Draft of Project Question

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Buffy Chen

What is the novel and simple question that you will be addressing in your final project?

Context:
There has been evidence to show that all early animal embryos are characterized by a phase where they are transcriptionally silent. Because of the inactivity, embryos therefore rely on mRNAs that were synthesized by the mother and deposited into the cytoplasm of her eggs. In particular, Smaug is a RNA-binding protein that induces degradation and prevent the translation of the nanos mRNA in the bulk cytoplasm, thereby ensuring that nanos  is only expressed in the posterior region.

Question:
If the Smaug protein targets and regulates the nanos mRNA, to what extent does the protein targets and regulates the mRNA of another maternal effect gene within the same region, caudal?

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R&R #1

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Buffy Chen

1. In a few days you will need to submit a draft of your research question for the final project. How did/will you go about developing this question?

To develop this question, I want to research a topic that I am interested in – specifically, I want to look at a topic that is a hot area of research in genetics. As I am interested in thee topics when it comes to development: the role of epigenetics, chromatin-regulation, and oncogenes. I expect that I will be reading many papers on these topics so that I may be well-versed in what has been understood so that I may come up with an appropriate and research question.

 

2. What do you expect to be challenging about this task? 

As I want to look at an active areas of research, I expect that the results that I will be reading may be conflicting. As well, I’m also aware of the limitation of my own knowledge in current techniques used in genetics and development. I expect that this will hinder me in being able to critically evaluate papers, and understand the significance used with certain techniques used in experiments. However, I know that resources are available to me in this course so while there may be difficulties, I have faith that they are difficulties that I can overcome.

 

3. Think about evaluation criteria for your draft research question assignment. If your instructor were to mark your draft question, what do you think she should be looking for? What makes a top-level draft research question assignment?

I think the instructor would be looking for a thoughtful engagement with the course topic and with the question of interest. I think a top-level draft research question would be a specific question that addresses a mystery that we still don’t understand about the fundamental theme of development. As this is just a short project, the question would have to be narrow enough so that that it may be properly addressed with our current, and coming knowledge, within the given time-frame. Not only would it generate interest from the scientific community, and the community at large, it would provide a framework for future researchers to build upon.

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Unprompted whimsies #1: Learning in Development Part 1

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Buffy Chen

Like many things in life, what we take away from an experience is what we put into the experience. I am an avid fan of learning –  not just in an academic context –  and growing from my experiences (good and bad).

I’m expecting this course to be tough, but I am hopeful that I will be able to learn more about gene-regulation in development, and myself as a student and a person. I’m fairly confident that I will gain experiences that will cultivate sound qualities for success at a graduate level. And at a life level…!

 

 

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If I were a developmental biologist/geneticist…!

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Buffy Chen

1. If I were a developmental biologist/geneticist, I would like to investigate chromatin regulation in development. The questions I would investigate would be:

#1 If the genes encoding chromatin regulators are mutated, how severe would structures in development would be affected?

#2 It’s been evidenced that there is a variety of chromatin-complexes that participate in regulating gene expression. When it comes to development, does the different stage of development activate specific chromatin-complexes or does that variety of chromatin complex work together throughout the different stages of development?

2. I am particularly interested in question #2, because an important theme in development is to understand how complex and varied body plans are formed. During embryonic development, it is important for precise gene expression to ensure critical processes such as cell differentiation or commitment to lineage. Therefore, it is important to turn on and turn off the correct genes. Chromatin components is a key player in this decision process. By understanding the role chromatin plays throughout development, we are able to understand address fundamental questions in embryology.

3. The impact that this would have in development biology is that we would have a better understanding of how and which mutations in early development can affect subsequent overall health in the later stages of life. As there has been research to show that mutations that affect chromatin processes results in neurological disorders and cancer, researchers in the scientific community interested in this topic can focus their research on the identified area. By engaging in a communicative and collaborative process on the effect of chromatin in early development, researchers will be able to make leaps in better understanding disorders that continue to affect overall quality of life.

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