Journal of Undergraduate Research

Michael Baldwin and Dr. Laura Bridgewater, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction More than 40 million Americans suffer from the pains of arthritis. Arthritis is characterized by joint inflammation and cartilage deterioration (3). For many years growth differentiation factor 5 (Gdf5) has been associated with cartilage formation and maintenance (4, 1). GDF5 has been […]

Kaitlyn Vance and Dr. Eric Wilson, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology The aim of our research was to help elucidate the degree of specificity employed by antibody secreting cells (lymphocytes) through a study of the role of CCR10 in the differential homing of these cells to mucosal tissues. We used vitamin D3, known to […]

Rodney Till and Dr. Brian Poole, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology My project this year was a great learning experience and helped me to better understand the complexity of lab work, as well as, the tools used in troubleshooting problems; including collaboration with lab researchers and professors. I learned about flow cytometry and how […]

Marshall Sheide and Dr. Bradford Berges, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Kaposi’s sarcoma herpes virus (KSHV) is one of seven known cancer causing viruses which have the capacity to persist in the host for many years. This particular virus can undergo a long latent infection which ensures that the virus can hide by not […]

Mary Rennick and Dr. Brent Nielsen, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Beginnings This research focused on the search for the probable mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutation in one family affected with fibromyalgia and lactic acidosis. The hypothesis was that there is mixture of normal and mutated mtDNA, called heteroplasmy. I first obtained the four patients’ […]

Stanton Nielsen and Dr. Brad Berges, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Many scientists are skeptical of using humanized mice to study the human adaptive immune response. The reasoning behind this skepticism stems from discrepancies in various studies seen previously. A study conducted by Traggiai et al. showed that humanized mice elicited a human adaptive immune response when […]

Kylie Measom and Dr. Kim O’Neill, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology They say “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples are laden with antioxidants which have been shown to prevent against cancer and other illnesses.1 Antioxidants are molecules that prevent cancer by collecting excess free radicals in the body. Free radicals are […]

Jordan Mackay and Dr. Julianne Grose, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Characterizing the interacting protein partners of Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) kinase has proven to be a formidable task. Since the beginning of 2012, I have been working hard with graduate student Desi DeMille on confirming the putative interactors uncovered by genetic screening done the previous […]

Jordan Mabey and Dr. Brian Poole, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction B cells are specialized cells which participate in the normal immune response to an infection. As B cells encounter antigens in the body, they become activated and travel to what is known as a B cell follicle within a lymph node. At […]

Jared Lambert and Dr. Brian Poole, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology With our lab’s previous finding revealing a hairpin folding structure in exon 1B (IRF5 risk allele), not found in the other first exons, this project was focused towards more fully understanding the role of IRF5 exon 1B’s hairpin structure and its effect on […]