AMY WINKLER/Arizona Daily Wildcat Pre-physiol sciences senior Chandan Kundavaram explains his research project to molecular and cellular biology junior Antony Hazel Saturday morning in the Life Sciences south building. More than 100 students took part in the 13th annual Undergraduate Biology Research Program.

Moth brains and rat dreams keep UA students at work

More than 100 students arrived early Saturday morning at the Life Sciences South building with their arms full of posters, pushpins and tape.

The students, who were involved in the 13th annual Undergraduate Biology Research Program, soon had every wall covered with scientific abstracts, data tables and research papers. The topics were as varied as the scientists themselves, covering all areas of biology from protein analysis to genetics to human behavior.

Nanibaa A. Garrison, a molecular and cellular biology senior, worked on a project that aimed to find a genetic cause for a form of human albinism, a condition that causes people's skin and hair to be very pale.

People who suffer from albinism often have other medical problems such as bleeding disorders and poor eyesight.

Garrison analyzed DNA samples of subjects to determine if the symptoms were linked.

Her studies brought her to an American Indian tribe that has a particularly high occurrence of albinism, where she interviewed people and collected data samples.

She plans to purify the DNA from these subjects and determine which type of albinism is most prevalent.

Like Garrison, University Medical Center researcher Murray Brilliant works in the lab as a mentor to undergraduates.

"My job is to give students the skills and knowledge (to participate in the research), but the sky's the limit for students who are motivated," he said.

Molecular and cellular biology senior Daniel Doty designed a proposal to determine which part of a giant sphinx moth's brain is activated or suppressed by certain scents.

Using molecules from tobacco and tomatoes, Doty sent out puffs of odor and then photographed the moths' brains using a special microscope.

"Information is encoded inside these specialized neural modules, called glomeruli, sort of like microchips in a computer," Doty explained.

He then analyzed the images to determine which part of the moth's brain was activated by the molecules. The data he extracts could potentially reveal which environmental factors "act as cues for certain behaviors," he said.

Doty, who was responsible for setting up the experiments, making recordings and helping analyze data, spent long hours in the lab.

"I'm motivated because this project is mine, and it's satisfying when something you've been working on is effective," he said.

Some students in the UBRP program were given the opportunity to work abroad, via contacts from their mentors at the University of Arizona.

Molecular and cellular biology senior Paul J. Hoover used that opportunity to spend a summer researching in Peru, where he studied the parasite giardia duodenalis in a shantytown outside Lima.

While working in Peru, Hoover was responsible for extracting DNA from human and dog feces samples, amplifying the data in the lab as well as interviewing potential subjects and explaining the study to them.

Working as the only undergraduate in the lab "was extremely difficult," Hoover said.

But the importance of Hoover's work was not overlooked, said Charles S. Sterling, one of his mentors on the project.

"In studying the disease, we can educate the population in ways to prevent it," Sterling said.

Ecology and evolutionary biology junior Erin R. Lindstedt's work kept her in this country, working with sleeping rats. Her study measured the brain activity of rats while awake and while asleep, to see if reactivation occurred.

Reactivation, Lindstedt explained, is "when the same pattern of cells are firing in the brain." By analyzing the rat data, her lab might be able to determine how memories are formed and why dreams are poorly remembered, she said.

"Working on this project has been instrumental for me," Lindstedt said. "It's important for undergrads to realize the ups and downs of research."

Students who are interested in joining the summer 2002 UBRP program can apply until Feb. 1.