-

  Last week I met with the super micro biome group for the first time. I am very passionate about the topic, so I was very excited to meet others with similar interests. The group had a wide variety of backgrounds, with each being equally interesting. We discussed how to organize our new projects. It was decided to work in small groups. Each group would do one research paper and one review article. Two of the veteran students volunteered to write the first papers to demonstrate for the rest of us how it as to be done. They will be assigning groups for the remaining members when we meet next week.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ASU Week 1

-
 Do you feel you have a more malleable/growth mindset, or a fixed mindset?      I am not sure how to answer this. I am very fixed with some things, and malleable with others. I am not afraid to learn when it comes to things like science, although I can get particular about knowing all the rules or expectations, and sometimes get stuck. I can go to a foreign city, or in the middle of a jungle, and feel very comfortable in unfamiliar territory. If I am fixing a machine, I see it as a challenge and growth opportunity when I don't find the problem right away. In other areas I definitely have a fixed mindset. Language, for instance, has never been easy for me, and I resist learning. I took Spanish for 4 years and it did not "speak to me." I didn't like it at all. Now I hear people telling me how I need to learn Spanish and I get upset. I say things like, "There are 450 languages spoken in the U.S.. Am I to learn them all, or should everyone just learn English?" I
Read more

Fall 4: Literature Review

-
Image
       The microbiome group will not be meeting as frequently this semester, creating gaps in my weekly reporting ability. One of my advisors suggested I supplement by doing a literature review as well. So, what is a literature review, why do we do them, and how?       In the attached video series it was described as this: Imagine going to a high school reunion and meeting up with a person you haven't seen in years. They might ask, "What have you been up to?" at which point you would provide the highlights of past years. "I moved to Arizona in 2010.  A few years later I invented post-it notes, and became rich overnight. Three minutes later I got married. We have been traveling the world, and just flew in from Belize to be here with you all today." Note that, while this brings the listener up to speed, this does not move forward with an idea of the future. A literature review uses multiple, credible sources, to explain the current status on a specific topic. It
Read more

WEEK 6 Cystic Fibrosis

-
Image
  Presentation by ASU student Anton Sachs of the original paper “CFTR dysregulation drives active selection of the gut microbiome” Meeker et al., PLoS Pathog, 2020, 16(1):e1008251. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008251. https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1008251 Cystic Fibrosis is a disease caused by mutations to the CTFR gene. These mutations cause the body to secrete a thick and sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and obstructs the pancreas, as well as causing GI issues such as malabsorption. CF drastically shortens life span. There is no known cure at this time. Observations showed a difference between fecal biota of CF and non-CF patients. The goal of this study was to determine if the microbiome was altered due to the gene mutation via mucus, or by other means such as the medications CF patients take. What the study determined was that the gene mutation and associated conditions could alter the microbiome without assistance from other influences.
Read more