Undergraduate Researcher
Center For Genetically Encoded Material (C-GEM)
06.2023 - 08.2023
- Project Summary: It has been shown that new monomers can be placed into the peptide backbone to form new kinds of polymers that alter structure and function of proteins. But, translation machinery in the ribosome can limit the types of non-α-amino acid monomers. Therefore we tried to put in hydroxy acid phenylselenocysteine because it’s well tolerated by the ribosome. When put into the chemical sequence it will create an easy leaving group due to the ability to be oxidized. This forms the hydroxy acid analog of dehydroalanine containing ester and alkene function for rearrangement chemistry.
- Participated in regular meetings to discuss aspects of research and experiments.
- Developed top-level skills in collaboration, interpersonal communication and writing through hands-on work and training under a graduate student mentor.
- Conducted laboratory experiments on genetically edited plasmids using Gibson Assembly after thorough planning and research.
- Prepared samples for analysis by performing complex sample preparation tasks.
- Conducted experiments related to cell culture.
- Conducted experiments in vitro and in cellulo.
