Genetics Research 101

In case there is someone out there reading this and in case that person does not know the first thing about genetics, here is a basic intro:

Every single living thing is made up of cells. In most of those cells, there is a small container called a nucleus. Inside that nucleus is DNA – the genetic code. If you've gone to high school in the last 50 years, you've probably seen something like the picture on the right. DNA is made up of two strands of complimentary codes: A is complemented by T and C with G. An A/T or a C/G forms a base pair. The genetic code that makes up a human consists of about 3.2 BILLION base pairs.

One major task of the cell is to maintain and use this DNA. It maintains it by replication, making a complete copy of the entire sequence. This happens in cells that are dividing (skin cells, cancer cells, etc). To use the DNA, the strands are temporarily broken apart and "read" by a protein called RNA polymerase. RNA polymerase creates a new complimentary strand using the original DNA as a template. This process is called "transcription" and the new strand is called RNA. The next step is "translation", the RNA is translated into a sequence of molecules called amino acids that make up a protein. Three nucleotides (a nucleotide is one A T G or C) code for one amino acid. Proteins can be several hundred to several thousand amino acids long.

So, there you have it. Next in this series: How do cells know when to transcribe DNA into RNA?

Also, this photo on the left depicts the central dogma of molecular biology: DNA is transcribed into RNA and RNA is translated into proteins. Why are proteins so important? Well, they do just about every dang thing a cell could ask for and more.

Oh, and feel free to ask questions! I love questions!

More about this summer.

I left out quite a few details in my previous post on what I'm doing this summer so let me just tell you a little bit more:

I'll be living in Lansing from May 27 to August 2. I found a place to live on Craigslist and it turned out that everyone who normally lives there is in the Plant Biology Ph.D program at MSU. The house is about 3.5 miles west of the plant biology building on campus and I plan to bike there everyday.

I found out about this through Calvin's Biology Department. We get a lot of emails from Oct - March with links to places you can apply for summer research. This one stood out because it had an easy application (because I had already written the essay for another application), it was in a desirable location, and most importantly, I was interested in and prepared for the research topic.

There are seven other research fellows, half of them are from MSU, and the other three are from Kalamazoo College, University of Puerto Rico, and somewhere in Wisconsin. All of us are majoring in some sort of biology or chemistry-related field and we will all be working in different labs that are run by professors and grad students from MSU.

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

Or maybe just me. Ever since I found out that I got this fellowship back in March, I've been waiting to hear what my actual research will be. It's still a little unclear but it looks like I will mostly be doing genetics research with an emphasis on molecular biology and biochemistry!

Today was my first day in the lab and it was not too bad as far as first days go: I spent about two hours doing online safety training and getting a tour of the lab (basically, if you screw up, your skin will melt off, you'll get cancer, and MSU will be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars) and then we went to lunch at an Indian restaurant. The afternoon was spent getting a refresher on genetics and genetics research techniques from my Danish superior.


I've had a few experiences being the only new girl but this one was unique. Just about everyone mentioned how they had read my resume but they all seemed to be under the impression that I was a biochemistry major. I hope I didn't actually say that and they just have bad memories. Overall though, the lab seems pretty nice and I think I'm really going to enjoy working there this summer!

GLBRC Research: Day 0 (Orientation)

Welcome to the blog!

Who am I?

My name is Rachel Polet, I'm a biology major and I am going to be a senior at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. I have participated in the PHAGES research program as a freshman and have done mini research projects for class but this will be my first paid internship in biology!

What am I doing?

I am at Michigan State University, working for Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Company (GLBRC). I will be researching plant biology in the Wilkerson Lab (I am currently unaware of the details).

What is GLBRC?

GLBRC is "one of three bioenergy research centers funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct transformational biofuel research."It's main facilities are in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

The government has several reasons for funding alternative energy research: energy independence (political), cost of fuel (economic), and environmental impact. 

GLBRC focuses on four main areas of research: 

1. Developing plants that are more easily converted into fuel (what I will be working on)
2. Investigating new strategies for converting plants into usable chemicals
3. Taking those plant chemicals and finding better ways to turn them into fuels
4. Ensuring the sustainability of biofuels for mass production

This seems to be enough info for today but stay tuned for a more in-depth look at the science and politics behind biofuels.