Concluding this week, I have started being able to do research on my own! I am confident and trusted enough to mate barnacles, extract their embryos, run an interval experiment, stain, and look at the embryos in the confocal microscope. WOW, that sounds like a lot when I write it out. Essentially, now I can create the images you see below. This is a barnacle embryo at Meiosis 2, when the polar body has already been extruded. On the left we are seeing the two pronuclei of the sperm and egg meeting! This is the where the Female DNA meets the Male DNA before the first division the cell will undergo. This is important to see as we are able to collect images in intervals, for example every 20 minutes, to watch for a general pattern at which the DNA is moving. We also watch the microtubules as they are the mechanism for how the DNA can position itself in the cell. The sperm initially send microtubules in all directions until it hits the female pronucleus(female DNA). Then pulls both sets of DNA together to combine. On the right, we are seeing the "mesh" of microtubules in the cell. This will help you understand about where the DNA are located in the cell. In the lab we observing these structures form and dissipate. Before the cell divides, we will see these microtubules start to break down and form new ones. Hopefully, I will be able to take a live video of these cells, watching the microtubules move as well as the DNA. Moving out of the lab, we were able to get on the OIMB boat this past Saturday morning. We trawled the bottom of the ocean about 150-170 feet down. Being able to see sponges and small bottom/near bottom creatures was very exciting! There were over 7 different star-fish species, decorator crabs, hermit crabs, many sponges, shrimp, jellyfish, sea cucumbers, and much more! Plus, it was a beautiful and clam day on the ocean, which makes the experience so much better.
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AuthorHello I am Gina Magro, currently attending University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. I am studying Biology with a minor in French as a senior this fall. Archives
August 2022
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