Christos Katsifis, Week 6
Although there were only three days to Week 6, these three days will determine the success of my generated 7280 HEG variants.
On the day that everyone returned from the lab conference in Crete (coincidentally the same day that I returned from a Greece trip of my own), the song, "The Eye of the Tiger", was blaring throughout the lab.
Dr. Drew Hammond was very excited shouted, "Injection day *plural expletive*! It's the moment of truth to see if your plasmids work within the mosquito genome! Better hope they home!"
I laugh not only because of the unique British expletive, but also because it had been about the third repeat of the song. Luckily, the song did not play for the entire day; they also played "The Final Countdown" by Europe and "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey (so pretty much the same song all day long).
Slaving over the microscopes, Dr. Hammond and I had a deadline for the injection of 5,000 mosquito embryos; we stayed until 10 o'clock at night for the next two nights talking about life, while listening to the hisses of the hydraulic needle penetrating and exiting what appeared as tiny water balloons. We had to call security to let us out of the building both nights.
In contrast, there was much less excitement in terms of the Spanish Slug gene drive model. I had realized that imposing a reduced metabolism upon the slugs would not efficiently eliminate the threat of the slug to the crops in Europe during my conversation with Dr. Nolan. So, relatively modelling the existing gene drive of mosquitoes, only within slugs, I targeted a conservative female fertility protein. But, upon applying the algorithm which determines the frequency of resistance and its effect upon the target population, I had realized I needed to begin from scratch. My gene drive was predicted to become obsolete within 19 generations. While 19 generations is a relatively long time for the slugs, a little more than three years, the effects of the gene drive did not last long enough to reduce the population substantially.
Instead, I suggested introducing a beneficial gene to help prevent resistance. Similar to cloning bacteria, including antibiotic resistance in a plasmid causing the selective expression of that plasmid, I theorized including a sequence for increased metabolism within the gene drive causing female infertility. This may somehow null selection against the gene drive.
But unlike the first gene drive for infertility, this infertility gene drive system only homes when producing gametes. So somatic cells are all still heterozygotes for the gene drive, but every single gamete has the copy of the gene drive. This is because of the promoter which is attached to the gene; it is only stimulated during gamete formation. Therefore, upon inheriting one gene drive copy from a parent, there is still full fertility. These theoretical slugs with only one copy of the gene drive still have a 100% transmission of the gene drive within the gametes. But upon inheriting two copies of the gene drive, there is no longer female fertility functionality. This will take much longer to reduce the population, but it will lessen the selection for resistance.
I do not want to admit it one bit, but I am beginning to miss home. Somehow life back home seems very eventful in my absence. Since it was my 17th birthday on the 21st, I am looking forwards to getting my license on my return. I also have a little brother I haven't met yet! He was born on the 30th of June. While I do not miss the food at all (maybe Americana a little bit), I do miss the plumbing. My shower is broken again and it has been the fifth consecutive day without a shower in my own bathroom (do not worry, I have showered at the gym). Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how it can be perceived), the Common Application has been released! Now I can eagerly spend my time beginning and hopefully finishing some college essays. I have just started the final book of the complete reading list for English, a book called "House of Leaves". And to truly immerse myself within the culture here, I have bought myself a pair of "jorts" and Birkenstocks. I do not think I can walk twenty feet without spotting one of those two staples of British dressing.
On the day that everyone returned from the lab conference in Crete (coincidentally the same day that I returned from a Greece trip of my own), the song, "The Eye of the Tiger", was blaring throughout the lab.
Dr. Drew Hammond was very excited shouted, "Injection day *plural expletive*! It's the moment of truth to see if your plasmids work within the mosquito genome! Better hope they home!"
I laugh not only because of the unique British expletive, but also because it had been about the third repeat of the song. Luckily, the song did not play for the entire day; they also played "The Final Countdown" by Europe and "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey (so pretty much the same song all day long).
Slaving over the microscopes, Dr. Hammond and I had a deadline for the injection of 5,000 mosquito embryos; we stayed until 10 o'clock at night for the next two nights talking about life, while listening to the hisses of the hydraulic needle penetrating and exiting what appeared as tiny water balloons. We had to call security to let us out of the building both nights.
In contrast, there was much less excitement in terms of the Spanish Slug gene drive model. I had realized that imposing a reduced metabolism upon the slugs would not efficiently eliminate the threat of the slug to the crops in Europe during my conversation with Dr. Nolan. So, relatively modelling the existing gene drive of mosquitoes, only within slugs, I targeted a conservative female fertility protein. But, upon applying the algorithm which determines the frequency of resistance and its effect upon the target population, I had realized I needed to begin from scratch. My gene drive was predicted to become obsolete within 19 generations. While 19 generations is a relatively long time for the slugs, a little more than three years, the effects of the gene drive did not last long enough to reduce the population substantially.
Instead, I suggested introducing a beneficial gene to help prevent resistance. Similar to cloning bacteria, including antibiotic resistance in a plasmid causing the selective expression of that plasmid, I theorized including a sequence for increased metabolism within the gene drive causing female infertility. This may somehow null selection against the gene drive.
But unlike the first gene drive for infertility, this infertility gene drive system only homes when producing gametes. So somatic cells are all still heterozygotes for the gene drive, but every single gamete has the copy of the gene drive. This is because of the promoter which is attached to the gene; it is only stimulated during gamete formation. Therefore, upon inheriting one gene drive copy from a parent, there is still full fertility. These theoretical slugs with only one copy of the gene drive still have a 100% transmission of the gene drive within the gametes. But upon inheriting two copies of the gene drive, there is no longer female fertility functionality. This will take much longer to reduce the population, but it will lessen the selection for resistance.
I do not want to admit it one bit, but I am beginning to miss home. Somehow life back home seems very eventful in my absence. Since it was my 17th birthday on the 21st, I am looking forwards to getting my license on my return. I also have a little brother I haven't met yet! He was born on the 30th of June. While I do not miss the food at all (maybe Americana a little bit), I do miss the plumbing. My shower is broken again and it has been the fifth consecutive day without a shower in my own bathroom (do not worry, I have showered at the gym). Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how it can be perceived), the Common Application has been released! Now I can eagerly spend my time beginning and hopefully finishing some college essays. I have just started the final book of the complete reading list for English, a book called "House of Leaves". And to truly immerse myself within the culture here, I have bought myself a pair of "jorts" and Birkenstocks. I do not think I can walk twenty feet without spotting one of those two staples of British dressing.
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| This is my gel: the left portion was Carla's PCR (unsuccessful) the right portion is my plasmid digestion (three have the correct band length) |
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| This is my little brother Prodromos (yes, very Greek) |
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