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PROJECT DETAILS

How I Began Research

For my EDGE project I labored under a biochemistry professor, while leading two other Pre-med students due to my previous laboratory experience. We ran experiments to determine whether a common chemical found in consumer plastic products is dangerous in the human body. The research project helped to set me apart from other Pre-med students because it gave me a lot more experience with undergraduate academic research while serving as a leader. This looks great for medical schools because they expect their applicants to participate in some sort of undergraduate research. Understanding biochemistry more will also helped me progress as I pursue my career to become a physician. I decided to approach my biochemistry professor Dr. Pierce and see if she had any research projects that was working on. After meeting with her we decided to expand on some previous research done at SUU on a molecule called TTBP-TAZ.

How the Research was Conducted

To begin doing research it is required to attend a lab safety lecture that runs about an hour. This teaches proper laboratory protocol and what to do in case of an emergency. The two fellows that I was helping lead during this study also attended. We spent a total of 60 hours on the study spread over the course of 3 weeks. This included making mixtures of protein and TAZ solution, running electrophoresis tests, and recording observations. We adjusted parameters to optimize the study, such as keeping the TAZ solution in glass tubes once we found out it sticks to plastic tubes. The mentor, Dr. Pierce, two fellows and I conducted research within the chemistry lab of the L.S. & Aline W. Skaggs Center for Health & Molecular Sciences (SCA).

Aim of the Study

A question has risen of the potential dangers with being exposed to TAZ, as it may react similarly with nucleophilic groups on biomolecules like proteins and DNA, potentially cross-linking them. Due to the insolubility and high temperatures required in order to react, it is thought that molecules like TAZ may be biologically inert. We tested whether or not it could link two or more protein molecules together. Our tests found that the TAZ molecule was unable to sufficiently do so at the concentrations we would be exposed to.
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