Wisdom from the Giants

From Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz to Mohammad Noor, winner of the Darwin-Wallace Medal, we have certainly had our share of notable speakers. I enjoyed hearing from the distinguished members of Duke’s faculty immensely during my time as a Howard Hughes Research Fellow. Sadly, my summer fellowship is nearing its end. But as we wind down with one more final week of research, I’ve had the time to reflect on the amazing talks I've heard from some very different and very inspirational speakers.

We heard about extremophiles from blooming new professor Amy Schmid and iron homeostasis from the distinguished Dean of the Duke University School of Medicine Nancy Andrews.  Although the subject of their research varied immensely, there were quite a few things that all of the speakers shared. I think it’s important to note these qualities, as they are arguably what makes one a successful scientist. These speakers are some of the most prominent and successful scientists in their field.  They are the epitome of years of hard work. So I were to tell you what all of these great figures share, I’d say it’s their distinguished curiosity, their intellectual drive, and their extreme perseverance. As a scientist, you may study the same topic, trying to figure out the tiniest details of something that most people haven't the slightest awareness of. But you must have faith in your research, and you must work hard. You must persevere.

As I said in my previous blog, science is a sun shower, “ Sure we hear about amazing technology and scientific discoveries all year round, such as the Higgs Boson, water-powered jetpacks, robots, etc. but all of these things took YEARS of hard work, and many, many, mess-ups.” As such, it takes a certain type of person to persevere through, and find the forever-prized rainbow.   

Out of all of the seminars, Huntington Willard’s stood out to me especially. Not only was his research genetics and chromosome activation very interesting, but his guidance and words of wisdom after years of successful research I thought were quite inspiring. Luckily, I managed to get this entire great list down.

Good luck in all of your own endeavors. If one of those endeavors includes a career in science, then may this list be of help to you!

Sun Showers

Research is like a sun shower. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, a sun shower is just as its name describes-rain while the sun shines. The phenomenon is unusual and rare to say the least. People are often captivated by their obscurity. It seems odd to compare science to sun showers, but I can tell you that they are actually quite similar.

I’d like to refer to something I said in one of my previous blogs, “As scientists this summer there will be times that we fail, times that we mess up, when our experiments don’t go as we anticipate.” After six weeks working in the lab this summer I am reminded how true that statement is. When we learn about physics, biology, and chemistry what we learn is sound and logical. We take this modern knowledge for granted. There was a time when we did not know what DNA, cells, gravity, or atoms were.  Sometimes theories of the past sound ridiculously silly to us, and the knowledge we now know seems like the obvious reasoning. But science isn't as easy as it looks. There’s a reason why no one figured out the laws of physics for thousands of years, and that reason is that science is hard.

Sure we hear about amazing technology and scientific discoveries all year round, such as the Higgs Boson, water-powered jetpacks, robots, etc. but all of these things took YEARS of hard work, and many, many mess-ups. That’s where science's similarities to a sun shower come in. Like the rain, science is often filled with obscurity, frustration, tired late nights, mess ups and confusion. At the same time however, the sun shines. There are days when your research goes well, when you discover something great, or when you simply enjoy engaging in your research. Though the rain may be coming down, it’s a gentle one. There are of course occasional storms. But, the point is that the sun is still shining! Even when you are burdened with a difficult protocol or failed experiments, all of your efforts are important. The day you fail a protocol is the day you practice and shape your skills so that the next time you perform it you have learned, and have gained expertise. The day your experiment didn't go as planned may be the day you discover something new, and yes, the hours of hard work will pay off, trust me.

So no, science is not a walk in the park. It’s not a perfect sun shining day. It’s a sun shower, which is followed by the occasional rainbow.  

Germinating Success

As part of the Howard Hughes Research Fellows Program we have the chance to hear about our peers’ research through “chalk talks.”  A chalk talk is essentially a presentation that involves no posters or powerpoints, simply a piece of chalk (or a marker in our case) and a board to write on. 

Although we are in a program together, and the same foundation is funding our stay here at Duke, all of our work is independent. Each of us works in separate labs doing very different research. That’s where the chalk talks come in. It gives us the chance to hear what our colleagues are doing. Though these brief talks are just a taste of the incredible work the fellows are doing, it’s amazing to hear about some of the great work being done.

I’d like to talk about Lien Hoang’s Research on the model organism Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis is a weed that grows in North America, her plant –based genetics research is very different from In particular, we seek to better understand how the conditions experienced by the mother plant influence patterns of gene expression, and consequently the germination phenotypes of the seeds the neurological research I do at the Silver lab. It provides an interesting contrast to the work I am familiar with. Therefore I’ve decided to talk about Lien’s research in this blog.

