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Department: Plant Pathology More Information A Hughes Scholar Guide to Doing Research in the Lazarowitz LabIn order to be able to do research in a Lab a basic knowledge of science is a must. Having taken general science classes is a good start plus classes like biochemistry. It’s hard to say exacting what you should know since a lot can be taught and learned in the lab. A typical day in the lab for me would consist of taking care of my Arabidopsis plants, either planting, transplanting, or harvesting seeds. I also perform a lot of experiments in day running PCRs (polymerase chain reaction), gel electrophoresis, DNA minipreps DNA extractions, and cloning experiments. As I mentioned I study the plant Arabidopsis and will also be working with the geminivirus Cabbage leaf curl. My project goal is to determine if synaptotagmin E protein of Arabidopsis interacts with viral movement proteins of the geminivirus. Also to observe plants with the synaptotagmin E gene mutated to observe whether or not the plants have normal phenotypes. In doing this project I have learned that there is always more to learn. Also, don’t let wont you don’t know get you down let it motivate you to keep learning.As for doing research during the summer as compared to the school year I cannot comment since I have yet to work in a lab during the school year. I imagine that a lot more can be accomplished and learned working over the summer. |