day of work for the lab manager. This all allowed me to start to build that sense of community and feeling of belonging in the scientific community. I am excited about many more opportunities to grow, learn, and appreciate Drosophila. 

Female Drosophila under a microscope.