Our TRIP Is Halfway Done by Mia Perez

Hey everyone!! I can’t believe I am halfway through this program; time really does fly. I have learned so much in these first few weeks with handling lab equipment, sorting flies, performing assays, giving a presentation, and getting to know everybody else in the program. As part of my time in TRIP, I conducted a kickoff experiment. My kickoff experiment was seeing the effects of Valerian, a drug used to treat insomnia and anxiety, and constant darkness, known as disrupted circadian rhythms, on the sociability of fruit flies. To test the impact of these stressors, I performed a social space assay, quantifying the distance in centimeters between each of the flies in a chamber. My findings showed that Valerian hurt the flies' sociability, while constant darkness did not have any notable impact. Although when added together, it had the greatest decrease in sociability. Then I took my results, put them in spreadsheets and graphs, and presented my findings. Learning the process of starting with an interesting question and ending with a presentation on an experiment gave me a lot of knowledge about how my independent project presentation will go. 

After my kickoff experiment, I became more interested in circadian rhythms and the human sleep cycle. For my independent project, I wanted to test how having a disrupted circadian rhythm by being in constant light can affect a fruit fly's memory. I found this important since currently, more than 15 million Americans work the night shift, including my mom, which ruins their sleep cycles and can impact their bodies. After our brainstorming session at TRIP with the help of Dr. Austria and Dr. Valdes, I came out with a clearer, helpful vision, where I will be looking at the changes in larval memory by being in constant light and taking Ginkgo Biloba. To study this, I will conduct a larva memory assay in which I train the larva to associate a specific smell with a reward, and after the training period, test to see if they can recall that association. I am so excited for the upcoming weeks to get started!! 

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