This summer Dr. Hunter gave me the opportunity to join her Marine Biology research team. While Dr. Hunter is a part of a larger team in the process of assembling the tree of life for echinoderms as a whole, her research is primarily focused on determining the phylogenetic tree for Ophiuroidea (brittle stars).
I had no prior experience with research, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I walked into the Biology A-Lab on June 1st. That first day, Dr. Hunter discussed what the goals for the summer were. She primarily wanted to finish getting the DNA sequences for all the specimens we had. Specifically, there were three genes that we were trying to isolate from each brittle star specimen. She had almost all of the ribosomal sequences, but she was still missing many of the mitochondrial COI gene sequences. Initially, this task seemed very simple; however, I was very mistaken.
For the first 5 or 6 days, Dr. Hunter walked me through the different lab procedures such as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and gel electrophoresis. She planned to teach me how to do DNA purification and DNA extraction as well, but Ethan (Dr. Hunter’s son) made his appearance a few days early. After Dr. Hunter went into labor, I attempted to isolate the mitochondrial gene in several species on my own. Amidst many failed attempts, I was able to isolate the COI gene for one species. While Dr. Hunter was gone, I did learn a lot of procedures from other researchers like Dr. Brokaw (he researches plants) and his student researcher, Tina Johnson. However, I was very excited when Dr. Hunter came back.
As the summer continued I felt like I was not making much progress with the COI gene. I tried a variety of modifications in an attempt to isolate COI, but nothing was working. About three weeks before the end of the summer, Dr. Hunter decided to set the COI gene aside and instead focus on the ribosomal genes, 16S and 18S. After this decision, my new mission was to help Jessica Bryan and Bailey Gaspard, two other members of the team, finish sequencing the 16S and 18S DNA genes for all the species we had left. During the last two weeks I spent over 90 hours in the lab doing combinations of PCRs, gels, and purifications. By the end of those two weeks, Jessica, Bailey, and I had just about isolated and purified the DNA for all the species we had obtained. All that remained was the sequencing.
Last summer was definitely an amazing experience. I loved going to lab each day and challenging myself with each new adventure the lab held for me. I am also incredibly thankful for the friendships I made this summer! Though I learned a lot through researching, the most significant lesson I learned is that sometimes you have to sort through a lot of failed attempts to find what you are looking for.