Learning to Fly by Elizabeth Qian

Hello everyone, it’s Lizzy again! TRIP has been a blast so far, and it’s hard to believe that we’re already at our eighth week. I have now started my independent project, in which I am studying whether vitamin D can ameliorate the negative effects of a microbiome altered by antibiotics. Going into TRIP, I knew that I wanted to investigate questions about Covid-19, given how impactful the topic has been on the world. After some research, I learned that there is preliminary data to suggest that an unhealthy microbiome is correlated with cases of “severe” COVID, cases where debilitating symptoms can last for months. In general, altered microbiomes or microbiomes with less diverse gut bacteria are known to cause negative health effects and decrease overall immunity. Additionally, there is research disputing whether vitamin D, which has been promoted as an over the counter supplement, can improve gut health and protect against COVID. 

After learning these things, I decided to research whether vitamin D can improve the health of flies whose microbiomes were altered by antibiotics, which are known to disrupt gut health. To gather data, I am conducting the negative geotaxis assay, which quantifies activity levels, and the microbiome assay, which quantifies the number and type of bacteria in flies’ guts. Higher mobility levels are an indication of better overall health, and specific data about the microbiome will allow me to better understand the effects my drugs are having on gut health. I’m super excited to continue conducting my experiment and to see what surprises my data may yield!

As a shy person, talking to people I’ve never met before is out of my comfort zone. I was initially nervous about meeting new people at TRIP. Now, I look forward to each session and working with all the friends I’ve made at TRIP as well as the instructors.

TRIP has taught me so much, both about myself and research. In just a few short weeks, I’ve learned skills such as sorting flies and making solutions. I’ve also learned that I enjoy research and biology, would like to improve upon my public speaking skills, and can never pour water out of a beaker accurately (I’ve accidentally overpowered my water so many times, I had to remake my solution twice on the first day). Like learning to fly, in research you make mistakes. Again and again, you fall out of the sky, but each time you take off again, you know a little more, and fly a little further.