The Beginning Is Coming to An End by Rebecca Thomas

       As the initial project design phase of my TRIP experience comes to an end, it's shocking to think of everything I have learned in just a few very VERY early Saturday morning classes. Over the last 4 weeks, I have learned so much about working in a lab environment and how to communicate my ideas to others. ​

   We have been able to do everything from pipetting to making comics and even to performing our very first assays! Being in this environment that targets my curiosity has forced me to explore my ideas and think about what I want to learn more about, which leads me to my independent project idea...

     After countless days of wondering, researching, and being consumed by thoughts of fruit flies, I have finally come up with an idea for my independent research project. I will be researching how eating at different times or for different amounts of time affects overall health and the gut microbiome. New diets appear every so often, but there has been a recent trend of time-restricted diets, in which a person is only able to eat for 8 hours each day. The remaining 15 hours are to be a fasting period. Another popular diet has been eating small portions 6 times a day, rather than normal-sized portions 3 times a day. Many people are beginning to utilize these diets in order to lose weight, but I want to discover if they have actually have any additional benefits, apart from weight loss. ​