I made it to Oak Crest at 2:00 pm and stood gawking at the bizarre BSA readings until my mentor ambled into sight. He ushered my fellow unpaid intern and me into the conference room along with the CEO of Oak Crest and three paid researchers. Thus began an hour long chat about "what's cooking." In the end, I found myself officially involved in that very cool extremophiles project, a continuation of one carried out last year. Thanks to this development, my topic is definitely microbiology and I know my EQ will most likely have something to do with extremophiles. Being part of this project means I will have to brush up on some bacteria and archaea basics and read the paper written on the novel methods used by Oak Crest last year. That's all I can say about the project for now - don't want to spoil it for the world.
As far as research goes, I'm currently reading a review from the Journal of Extremophiles that details DNA transfer among hyperthermophilic (super heat (>80ºC) loving) bacteria and archaea. DNA is exchanged across species and domains and enables these microbes to evolve according to their extreme environments. One important find was the presence of a gene coding for reverse gyrase - an enzyme that prevents DNA degradation due to high temperatures - and is now, thanks to ages of DNA transfer, a commonality among all hyperthermophiles.
Last thing:
Amid shining equipment and receptacles of volatile fluids (including
liquid nitrogen), a single flower sits softly under a sky light... :')
No comments:
Post a Comment