At the beginning of this semester, Dr. Boehmler and I submitted our IACUC protocol. Once that was approved, we were able to begin our lab work with the zebrafish which was very exciting! 

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Towards the end of the spring 2022 semester, I came across a rare neurological disease that I was very interested in studying: Canavan disease. I did some research over the summer and throughout the fall to investigate the pathology of the disease, the genetic basis, etc. Because of this, the direction of my research had shifted slightly from what we were planning in the spring. Rather than developing a proof of concept for electroporation using a control gene, I decided I wanted to focus on the ASPA gene implicated in Canavan Disease with the hopes that I could eventually utilize electroporation to study the gene.

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The primary objective of my research this semester was to determine the temporal expression patterns of the ASPA gene in zebrafish. In other words, I wanted to find out if the gene was expressed in zebrafish embryos at various developmental timepoints. Before we could conduct electroporation or any gene editing, we had to first determine whether or not the gene was even present in zebrafish and if so, when it was expressed. While there were some difficulties and setbacks in the lab and in terms of the time I had, I was fortunately able to run PCR by the end of the semester and determine that the ASPA gene was in fact present in zebrafish at 24, 48, 72 hpf and 5 dpf. The PCR results we visualized on a gel were a bit strange, so we planned to rerun PCR during the spring semester just to confirm that what we observed was correct.

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I was also able to design and present my first research poster at the Biology department's research showcase which was a really great experience. I learned how to create an effective research poster that could communicate my methods and findings and provide just enough background information for others to understand my project. Presenting my poster really helped me to improve my communications skills and to consider the types of questions I might be asked if I presented my research at a conference, as well as how to effectively respond to those questions. Overall, I gained some really valuable skills from this experience and was excited to share my research with others in the department for the first time.