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Regular updates from students in TRIP

Nitrate: Friend or Foe? by Sameeksha Panda

4/22/2022

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Greetings once again! It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so you might not have heard the big news: it’s officially time to start our independent research projects! Now would be the time in movies where you spray water everywhere from that glass you’re drinking. But, wait just one moment. Do you know exactly what’s in that water? You might, but many don’t.
In countries like India, where I was born and I grew up, many people drink “contaminated water”, meaning water that has things in it that CAN be dangerous for your health, such as nitrate. It’s caused millions of deaths and diseases so far, and the worst of it is that the people who drink this water don’t even realize how dangerous it can be.
So the question arises: is nitrate (especially in water) good or bad for you?
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Now, you may be convinced: nitrate is no good. But wait, here’s where it gets complicated. Some nitrate isn’t bad for you. In fact, in your gut microbiome, nitrate very much exists and even helps you with your overall health. So the question arises: is nitrate (especially in water) good or bad for you?

Obviously, my curious mind had to step in. Using nitrate as my “contaminant”, I decided that I would investigate just how of an effect nitrate (or in the lab, sodium nitrate) had on the diversity of the fruit fly’s gut microbiome. More diversity, better health, and vice versa.
The experiment seemed straightforward, but it quickly became daunting once I realized all the parts to it, from setting up the vials to doing the actual assay. Thankfully, both these past few weeks of experience and the amazing TAs and instructors (and of course my talented peers), I’ve gotten off to a pretty successful start to my project. I feel confident that with their support, I’ll soon have real data from my very first lab research project to display.
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Having the chance to perform the research that I’ve put so much effort into gathering in such an amazing setting as TRIP is a first for me, but I’m grateful for the opportunity. I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me, and I hope you’ll be back the next time I share my adventures! Bye for now!
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Wrapping Up My Time At TRIP by Ella Mansino

4/22/2022

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     As the end of my time at TRIP quickly approaches, I cannot say how beneficial this program has been for me in so many ways. To begin, when I entered TRIP I knew no one, and I am now able to graduate with a new group of friends that I would have never otherwise met. We all traveled from different schools and had many different interests, but our time in the lab together allowed us all to become so close. Whether we helped each other transfer flies, took goofy pictures, or just talked together while performing our assays, we all became accustomed to our time spent with one another and I truly enjoyed it. Not only my fellow classmates, but our teaching assistants Matt and Nadija became our friends as well. They were always there to answer any questions I had about the lab and were all of the group's questions about what it was like preparing for college. Dr. Leystra and Dr. Purdy were also so incredibly helpful every step of the way. Both were always eager and excited to help walk through all of our independent projects and make us feel so comfortable from the start. In the beginning I did not expect to have met so many new friends and to be so comfortable with a group that was at one point strangers- and I am truly grateful for the people TRIP has allowed me to meet.

 TRIP has also presented me with more confidence in myself. In the beginning, I was very nervous because I had no lab experience and was worried I would be behind, but that was not the case. Even when I did have questions, there was always someone there to guide me. TRIP presented me with so many aspects of science that I had not before explored and therefore allowed me to learn so many new things. I became more confident with the tools in the lab, sorting flies, performing my assays, and asking for help. I was even able to become more confident in my presentation skills as Dr. Leystra and Dr. Purdy were the first people to show me the importance of telling the story of my presentation in a way that can be understood and still exciting. 
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Lastly, I genuinely enjoyed being able to put a research question I had to the test and observe the results. My 21 year old brother has had Crohn’s Disease for years accompanied by a recent habit of vaping. Only a few months ago his doctor pleaded with him to quit vaping as it could be detrimental to his health due to his condition- so that led me to ask, does vape juice have an effect on intestinal health? Although my results were not as compelling as I expected, I loved the routine of performing my assay and looking under the microscope of Saturdays and seeing results. Overall, I learned so much in the weeks I spent with TRIP, met so many new friends, gained confidence in my own capabilities, and furthered my interests in STEM. 

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Blog 2 by Kevin Lobo

4/13/2022

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Hello! It’s been a while since I last checked in. Over these past few weeks, I can confidently say that I have learned a lot, from our introductory experiments up to our first day of independent project setup. For my introductory experiment, I was assigned to run the centrophobism assay to measure the effects of St. John’s Wort and constant darkness on anxiety by measuring the number of times a fly crossed the center of an agar plate. Prior to even running this assay, it became apparent that sorting flies was my weakness. It took me almost an hour to get enough flies in each of the four vials! At least there was room for improvement. The next week, I ran the centrophobism assay and collected data. I first tried to measure the distance between the flies and the center of each plate, but I then realized it would be way more convenient to measure the number of times they crossed the center. You would think that St. John’s Wort or constant darkness would have SOME effect on the flies behavior, right? Well, my flies were being obnoxious, as they all just chilled around the edges of their plates. My entire data table just consisted of zeroes. But I took away some valuable skills from running this assay, and I learned a lot about other assays when we each presented our own. It’s more about the TRIP, not the destination!
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Now, it was time to come up with our independent projects. I won’t lie, it took me a lot of brainstorming to come up with an idea to test. After refactoring my experimental plan a countless number of times, I settled on: What are the effects of Nicotine and Ginseng on sociability?
Nicotine addiction is still a prominent issue with kids my age, especially given the rise of vape products. If you have ever used high school bathrooms, you know what I’m talking about. Anyways, I want to know more about its effects on mental health, notably sociability, and see if natural products like ginseng can help counteract such effects. Ginseng is known to have positive effects on brain function and overall mood, while nicotine is known to carry the opposite effect. I am interested to see if the corresponding positive and negative effects carry on when measuring sociability, a prominent characteristic to measure during teenage years.
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To quantify something as broad as sociability, I will be measuring distances between flies in a control chamber over the next few weeks. I have already set up four experimental vials this past week with the right dilutions of nicotine and ginseng in each of them. I had to use multiple stocks to dilute the concentration of these substances, and the math to calculate the stocks was tedious, to say the least. Because of my experience sorting flies, though, it only took me around thirty minutes to sort and get them in the vials this time! I am excited to see how the flies are doing next session! Hopefully I get better data than from the first experiment…
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Head trauma, Painkillers, and Memory. Oh my! by Sanjana Balaji