The Arabidopsis plant:

Lien works in Dr. Kathleen Donohue’s lab. The lab uses the plant to study genetics. As Lien writes,” In particular, we seek to better understand how the conditions experienced by the mother plant influence patterns of gene expression, and consequently the germination phenotypes of the seeds.”

According to Lien, there are 3 main factors that influence germination, genes, environmental factors, and maternal effects.  Below is a chart I’ve created that simplifies these factors.

These factors influence germination in a number of ways. Genes influence germination as the genetic makeup of seeds can influence germination timing. Specific genes can control whether a plant germinates at a specific temperature, for example. Environmental factors influence the phenotype of seeds. Temperatures that are too hot or too cold for a plant can prevent or slow down germination. Additionally, water potential, or water’s tendency to move from one location to another, can also have an impact on phenotype, and consequently germination timing. Finally, maternal effects can significantly influence germination. This factor is by far the most difficult to analyze, as it is more indirect than the previous two. However, it is well established that the conditions experienced by the maternal plant can greatly influence the germination time of its seeds.

Studying the influence of the maternal plant can be quite useful. After all, conditions experienced by mothers during pregnancy can impact her child. Smoking and alcohol are examples. Thus, these plants are a useful tool in helping to build our understanding of maternal impact.

Lien was certainly an expert in her field. She knew details down to the most precise point. If there’s a general theme I learned from these chalk talks it’s that we are all blooming scientists. With dramatically different projects, that are often extremely complex it’s great to see myself and my peers developing into scientists. Though most of us are simply at the roots, we have just begun the process of becoming successful scientists. I hope that all of us will continue to germinate, growing a successful scientific career in the process. 

Sincerely Yours,

Danielle 

A Day in the Silver Lab

Working in a lab isn’t like most other jobs. There isn’t a set schedule of events, or a routine that you do every day. Every day in the lab is very different. It all depends on the experiments you are currently conducting and their results.  Of course there are quite a few techniques and protocols that I perform quite frequently.

I start out my day at 7:30 am.  After I get dressed and ready I head out from my central campus apartment lab-bound. Depending on the bus’ timing (which is frequently delayed due to on-campus construction) I either walk the full 30 minute trip, or I take the bus 2/3s of the way. I get to the lab between 9- 9:30am. On Monday mornings we usually have lab meeting at 9:30am, and usually once or twice throughout the week my lab and I go to some of the department’s talks. Although my lab is extremely interdisciplinary we are a part of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. 

If I don’t have meetings to attend, well then it’s time for science. Since my routine varies on a daily basis, I thought it would be best to give you an idea of some of the techniques and protocols I encounter most frequently. Often in a lab you will perform the same set of techniques multiple times a week. In my lab these are in utero electroporation, immunofluorescence and FISH.  In this blog I’m going to describe in utero electroporation. Other common techniques include PCR, gel electrophoresis, western blots, southern blots, and transforming plasmids.

In utero electroporation is one of the most difficult techniques. The science behind it is fairly simple. The real difficulty comes from the precision and dexterity necessary to perform the procedure. Let’s start with the phrase “in utero.” In utero is a Latin phrase that can be translated to “in the womb.” When this term is used in biology, it refers to a procedure that is performed on an embryo or fetus.  Electroporation is a technique used in biology. It is when electrical pulses are applied to allow substances through the membranes of cells by making the membranes temporarily porous. These substances frequently include foreign DNA that would like to be introduced into the cells. In utero electroporation is simply exactly as its title describes, electroporation “in utero,” in an embryo.  Below is a diagram showing the process of electroporation on a mouse.  I use electroporated brains in nearly all my experiments. However learning to electroporate is very time consuming and difficult, so at the moment I use sections electroporated by my secondary mentor.

Working in a lab requires more than just individual intelligence and skill. At the core of a successful lab is teamwork. Lab members rely on each other to teach new techniques, answer questions, provide helpful insight and information, and for guidance. Collaboration in the lab is essential. After all two heads (or three heads, four heads, ten heads, and even twenty heads depending on the size of the lab) are always better than one! My daily life in the lab involves working with my wonderful labmates.

Meet our team!

My intelligent secondary mentor Louis-Jan! His French accent is surprisingly faint! 

 My primary mentor and the principal investigator of my lab, Dr. Deborah Silver!

 My buddy in the “mitosis corner” Emily. Her quirky humor provides the occasional laugh.

 Helen is my Chinese speaking buddy!

Lomax does some amazing research on the genetics of brain evolution. He is a helpful hand if I have a question.

    

Though I don’t have pictures, there is also Ashley, who taught me how to use the cryostat, and Samuel a rotating graduate student.

Sincerely Yours,

Danielle