 Our lab is interested in identifying genes that are important for animal cell function and then figuring out what those genes do. The organism that we use to study that is a little nematode worm called C. elegans. The way we study gene function is we disrupt it either by making a mutant where the gene is basically broken like the DNA sequence isn't what it's supposed to be or there are other ways of disrupting gene function. My main focus was to create a new C. elegans strain that was characterized by three different mutations. The two mutations that were initially induced in the worm cause a damaged fertility and so less embryos were produced by the strain. The oocyte is the cell that is going to be fertilized. It then develops into an embryo. To observe the oocyte of maturity, we introduced this marker that glows because we incorporated GFP which stands for green flesh and protein. The beauty of it is all of the genes that we're studying are also present in humans. They're homologous in humans because humans and worms are actually related to each other and so by studying how they work in worms, we're actually learning about human biology at the same time which down the road could be really valuable for human health. Going to medical school was my goal. My plans have slightly deviated from that and I'm considering a PhD in biomedical sciences. I am basically fusing my passion for medical subjects and my interest in research.