Preparing gel electrophoresis to verify the purity of isolated RNA samples
Author: Ryan Harpenau Major: Biology
As a member of the honors college at the University of Arkansas, I have been presented with multiple opportunities to explore various areas of my personal interests. As someone who loves science and enjoys constantly learning new things, joining a research lab was a great way for me to fulfill both of these interests. My name is Ryan Harpenau and I work as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Jeannine Durdik’s immunology lab in the biological sciences department. I am a senior and will graduate in May of 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in medical humanities.
The purpose of my project is to determine the influence of fever, normal, and sub-physiological temperatures on the expression of cytokines from chicken macrophages. Cytokines are signaling proteins that communicate to specific cells to make inflammation occur, meaning that these proteins are an essential part of immunity. With the COVID-19 pandemic, research on these molecules has become even more important due to a “cytokine storm” that often occurs in patients with severe cases of the disease. By understanding more about these molecules such as when they are released and how large their expression is, the immune system can be better understood and more treatment options can become available for various diseases.
I joined Dr. Durdik’s lab in the summer of 2019 and will continue to conduct research until I graduate. I met Dr. Durdik through a student that was in her lab before me, Harrison Woods, and he introduced us. From there, I started going to the lab with him and learned many of the procedures used in the lab including how to maintain a cell culture, how to run gel electrophoresis and how to run a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Dr. Durdik, Harrison, and the doctorate candidate, Intisar Hassan, all assisted in my training and have allowed me to grow as a researcher and as a critical thinker.
There were definitely challenges for me when I first joined this lab. The biggest challenge was learning all of the terminology and procedures as I had never had an immunology course prior to joining the lab. However, Dr. Durdik was extremely patient with me and understood that it would take me a few months to really understand what was going on in my experiments. Another challenge came when the pandemic hit as the labs remained closed for months and my project was put on hold. However, our lab group met virtually once a week during this time and reviewed research articles pertaining to our research so that we could better understand why we started this research in the first place. Luckily, I was able to go back by the end of the summer and proceed with my research project.
The experience of being in a research lab and having the freedom to conduct experiments on my own has been extremely beneficial for me in terms of preparing me for the future. I plan on attending medical school and becoming a physician in the future, and this lab has given me skills that I will continue to use throughout my education and career. These skills include how to effectively collaborate with a team, what steps to take to prevent contamination in the lab, and how to properly analyze raw data so that it can be presentable to colleagues. I am grateful for the opportunity to be in this lab and look forward to completing my research next semester.