A team of researchers led by Michael H. Antoni, director of the Center for Psycho-Oncology Research at the University of Miami (UM) has shown that a stress management program tailored to women with breast cancer can alter tumor-promoting processes at the molecular level
“For the women in the…
(Source: medicalxpress.com)
After a long break, my Wake Forest grad student finally got his part of the second article on EE Just done!!! I’m so excited!! I got that email after class today and hopefully the marine science journal accepts this article on its first submission. If not, we have to come up with revisions and that’s pretty hard for me: I’m more hands on so I would want to go over the paper with him in person instead of 4 hours away. Let’s pray this process goes smoothly like the last one!!!
Throughout my college career, something my mother told me when I started middle school popped into my head: “you show me your friends, I’ll show you your future.” Well, I have surrounded myself around some girls that are going to be successful at whatever they do. We have had our ups and downs, but we’re still pretty close. As most of you know I’m a biology major, so of course I hang around science majors!. These people are really hard to come by and I am sooooo proud of them. Now back to business, these past four years made me grow up, learn important life lessons, and take advantage of some great opportunities. I would not trade it for the world. Ogre Phi Ogre 14 is a class that is destined for greatness: we are some fun nerds lol. I only have one more semester until I’m a college graduate…..wowzers. These 4 years went by really quick, seems like just yesterday when my entire family moved me into Twitchell Hall in 2008. Yup, all 8 of them and my dog came with me: we roll deep. Kick’n Debt, #BDC, Taryn, Natarrah, Alexis; I love you all dearly!!!!! Long story short, this Hampton Experience has been nothing short of great and I am excited for graduation. May 13, 2012, we are in there like swimwear.
Side note: if you know my family, you can only imagine how many people are coming to this graduation lol
it’s been a while since i have posted anything regarding my research/publications with my UNC/Wake Forest advisors and grad students. so i signed the copyright papers for my bedbugs paper this summer so hopefully by january i can post the link for those who would like to read about those critters. with the EE Just paper, i’m waiting for my Wake Forest grad student to email me the rough draft so i can edit my section. with this paper, i divided it up into sections so my grad student and i had equal parts. i wrote about the scientific aspect of Just’s life and he took the rest lol. writing papers for publication is pretty cool and it’s fun since i’m writing about topics that spark my interest.
i recently had a conversation with my UNC advisor regarding my future and guess what? it’s about that time for me to begin the application process for post-baccalaureate programs!!! lucky for me, they’re not due until the end of february/early march so i have plenty of time to get my thoughts together. also, my grad students and advisors want to read my personal statement which is great! i’m applying to 3 programs thus far but knowing me, that 3 is going to change to like 7. smh, but i need to get in somewhere so i might as well crank out these applications ASAP!!
senior year is going great but i just wanna snatch my degree and chuck the deuces to hampton: i am so over this year but i’m not slacking off at all. can’t drop the ball my last year at hu.
one of the many reasons why i want my PhD in biomedical engineering or mechanical engineering when i start my MD/PhD program. there has to be better solutions to this problem and i’m determined to find at least two of them.
(via enactly)
my paper on bedbugs is almost published in LabMed, a science journal. i’m sooooo excited to read it but at the same time i’m like whatever….that thing is mad long lol. but right now i’m still doing this EE Just paper with my other grad student down at Wake so that should be coming together and in the publishing process pretty soon.
on monday, i’m gonna start the application process to some post-bac/masters programs since i’m taking that year off between undergrad and medical school. i’m sooooo excited that this is my senior year!!! i’m gonna apply to schools that are in Chicago, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and California. this is it people; wherever i go to my post-bac is prayerfully the area i’m gonna start my adult life…..good grief i’m getting old!!! but yeah, these are all the states i could see myself living in and they all have excellent schools.
