Serena Noss

Hello, and thank you for coming to my blog! 

I am Serena Noss, a senior at BASIS Scottsdale, and for my Senior Research Project I will be working at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix. I will be volunteering in Dr. Amelia Gallitano's lab, which is studying Schizophrenia. Here is the website for the UA College of Medicine in Phoenix for more information.

http://phoenixmed.arizona.edu/

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects emotion, thinking, and behavior, and can result in breaks from reality. For more information on the disorder, please visit the National Institute of Mental Health.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml

Dr. Gallitano’s lab has specifically been studying the causes of Schizophrenia. Like many mental disorders, susceptibility is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. This means that while Schizophrenia is a heritable disorder (a disorder that can be passed down from your parents through genes), it is also impacted by the events and conditions of someone’s life. It is hoped that better understanding the causes of the disorder will allow for better treatments or preventative measures.

I have always been fascinated by Biology and specifically Neuroscience. BASIS offers amazing opportunities to take classes related to biology beyond those offered in the average high school, and throughout my time in high school I have taken every one of these classes that I could. Although this education has been a great opportunity for me, the greatest limitation of my high school experience has been a lack of real world experience. This will be my first time working in a lab, so I am looking forward to this amazing opportunity to help out and learn new things, both about the field of Neuroscience and about the real world application of the information I have learned throughout high school.

In general, my project is about environmental factors that affect schizophrenia, specifically looking at the link between schizophrenia and environmental factors. One of these that has already been researched in mice is the link between schizophrenia and sleep deprivation. I am also looking at the implications of this information for future treatment or prevention of the disorder. For more information on my project, you can read my project proposal.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3jZ7MXdtg67SEU2MUNNeExtQVU/view

I will be making weekly posts about my project, so if you are interested and want to keep updated on my project, click on “follow by email” at the bottom of the page, and check out the other BASIS Senior Research blogs.

Week 10

Last week of the Senior Research Project! 🎉 🎉 🎉

On Monday we had a joint lab meeting, where I got to hear about the research of another lab in the building. They are studying depression using mice models. After that we had a meeting with just the Gallitano lab, where we discussed the different lab projects going on currently. I was told I should present my Senior Research Project Powerpoint at the next lab meeting, so I need to prepare for that!

The lab manager also called the company that makes the DNA and enzymes for the DNA ladder we were trying to make, and they recommended we try a different concentration of buffer. We will try this on Wednesday (hopefully it won't be our 7th failure?).

There isn't much for me to do in the lab now, but during the first week of May I will help with a series of behavioral tests on the mice, and in the second week of May, I will be taught how to do immunohistochemistry. That is where you use antibodies to tag specific proteins on the cell surface and then use other antibodies that fluoresce to tag the first ones, so when you look at the tissue sample under the fluorescent light it fluoresces where the antibodies are. Here is a pretty picture to explain it better.

Anyway, a lot of the cool stuff I will be doing from now on will be after the Senior Project is over. For now I am mostly helping with the DNA testing.

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Well we tried the DNA ladder.... and it wasn't a complete failure? There were two faint bands of DNA, which means the enzymes are working (yay!) but there should be 8 bands, which means the enzymes didn't finish digesting the DNA. On Friday we will try giving the enzymes more time to break up the DNA, and hopefully that will work.

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Last day of the SRP!

Well not really for me, because I am coming back next week for the lab meeting and then more over the summer.

Today I did a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) which makes more copies of the DNA, and then ran a gel to test the DNA of some mice. Also, we found out the DNA ladder will need to stay overnight for it to be fully digested by the enzymes.

Overall, my experience in the lab has been great. I learned so much about work in the lab, and it was a lot of fun!

Goodbye!

Week 9

Hello! I can't believe it's already week 9 of the project.

Anyway, the DNA ladder failed yet again on Friday, so we are letting the DNA and enzymes sit overnight. Hopefully that will be enough time for the enzymes to break up the DNA.

