Hannah Page and James D. Higley, Psychology Department

I came across a compelling research question while doing an internship at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) three years ago. I was working in the Lab for the Comparative Neurobiology of Monogamy (I’ve always been a huge fan of monogamy), and chatting with some of the researchers about oxytocin, AKA the “cuddle hormone”. I soon learned that the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR), which is found in humans and non-human primates, and correlates with social bonding measures such as parent-infant bonding time in overall social behavior, but surprisingly, it had not been sequenced a primate species studied for its trademark social monogamy, titi monkeys.

The CNPRC has an entire colony of titi monkeys, and I decided to take advantage of my time there and unravel another piece of monkey genetic code. With the help of Dr. Higley (BYU), and Dr. Kinnally and Dr. Bales (UC Davis), I was able to design primers, obtain DNA samples, and run several PCRs. However, the summer ended to quickly, I came back to Provo, and my project was further postponed by my decision to serve a full-time mission. Upon returning to BYU, I decided to start back up on my project and applied for an ORCA grant. Meanwhile, Dr. Kinnally graciously provided me with eight samples of titi monkey DNA (my sister and I personally retrieved them from California), as well as three fresh primer sets (the same as we’d designed previously).

After obtaining the ORCA grant, I purchased the other necessary supplies and equipment to continue with my project. The BYU DNA Sequencing Center lent me bench space and a PCR machine. I ran polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) with each sample of DNA using the third, and most promising, primer we’d designed. My sister acted as my lab assistant, and helped me check and double check that the proportions of various solutions were correct.

The nine samples we developed were sequenced by the BYU DNA Sequencing Center. The results are promising, and there is a good chance we did isolate the correct segment of DNA (see figure 1). We plan on further analyzing these results, genotyping more monkeys, and publishing our results.

Receiving an ORCA grant allowed me to pursue and answer a research question. The ORCA grant provided me the necessary funds purchase materials to carry out PCRs and also to have our samples sequenced.

Members of Dr. Higley’s lab and others will be able to use this genotype to study gene by behavior interactions in titi monkeys, and gain insights into monogamy and other forms of primate bonding. Ultimately, we will be able to apply these insights to the human population and improve bonding and marital relationships.

References

• Insel, T., & Hulihan, T. (1995). A gender-specific mechanism for pair bonding: Oxytocin and partner preference formation in monogamous voles. Behavioral Neuroscience, 109(4), 782-789.
• Kendrick, K. (1991). Oxytocin, motherhood and bonding. Experimental Physiology, 111s-124s.

Figure 1