Hughes Mentor:  Daniel Barbash

Department: Molecular Biology and Genetics

More Information

A Day in the Life of an Undergraduate in the Lab

Research is a continuous process of perusing knowledge. Every researcher uses different methods to find the answers to the questions that they are asking. After getting the answer, they find other questions and then continue their answering process. The process could be frustrating but exciting because you learn from previous mistakes and then improve. I would suggest all Cornell biology undergraduate participate in research. It is a good starting point to look into the fascinating world of science.

I started my undergraduate research in junior year. At that time, I didn’t have any research experience and had no idea what research was. I tried to contact a list of professors in biology department who had research positions available for undergraduates. Most of the professors denied my request because of my lack of experience. Prof. Barbash was the only one willing to give me a chance to join his research team.

Our lab is relatively new in Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. There are total 12 people in the lab, including 4 undergraduate, 2 PhD students and other post-doc. We focus on molecular evolution of Drosophila. We are investigating how genes and proteins interactions regulate hybrid incapability among different species of Drosophila.

My project focuses in one gene called Hybrid male rescue (Hmr). I carried out a genome screening to look for other genes that may interact with Hmr. In the first two semester of research, I spent around 10 hours a week in the lab. Because of busy schoolwork during school year, I couldn’t spend a lot of time in my research project.

This summer I was accepted to be a Hughes scholar and be a full time researcher. I can spend more time in my project and attend my lab meeting every week. Our lab has a journal club and a regular lab meeting every week. Every one in the lab will take turn to present their project in the regular lab meeting and present a research paper in Journal club. By doing presentation, we can critically evaluate other people work. I have many opportunities to present my work in front of my lab. I can discuss my project with other graduate students and post-doc in my lab. My presentation skill is getting better and be more confident to talk about my project in front of other people.

Apart from the regular lab meeting, I have to perform many techniques to analyze my data. In one of my projects, I use transposable element to mutagenize a gene. After that, I use PCR, polymerase chain reactions, to check my products. I need to design what primer sets I use to amplify my interested region. Then I use electrophoresis to see if I can get the correct size of my PCR products. It usually takes 4 or 5 hours to finish the whole process and get the result. Sometimes, I couldn’t get the expected results (that usually happen), I would need to seek help form the graduate students.

Researchers usually spend most of the time reading papers and thinking about their experiment and data. Usually they will work alone so, they should be able to solve the problems independently. Critical thinking and presentation skill are also important.

A Day in the Life of as Undergrad in the Barbash Lab

First of all, I would like to say that every student majoring in a science should participate in some form of research during their undergraduate years. Even if you don’t want to do research as a career in the future, you should give it a try. I say this because research is one of the best teachers of science. Discussing and designing experiments requires the full understanding of a subject, which you can’t always get from a classroom. Another thing that research can do for a person is to help you find what you are really interested in studying. Some students may start out in biology and when they start doing research, they realize that they are actually more interested in psychology or something. Often students find themselves completely turned off to some areas of science, and completely intrigued by others. Research is a huge network of scientists that have found something that they love and they become an expert at it, and are able to educate the people around them. It’s a world of discovering the unknown, and it will continue to branch out, you are sure to find something that you like to work with. I am pseudo-new to this research thing, but I am learning what I like, and what I don’t like.

I am working in Dr. Dan Barbash’s lab right now. The lab is fairly new to Cornell, and it is growing fast. Just a short time ago, there were only two graduate students working in this lab; now there is one post-doc, five grad students, and four undergrads. The main goal of the lab is to understand the mechanisms of speciation in the evolution of organisms. We look at the mechanisms of speciation in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster and a few of its sister species including D. simulans. There is a bit of flexibility in the different ways the people in lab are going about it; however the main goal is the same. In order to understand what is going on, it is crucial to have taken some genetics, there is no way around it! It is in everything we do. Also, it would be helpful to have taken evolution- in order to get the big picture; but it’s not that important when you are beginning. In most Drosophila labs, there are basically two sections of the lab: molecular genetics- where we work at the DNA level, and population genetics- where we work with the actual flies.

I am currently working on the molecular side, under the supervision of one of the grad students. To be honest, at first I wasn’t very excited to be working strictly in this section because I was used to working with the flies in my lab back home. I quickly realized that this is the kind of stuff that every researcher should have a good understanding of, and I was really glad to be learning it! So pay attention in genetics when you learn about gene expression- in eukaryotes AND prokaryotes, the different types of PCR, any thing that has the word “blot” in the title, and basically everything your teacher says. Don’t worry though, there is usually something that you forget, or never really understood in genetics, and it’s really okay if you don’t know at first. All of the grad students, as well as Dan, are almost always willing to help us undergrads. They know a lot about the different techniques, and can walk you through it for your first couple of times. Some common techniques that everyone uses are: cloning DNA, mini-prepping DNA, restriction digests, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and western/southern blotting. My project is a yeast two hybrid screen- that is pretty common, but the grad student I work with is the only other person in lab who uses it.