4/10/2022

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Wow the weeks have flown by! We are now approaching week 7 of TRIP and we have begun our independent projects. I’ve found myself eagerly awaiting Saturday afternoons because of how amazing the TRIP family is! It is so much fun to work, learn, and joke around with my peers, the TAs, and Dr. Leystra and Dr. Purdy. Before starting our independent projects, we first worked on introductory experiments in order to familiarize ourselves with the flies, the assays, and the little hassles of the lab (aka releasing flies by accident, contaminating pipettes, and not labeling everything and getting utterly confused). My intro experiment was how valerian, a drug that reduces anxiety and helps with insomnia, coupled with head trauma affects the anxiety levels of flies. I learned how to sort flies on ice and carbon dioxide, how to give head trauma to flies (this was very interesting), and how to perform the centrophobism assay in order to quantify anxiety. I presented my findings to everyone, and while this was nerve-wracking, the support and feedback from the instructors and my peers made this a fruitful experience and taught me a lot on how to deliver information effectively. 
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After this experiment, it was now time to brainstorm ideas for our independent project. While I was overwhelmed with the endless possibilities, I knew that I wanted to test something to do with behavior and effects of a drug or stressor on cognitive functioning skills. The effect of ibuprofen and Tylenol on memory piqued my interest. I’ve been getting migraines since I was 8 and I take ibuprofen to combat the pain. I scoured the internet to figure out how ibuprofen works and if it had any effect on the mind, and surprisingly, I found that those who took NSAIDS (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen, had nearly the same increased dementia risk as those taking opioids. However, I also found that scientists have found that a daily regimen ibuprofen can prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease. These studies directly opposed each other and I found that a lot of other claims were simply correlation rather than true cause and effect. This inspired the question: How does taking a steady dose of ibuprofen and other common painkillers affect the memory and learning of a developing brain? 
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​After forming my question, it was now time to plan out my project! Basically, I am going to expose my flies to ibuprofen, Tylenol, and a mix of both drugs, and perform the larval memory assay to quantify their learning and memory capabilities. The larval memory assay tests how many larvae associate a certain smell to a sugar reward after being exposed to 2 different scents- one that rewards them with sugar and one that does not. The more larvae correctly identify the correct scent, the better their memory is. I am hopeful that my assay yields a positive connection between NSAIDS and memory, and I am also really excited to see if painkillers suppress or increase memory!
I set up my first round of flies this week and I will be performing the larval memory assay for the first time next week. I will keep you updated with the results!
How does taking a steady dose of ibuprofen and other common painkillers affect the memory and learning of a developing brain? 
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My First Few Weeks at TRIP by Ella Masino

4/2/2022

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Hello, Ella Masino here and I am excited to share with you my experiences within the first few weeks of TRIP. Although I was definitely nervous when the program began, the environment at TRIP has become so educational while still remaining exciting. During my introductory experiment I examined the effect of inflammation on fruit fly mobility using a Negative Geotaxis Assay. I had no idea where to start, but I was given step-by-step instructions and was free to ask any questions I had. I was given the opportunity to learn about topics I had no idea existed. I was fascinated by the immense similarities between fruit flies and humans and was eager to view my results. In my experiment I used detergent as the stressor and Vitamin D3 as my drug. I not only learned more about model organisms and how to effectively perform an assay, I was also able to gain confidence in my work and presenting in front of others. TRIP has also allowed me to meet new people who I would have never otherwise met while forming friendships and problem solving together. 
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After presenting my initial introductory experiment, I knew exactly what I wanted to test for my independent project: the effects of electronic cigarette juice on intestinal inflammation. My older brother was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease around five years ago and recently has become inseparable from his vape but his doctor recently begged him to quit vaping as the effects would be detrimental to his already fragile health. I was interested to see if I could observe the effects of vaping on intestinal inflammation using our fruit flies; therefore, I decided to ask Dr. Leystra and Dr. Purdy for some advice. As always, they were eager to help and we were able to figure out a way to test my question in the lab. Using a “Smurf Assay,” I will be able to examine the stability of the flies’ intestines by their color. I will feed the flies different vape-juices and expose them to a chemical commonly known as DSS which is known to mock Ulcerative Colitis. I will then place my flies in vials with a dye called “brilliant blue” mixed into their food. This very powerful (and messy) dye will be absorbed into their bodies when they eat normally. Depending on the health of their intestines, the dye will either “leak” through the intestines - causing the fly to have a deep blue color throughout, or the intestine lining will stay intact and the fruit fly can be classified as healthy. Overall, I am very excited to see my results and truly never thought I would be able to do something like this on my own, but with a little help from everyone it became possible so quickly. 
I knew exactly what I wanted to test for my independent project: the effects of electronic cigarette juice on intestinal inflammation. 
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