I am a new laboratory technician this year getting my feet wet in the Fadool Laboratory. My previous background was in cell culture used for clinical applications in the Pediatrics Department in Gainesville. I am eager to learn new techniques in the laboratory and supervise the daily activities of our research.
I am currently working on two projects in the laboratory this year. We are exploring the behavioral effects and any histological changes in brain structure of mice that have a targeted gene deletion of an ion channel. Voltage-gated channels form highly elective pores that are conformationally switched open or closed by changes in membrane voltage. Since ion channels shape the action potential, the electrical language of the brain, I am exploring how omission of the channel (knock-out mice) affects behavior and brain structure. This channel is expressed most predominantly in the hippocampus, T cells, and the olfactory system. Dr. Fadool’s laboratory has a long-standing interest in chemical communication within the context of ion channel physiology.
I am doing simple behavioral paradigms between knock-out and wild-type mice to access the animal’s crude sense of smell. These experiments involve presenting mice with certain odorants (chemical structures) and allowing them to habituate to the first odor. Then I introduce a slightly different chemical structure (novel, second odor) and ask them to discriminate between the known molecule and this new molecule. The second ongoing project I am involved with is genotyping our various mouse colonies that the laboratory maintains. I do this through tail biopsy, DNA extraction, PCR, and finally agarose gel electrophoresis.
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