Charly is a senior Biology student who is also pursuing minors in Chemistry and Psychology. This summer, she worked with Dr. Zachary Murphy through a sponsorship with the Summer Fellows Research Program on, “Investigating the Role of TET2 in Erythropoiesis with CRISPR/Cas9,”
Charly described her research: “Erythropoiesis is a biological process that involves the production of erythrocytes, commonly known as red blood cells. This process is crucial to human beings because the molecules that interact with the red blood cells help to transport oxygen to all areas of the body. Red blood cells must take on a biconcave morphology so that the specific interactions between proteins and molecules can be made. This physical characteristic is created by the removal of the cell’s nucleus and other cellular components during the developmental stage. If this developmental process is disrupted in any way, the cell will not be able to carry the normal amount of oxygen. These disruptions can lead to diseases such as anemia and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). One of the human genes, TET2, has been suggested to be related to MDS. It is thought that TET2 could play a role in the development of red blood cells, which could mean that a lack or mutation of the gene could lead to improper cells being produced. Our research has looked at this gene and what happens to cells when CRISPR/Cas9 technology is introduced along with specific short guide RNA (sgRNA) sequences . The sgRNA sequences were designed to target exons 3, 7, and 11 of the gene. Our hypothesis is that if these three exons are targeted and mutated, then the cells will not take on the proper shape needed.
“Alongside this idea, our research has also looked into finding inexpensive alternatives to protocols and biochemical materials. Science can be quite costly, and this can create a financial barrier to students and schools that choose to work with erythroid research. We tested various protocols several times to determine whether or not these alternatives would be suitable to use for future experiments. This tied into the research above because this idea of finding alternatives came about while in the process of troubleshooting. Our goal is to create cost effective alternatives so that other institutions, like St. John Fisher, can conduct erythroid research. This could help make research more diverse and bring in more ideas that could change the world of erythroid research.”
