This week was my favorite so far. Everyone’s talks were well-rehearsed and interesting. I particularly enjoyed Cristin’s talk about her project in the Poss lab. I remembered hearing previously that she was working with zebrafish, and I was puzzled, because I didn’t understand why one would use a fish as a model organism. Not that all research must be directed towards solving human problems, but I knew that her project was related to health. This week, I was amazed to find out that zebrafish can regenerate their hearts.
Ever since Dr. Patek’s talk about ultrafast organisms, and the potential applications of her research to ballistics, I’ve been interested in learning more about research that uses the natural world as inspiration for solutions to human problems. With such an incredible diversity of life, it’s no wonder that many species have useful adaptations to problems that we still struggle with. Understanding how these adaptations work is certainly the first step to using them to design our own solutions. So Cristin’s investigation of the role of GDF11 in regeneration was fascinating to hear about.
I was also impressed to hear that she performs the surgery on the zebrafish herself. It must be a very delicate task. I can’t wait to hear about Cristin’s findings!
