The research project has been great! I am improving my laboratory skills each day as I continue to go through the steps (which I discussed in my last post) necessary to send the DNA samples for sequencing. By the end of next week, I hope to be ready to send all of the samples out for sequencing and will hopefully find some sort of variation in these geneitic sequences. If there is variation, I can then determine if that variation is associated with coat color, and if there is no variation, I get to find a new set of primers for a different region of the gene and do the process again.
On Tuesday, besides working in the laboratory for about five hours, I spent about three hours in various meetings, learning new concepts and seeing the various research occuring in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. The lab meeting was very productive, as each week a different member of the lab gives a presentation about his/her current project and research. I had the opportunity to learn more about the coat color project I am working on. The room was filled with vibrant discussion, and the lab meeting even ended in a birthday celebration! Following this meeting, the four individuals, including myself, who are studying coat color in the laboratory had a short meeting to discuss our project and become acquainted, as a college sophmore just joined the lab about two weeks ago. I then heard presentations concerning research projects being conducted by first-year graduate students, and ended my day with more active experimentation. For the rest of the week, I continued experimentation and found and began reviewing articles pertaining to the research.
Each day at the laboratory is a new adventure and I cannot wait until I get actual DNA sequences to analyze!
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