Today I helped prepare DNA samples for testing. First the lab manager collected tiny snips from the ends of the tails of the new mouse litter and put each in its own plastic tube. I added 20 microliters of NAOH to the tubes. This makes the solution basic, which partially dissolves the tail tips. After about an hour, I added a mildly acidic solution to balance out the pH. Then I put the tubes in the centrifuge so all the liquid would settle to the bottom, and stuck them in the freezer. Tomorrow we will put these samples in the gel electrophoresis tank and find out the genotypes of the mice.

Before going home I set put the DNA and enzyme mixture for the DNA ladder in the water bath so it will stay warm overnight. Hopefully it works this time!

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Wednesday update on the DNA ladder: it still doesn't work! :(

The DNA ladder still isn't working, so we ordered the restriction enzymes from a different manufacturer, because we think the first batch was defective. The new ones should arrive today and we will leave them overnight again. Hopefully they cut up the DNA this time!

Today I also got to autoclave some more pipette tips and do another electrophoresis to test the genotypes of some mice. I am also helping the lab manager make a protocol (set of instructions) on how to use the microscope with the fluorescent light. With the protocol it will be easier to teach new people coming to the lab, because there will be a detailed set of instructions on how to use it.

I'll make another update on the DNA ladder tomorrow, fingers crossed it won't be another failure!

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Hello!

We didn't get a chance to test the DNA ladder after waiting a whole night, but it did not work after the one hour test we did try. Probably the enzymes need to be left with the DNA overnight, so we will try that next week.

We will also be having a lab meeting on Monday, so I will give you an update on the information we talk about on Monday.

Have a nice weekend!

Week 8

Hello again!

This week I still don't have much to do in the lab. The experiments I will be helping out with will happen in the summer, so besides getting training in the vivarium there won't be too much for me to do right now. I did get to empty the dishwasher today (I know, super exciting).

Later this week I will help the lab supervisor make a DNA ladder used for the gel electrophoresis. This is basically a bunch of known DNA fragments that have been cut by enzymes to specific lengths. As the gel runs, these fragments will spread out, and as they are made of known DNA, it is known how they should spread out, so we can see if the gel has run long enough. Previously the lab had bought these ladders premade, but they are trying to make their own now to cut costs. More on that later in the week!

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Because I am not doing much today, I took some pretty pictures of the lab. In order: my work space, pictures of mice, the cold room, the tiny centrifuge, the dry ice bin, two of the large freezers, and some pipettes.


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Hello to everyone who scrolled through all those pictures. Happy Friday!

On Wednesday I helped the lab manager make the DNA ladder. It failed because the DNA did not get digested (broken up) by the restriction enzymes. We think the problem is either that we didn't wait long enough for the DNA to be broken by the enzyme, or that we didn't use enough enzyme.

Today we are trying to wait for the DNA to be broken up for 4 hours, and then in another trial for 6 hours. If that doesn't work we will add twice as much enzyme per microgram of DNA. Hopefully we will get it working today and then we can make a full batch of DNA ladder on Monday. If it still doesn't work we will try waiting 16 hours for the DNA to be broken up by leaving it overnight on Monday night, and running it in a gel on Monday morning. We also found out that we might need to change the ratio of DNA to loading dye, so we will look into that too. It's the first time the lab has tried to make their own DNA ladder, so we have a lot to figure out.

Anyway, I will give an update on whether we got it working on Monday. Have a nice weekend!

Week 7

I finished the cell counting this Monday, and we also had a lab meeting. I took off Tuesday because the axel on my car was broken and I had to take it into the shop so I couldn't drive to work. Today it is Wednesday and I am back in the lab.

Tomorrow I will go to Sonora Quest Lab to see if I have been immunized to Hepatitis B. This is required of all UA employees who could potentially be handling blood, because they want to insure everyone is immunized and not at risk. Recent studies have shown that a small percentage of people who get immunized against Hep. B are not actually immune, so this blood test will determine that I am actually immunized.

