This week, each of the us in BSURF had the opportunity to give a chalk talk about their summer project. A presentation that stuck out to me in particular was Hannah’s.
Her presentation was about rare metabolic diseases that affect minority populations, and her project is specifically about Glycogen Storage Disease. She went on to explain that the G6PC is an important gene which creates a protein that aids in breaking down glycogen into glucose. Those without that gene have excess glycogen and low glucose levels, leading to issues such as liver scarring. With current practices of strict dieting, feeding tube usage, and more, this leads to a low quality of life for patients overall.
Because there is no gene therapy presently for this disease, Hannah’s goal with her project is to develop a treatment for it. By using mice that lack the G6PC gene, they can study its liver in vivo. Using a combination of drugs and therapy and comparing the results to the control, they hope to find a successful solution to curing Glycogen Storage Disease.
I think that Hannah did an excellent job at presenting her summer project. She was very clear in explaining the background, giving us appropriate context. Her strongest points were her clarity and her thoughtful choice of purely presenting the necessities of her project.
