Elizabeth’s BioBlog

It is great to be in the learning process where everything is new to me. With the help of my mentor I have been learning how to perform basic, project-specific, and advanced skills in the laboratory. Some specific skills have been the dissecting of Drosophila embryos. During the past months I have been improving my dexterity at using extremely thin needles to perform nearly nanoscale dissections. I have been able to develop a fantastic stability in my hands and also how to manage the applied pressure to avoid squishing the fragile embryos. It has been a fun experiencing but incredibly hard to learn.

I have also been learning how to do embryo fixations and antibody staining to be able to visualize the state of the embryo at specific development stages. In addition, I have gone with my mentor to work with the Confocal Microscope at the Microscopy Center at RUM. The picture at the left was taken with this microscope last Friday. To see more pictures please go to the pictures section. The importance of learning these techniques is to be able to see and understand what is happening with the axons and the muscles during the stages of embryogenesis. Once I am able to master them it will be easier to proceed with more advanced steps in the research.

It has been very interesting to visit blogs written by other BioMinds partners. It is an opportunity to see what other things are being done by undergrad students in Puerto Rico and to see how determined they all are to succeed. Some of the blogs I visited were dealing with microbial ecology at Humacao, microbes in cow udders in Mayaguez, and crystallization of lysozymes also at RUM. We are all working with different things, but with the same goal in mind: To advance the field of science and human knowledge of the world around us.