The other part of the lab is actually working with the flies. Here, it is really important to understand basic Mendelian genetics really well, and if you don’t, then you definitely will after working in this lab for a while! A lot of what we do consists of looking at tons of flies under a microscope. It may sound gross to some people at first, but you get used to it, and it is pretty cool. There are many different strains of flies that have various mutations- depending on what protein/ gene you are studying; you make crosses of males from one strain and females from another. Then you screen the progeny for a change in their phenotype. The flies take about ten days to grow into adults, and if you make many crosses, it can be tricky to keep up with all of them! In some cases you might be able to do some kind of dissections, which is always really cool. When someone has been working in the lab for a while, like the grad students, their work carries over to both sections of the lab.

As an undergrad, you are not expected to know everything and most lab members generally accept that. It is mostly a learning process for us, while for the older lab members, it is their job and they are on their way to becoming experts just like their PI. Also, during the school year they understand that we are trying to work in lab around our school schedules. When you work in a lab, it’s a nice place to come between classes and study or work on your project. The more time you spend in your lab, the better you get to know your lab mates, and the sometimes they are more willing to help you then. It is also important to be respectful of the grad students in your lab. Usually they take their research pretty serious and spend long hours in the lab. Lastly, don’t forget that your mentor is a great resource for information; they are the experts, after all! Make sure to schedule time with them, however, because they can be really tight on time.

Overall, there is little I can tell you that you won’t learn on your own. The Barbash lab is a great choice for someone interested in evolution and genetics. Research in general is really awesome, whichever area you choose, and there are many, upon many, areas to choose from!

Interview with Dr. Barbash

Dr. Daniel Barbash is an associate professor in the department of Molecular Biology and Genetics here at Cornell University. He received his undergraduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed his graduate studies at the University of California, Berkley.

Dr. Barbash works with different species Drosophila. The reason he decided to come to Cornell in 2004 was because the MB&G department at this university has many labs that work on different aspects of Drosophila, creating a productive research environment where he would be able to discuss his work with others.

The Barbash lab studies speciation in different species of Drosophila by taking a closer look at the reduced fitness of hybrids. Their primary focus is on Drosophila melanogasterr as it is the Drosophila species most widely used in molecular studies. There are three sister species of Drosophila melanogaster that can be induced to mate with Drosophila melanogaster in a laboratory setting. However, the hybrids that result are less fit than the parental species. This is a phenomenon seen frequently in other species as well, and hybrids are often sterile, lethal, have morphological problems, or are more susceptibility to diseases.

Dr. Barbash initially got interested in this topic as a graduate student when he was studying the developmental and genetic aspects of sex determination in Drosophila. He came across several papers related to hybrid incompatibility phenotypes, particularly hybrid rescue mutations. These mutations are single gene mutations that seem to override any incompatibilities between species. He found this occurrence interesting because he—like everyone else studying biology—was accustomed to thinking that as species change, they accumulate a lot of mutations. So how could it be that a single gene mutation overrides all that? This seemed like a very interesting genetic puzzle. Pieces of this puzzle had been put together many years ago by lot of very smart Drosophila geneticists. They had done some interesting genetic experiments but no one had followed up with molecular experiments. Dr. Barbash saw the open opportunity and seized the chance.

The genes the Barbash lab works with are specific to Drosophila but there are some applications to this research. First of all, it is a general model for understanding evolution. It would add to our understanding of where the human species came from and how we fit into the natural world. Another application of this research has to do with the evolution rate of the genes that cause the incompatibilities between different Drosophila species. It was found that these genes have high rates of evolution. While it is true that species as different as humans and yeast have parts of their genomes that are very highly conserved, there are also genes that are unique to a specific species. To really understand what makes an organism unique, it would be useful to understand the aspects of the genome that are unique to that species as a result of high divergence rate. So the incompatibility genes can serve as a model for understanding what makes humans unique and why we are susceptible to certain diseases that our close relatives such as primates are not. It may not be a direct relationship because the incompatibility genes are not found in humans but it is nonetheless a way of understanding and thinking about those aspects of the human genome.

Undergraduates are an important part of the Barbash lab. One usually finds around 3-4 undergrads in the lab. They may be assisting with ongoing experiments or trying new experiments altogether, which may even result in them develop something new for the lab. In order to be a part of the Barbash lab as an undergrad, interest in genetics is the most important. Dr. Barbash looks for genuine interest, commitment, and responsibility, as doing experimental work requires a lot of organization self-motivation. He admits that it is not easy to assess these qualities by talking with a student in the office. If he feels that a student has the qualities he is looking for, he gives them a chance to try doing research. During this “trial” period, if the student finds that he/she does not like what he/she is doing or it seems like he/she is not reliable and committed, the student does not continue working in the lab.

When he is not in the Biotech building, Dr. Barbash can be found hiking around Ithaca, touring wineries around Cayuga Lake, or gardening at his home with his wife. He admits he does not have the time to read as much as he would like, although it is a pastime he enjoys.