POTENTIAL RESEARCH TOPICS

• The HSRA offers a range of research opportunities covering many different branches of science, including biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computational chemistry or biology, environmental science, genomics, materials science, molecular biology, and physics. 

• Each student will be placed in a research group based on their interests, availability, and space. 

• Additional HSRA activities include seminars from UT researchers and discussions of careers, research ethics, and information about undergraduate programs within CNS.

• Examples Include, but are not limited to:
  
  • Biochemistry/Virtual Drug Discovery: Using computational resources for visualization of macromolecules (DNA, protein) and virtual docking of chemical compounds into proteins to discover novel drugs as therapeutics for infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, SARS-CoV2 and the bubonic plague.
  • Biology: Our lab is investigating the mechanisms used by proteins that regulate gene expression in cancer. We are interested in understanding how changes in the structure of specific proteins changes their function. We will be using software to look at and model the structure of proteins and use these models to predict how they function and whether changes in their amino acid sequence would be predicted to alter these functions.
  • Environmental Science: Participants will join the Habitat Scouts program learning to collect environmental data in greenspaces in their local areas. The students will spend time learning about environmental science, the data collection techniques, and then time at their study sites collecting data. The data will help us understand how urban greenspaces impact the surrounding area. No specialized equipment or prior knowledge is required.
  • Molecular Biology/Biochemistry: Participants will learn how to select aptamers (i.e., RNA/DNA that binds molecular targets) and will potentially analyze a library of aptamer sequences (e.g., similarities, differences, trends, etc.).
  • Molecular Genetics/Cancer Biology: Changes in pre-mRNA splicing of transcripts from genes associated with changes in cell division and apoptosis have been observed in tumors with defects in regulatory proteins. The global effects of these changes have not been deeply investigated. We will analyze total RNA sequencing data from cells that overproduce or knock out certain regulatory genes to find novel targets of this regulation to identify additional mechanisms involved in tumor cell growth.
  • Behavioral Neuroscience: We will study the Drosophila melanogaster system and research in fly behavior. Participants will be exposed to the experimental procedures, data collection, analysis and interpretation of our research. Participants will collaborate with research faculty and undergraduate researchers in analyzing their data and gain exposure to data analysis using the R statistical analysis software.
  • Biochemistry/Molecular Biology: Participants will work as a group to design experiments, present possible outcomes of your data, and write a mini research proposal. The following are some of the projects we will be focusing on in the stream: 1) To examine the biochemical activity of a human transcription factor in regulating the DNA double-strand break (DSBs) signaling and repair pathway, 2) To develop antibodies against a human receptor protein that can inhibit the binding of viruses 3) To examine the biochemical activity of novel CRISPR enzymes, and 4) To examine the inhibitory effect of anti-CRISPR proteins on DNA-editing CRISPR enzymes.
  • CRISPR Genome Engineering: We use CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to study the expression and function of neurodegeneration risk genes. Participants will learn CRISPR design strategy via web-based tools and programs for annotating genes and genomes, datamining target sites for CRISPR/Cas9, and building DNA vectors for custom gene edits. Student strategies will later be used to “knock-in” DNA encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) at student-selected targets. These GFP “tags” can reveal protein pathologies that lead to Alzheimer’s, ALS, or frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
  • Chemistry/Biology/Biochemistry/Environmental Science/Data Analysis/Statistics: Participants will learn to program in R, while learning about statistics, data visualization, and various data mining techniques as well as learning about research methods and environmental science. We will apply these skills to the Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) dataset collected by the USGS, as well as other environmental data, and students will develop and carry out their own research project.
  • Nutrigenomics: Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) have recently been shown to be an independent risk factor for metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. One of the ways that NNS are thought to increase risk is by affecting the composition and functional genomics of our gut flora. This research experience will look at the impact of NNS and other dietary factors on the composition and gene expression in gut-bacterial flora. Initial research on this project detected significant impacts of NNS on the growth of common gut bacterial species. Interestingly, our statistically significant data showed that some NNS negatively affect bacteria typically considered to be “good”, while enhancing the growth of bacteria that have been shown to negatively affect health.
  • Biology/Fish Behavior: Participants will work directly with research faculty and undergraduate researchers in fish behavior research. We will be working with Western mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis), a highly invasive freshwater fish species wild-caught from our experimental pond at the UT Brackenridge Field Laboratory. Our summer research will focus on how stress and housing density impacts various behavioral responses such as sociability, anxiety/exploration, aggression and boldness. Participants will help score and analyze behavior trial videos being collected by summer UT researchers as well as participate in weekly journal club meetings where we will read and discuss relevant peer-reviewed journal articles. Students will be exposed to R statistical software and score behavior trials using Cowlog, an event logging software.