Project Title: How Can the COMT Allele Differentiate the Effects of Guided Breathing in Test Performance in High Stakes and Low Stakes Testing?
BASIS Advisor: Ms. Das
Internship Location: Genspace
Onsite Mentor: Jehovani Lopez
My Posts
Final Project Remarks
Jun 20, 2022
Hello! Before concluding my project, I wanted to give a quick thank you to those who attended my project presentation. It was great presenting to my friends and family and those in the community who were interested in my topic. The weeks of developing and carrying out my project we so much fun and I […]
Week Ten: Project Rehearsal and Prepping for Last PCR
Jun 04, 2022
Hi all! This week was more prep for my final presentation. I’ve had some trouble making my project not so confusing and wordy. Especially when it comes to explaining the PCR process and COMT, I’ve simplified a lot of the process on my presentation because I can already see myself spending 20 minutes explaining my […]
Week Nine: Beginning Presentation Draft and Another Lab Day
May 29, 2022
Hi! This week was mostly used as preparation for my presentation. I began constructing a presentation with everything I did during the project and also began my deliverable for my project which will be a digital poster. Besides that, I had another disappointing day in the lab. The samples I was processing did not show […]
Week Eight: Continuing Data Collection and PCR
May 20, 2022
Hi! This week was pretty much the same as the last one. I continued collecting testing data from my participants. I’m super glad i’ve shortened the experimental groups because it’s much easier to manage and process 16 DNA samples rather than 40. This week I also went into the lab again and started processing the […]
Week Seven: A Sucsessful PCR!!
May 12, 2022
Hello! This was another week in the lab while also collecting more testing data from my participants. I began this week by revisiting the interview I had with Dr. Susan Persky. I took note of all of the points she made during the interview, while sifting through the information we talked about. This will be […]
Week Six: Gathering data and another PCR
May 06, 2022
Hello! This week I began focusing more on gathering data from my participants. Due to the APs and lack of responses, I’ve had to decrease the size of my experiment group to around 20 people. One group of 10 is the experimental group, where there is a time constraint (thus putting participants under pressure). The […]
Week Five: Interview and Developing the Experiment
Apr 29, 2022
Hello everyone! This week was me trying to navigate and incorporate the new ideas (social and ethical) into my experiment and project. But before I get into that, I went into the lab on Tuesday to retry the PCR. I used a higher concentration of my genomic DNA (about 20 microliters) and I made a […]
Week Four: PCR Trouble and an Ethical Conversation
Apr 21, 2022
Hello! This week was my first time running through the PCR in the lab at Genspace! The sequencing of the DNA to see which COMT polymorphism I have took about 5 hours total over 2 nights in the lab. Over these 2 nights at the lab, I had many goals before starting the sequencing of […]
Week Three: New Optimized PCR Method Using Restriction Enzymes and Gel Electrophoresis
Apr 14, 2022
Hi everyone! This week was mostly prep for next week when I will be taking DNA samples and starting to sequence them. I wrote up protocols for both the DNA extraction as well as the PCR on Benchling. I will be taking DNA samples with a buccal (cheek) swab. The collection is pretty simple, participants […]
Week Two: Analyzing the COMT Polymorphism
Apr 07, 2022
Hey all, this week was super lab intensive. I started off by locating and analyzing the genetic sequence I would be sequencing for my experiment. My advisor and I are using Benchling to map out the sequence and create primers. Primers are used for DNA sequencing to target the specific sequence for amplification. In order […]
Week One: Lab Training
Apr 01, 2022
Hello everyone! This week I started off at learning more about Genspace, the lab I’ll be working at for my project. I took part in a lab training where I learned how to navigate and utilize lab material for my project. After that, I started finalizing the things I need to be able to collect […]
Week Zero: An Introduction
Mar 16, 2022
Hello, My name is Clara Vickery and I will be researching how our genes can differentiate the effects of guided breathing on test performance. I will be interning at Genspace, the first community biology lab in the world, where I will be sequencing the DNA of my participants in order to carry out my experiment. […]