DNA microarrays are created by robotic machines that arrange minuscule amounts of hundreds or thousands of gene sequences on a single microscope slide. Researchers have a database of over 40,000 gene sequences that they can use for this purpose. When a gene is activated, cellular machinery begins to copy certain segments of that gene. The resulting product is known as messenger RNA (mRNA), which is the body’s template for creating proteins. The mRNA produced by the cell is complementary, and therefore will bind to the original portion of the DNA strand from which it was copied.
To determine which genes are turned on and which are turned off in a given cell, a researcher must first collect the messenger RNA molecules present in that cell. The researcher then labels each mRNA molecule by using a reverse transcriptase enzyme (RT) that generates a complementary cDNA to the mRNA. During that process fluorescent nucleotides are attached to the cDNA. The tumor and the normal samples are labeled with different fluorescent dyes. Next, the researcher places the labeled cDNAs onto a DNA microarray slide. The labeled cDNAs that represent mRNAs in the cell will then hybridize – or bind – to their synthetic complementary DNAs attached on the microarray slide, leaving its fluorescent tag. A researcher must then use a special scanner to measure the fluorescent intensity for each spot/areas on the microarray slide.
If a particular gene is very active, it produces many molecules of messenger RNA, thus, more labeled cDNAs, which hybridize to the DNA on the microarray slide and generate a very bright fluorescent area. Genes that are somewhat less active produce fewer mRNAs, thus, less labeled cDNAs, which results in dimmer fluorescent spots. If there is no fluorescence, none of the messenger molecules have hybridized to the DNA, indicating that the gene is inactive. Researchers frequently use this technique to examine the activity of various genes at different times. When co-hybridizing Tumor samples (Red Dye) and Normal sample (Green dye) together, they will compete for the synthetic complementary DNAs on the microarray slide. As a result, if the spot is red, this means that that specific gene is more expressed in tumor than in normal (up-regulated in cancer). If a spot is Green, that means that that gene is more expressed in the Normal tissue (Down regulated in cancer). If a spot is yellow that means that that specific gene is equally expressed in normal and tumor.
![sciencenote:
Transfer RNA (tRNA) is an adaptor molecule composed of RNA, typically 73 to 93 nucleotides in length, that is used in biology to bridge the three-letter genetic code in messenger RNA (mRNA) with the twenty-letter code of amino acids in proteins.[1] The role of tRNA as an adaptor is best understood by considering its three-dimensional structure. One end of the tRNA carries the genetic code in a three-nucleotide sequence called the anticodon. The anticodon forms three base pairs with a codon in mRNA during protein biosynthesis. The mRNA encodes a protein as a series of contiguous codons, each of which is recognized by a particular tRNA. On the other end of itsthree-dimensional structure, each tRNA is covalently attached to the amino acid that corresponds to the anticodon sequence. This covalent attachment to the tRNA 3’ end is catalyzed by enzymes called aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Each type of tRNA molecule can be attached to only one type of amino acid, but because the genetic code contains multiple codons that specify the same amino acid, tRNA molecules bearing different anticodons may also carry the same amino acid.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lp39hyyjYP1qa77t4o1_250.png)
Transfer RNA (tRNA) is an adaptor molecule composed of RNA, typically 73 to 93 nucleotides in length, that is used in biology to bridge the three-letter genetic code in messenger RNA (mRNA) with the twenty-letter code of amino acids in proteins.[1] The role of tRNA as an adaptor is best understood by considering its three-dimensional structure. One end of the tRNA carries the genetic code in a three-nucleotide sequence called the anticodon. The anticodon forms three base pairs with a codon in mRNA during protein biosynthesis. The mRNA encodes a protein as a series of contiguous codons, each of which is recognized by a particular tRNA. On the other end of itsthree-dimensional structure, each tRNA is covalently attached to the amino acid that corresponds to the anticodon sequence. This covalent attachment to the tRNA 3’ end is catalyzed by enzymes called aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Each type of tRNA molecule can be attached to only one type of amino acid, but because the genetic code contains multiple codons that specify the same amino acid, tRNA molecules bearing different anticodons may also carry the same amino acid.