There isn't much for me to do in the lab until I can work in the vivarium, so there won't be too much for me to blog about this week.

Also, I have been getting a lot of questions asking what the green dots mean on the brain pictures. I realize it is a little complicated, so I will try to explain again. Basically, half the mice in the study are wild type mice that have the Egr3 gene, while the other half are "knock out" mice that do not have a functional Egr3 gene. Egr3 is activated in response to stress, so once the mice are sleep deprived, more Egr3 should be transcribed. The hypothesis of the lab is that Egr3 is transcribed to be a transcription factor that regulates the gene responsible for making serotonin 2A receptors. The green dots show where the serotonin 2A receptor gene has been activated in the brain. The knockout mice should have very little or no green dots if the hypothesis is correct, because they lack the Egr3 gene, meaning it would not be inducing the serotonin 2A gene. Hopefully that cleared things up?

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Hello and happy Friday!

Since there isn't really anything for me to do in the lab right now I will write a bit about animal models in neuroscience. Part way through my project I made the focus of my project more on the use of animal models to better understand mental conditions in humans, and I have gotten lots of interesting information on this topic while talking to people in the lab.

When using animal models for human conditions, ethics is always a concern, so every study must find a balance between using an animal with a more developed brain that is more similar to a human but considered more unethical to use, and using an animal with a less developed brain that is less similar to a human but considered to be more ethical to use. Very little research is done using primates, because although they would make good animal models as they are quite similar to humans, it is considered unethical to do many experiments on such an intelligent animal. This is why many labs use animals like mice or rats, as they are considered to have developed enough brains to be relevant models for human conditions, but are not as intelligent as a primate.

I find it interesting that animals that seem so different, like humans and mice, still have analogous brain structures and functions. Anyway, have a nice weekend!

Week 6

Hello! I hope everyone who had their spring break last week had fun.

This week I will continue to get certified to work in the vivarium with the mice. I have already completed a "Risk Assessment Form", which is a form that asks if I have any allergies and if I have gotten all my vaccinations. I have also completed a "CITI Training" online course, which gives information about proper procedures when working with animals. This morning I am working on finishing the "Bloodborne Pathogen Safety Training", which is an online course giving information about how to avoid exposure to Bloodborne pathogens, and what to do if exposed.

When I finish all these certifications, I will get additional training in the vivarium about how to work with the mice.

Also, if you have any questions about the images of the lab I posted last week, leave them in the comments!

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Hello again!

I finished the online safety training yesterday, so now I am just waiting for UA to approve me to work in the vivarium. While I am waiting, I emptied the dishwasher and autoclaved some pipette tips and distilled water. I am a little worried about the water, because apparently if you screw the lids tight on the jars of water they will explode in the hot autoclave, and if you don't screw on the lids at all the water will bubble out. So fingers crossed I screwed on the lids just right?

I am also learning how to use Image J. It is a free program I will be using to count the green dots on pictures of the brain I was imaging. I will get more training on how to use it tomorrow, but I have been playing around with it today for practice.

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I helped make a buffer today, and I got training on how to count the labeling on the mouse brains.

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This Thursday I went to a neuroscience symposium at ASU with one of the graduate students working in the lab. There were lots of posters from graduate and undergraduate students about the neuroscience research they are working on, and afterwards there was a lecture from two professors about ethics and law of neuroscience. I really enjoyed going, not only because of the interesting research the students doing, but also because I got to talk to them about their experiences at ASU. It was kind of reassuring that I am not the only one who doesn't know exactly what career I want. Also as an added bonus there was free lunch!

Friday I will work on counting the labeling on the mouse brains. See you next week!

Week 5



I will be taking my spring break during week five. I will resume posting on week 6.

Just for fun I decided to add some pictures of things in the lab (in order: the mouse brain atlas, the box of slides I was imaging, a work bench in the lab, axons coming off of neurons on a slide I was imaging, and my work station for imaging.)

Also, I won't be answering comments for week 5, so if you have questions about any of the pictures ask about it on week 6!