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Students' Cancer Research Published

Alumna, students use CRISPR technology to test cancer drugs

生物学专业 凯瑟琳·戴维斯 和 Israa Alchaar recently received the good news that their research on cancer cells was published in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by the Public of 图书馆 Science.

“It’s so exciting to be an undergraduate 和 be part of this paper,” Davis said. “It’s been an amazing opportunity.”

这篇论文, The small heat shock protein aB-Crystallin protects versus withaferin A-induced apoptosis 和 confers a more metastatic phenotype in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cells, explores how ovarian cancer cells develop resistance to chemotherapeutic agents.

Under the guidance of Bridgewater State University Professor Dr. 梅里Krevosky项目 started back in 2019 with alumna 梅尔·卡迈克尔, ’20, who is now a PhD student at Dartmouth College studying microbiology 和 immunology.

在波士顿州立大学, Carmichael looked at two ovarian cancer cell lines to learn why some cells are resistant to treatment while others are not. She presented her findings at the virtual Sigma Xi Student Research Showcase in the spring of 2020.

Kathleen 和 Israa, 两个老人, picked up where Carmichael left off 和 have continued with the study.

In their research, team used CRISPR technology, a cutting-edge technique for which Drs. Emmanuelle Charpentier 和 Jennifer Doudna were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.

Merideth Kavorsky with kathleen davis 和 israa alchar
凯瑟琳·戴维斯, Dr. 梅里Krevosky, 和 Israa Alchaar

It is the first time BSU students have used CRISPR technology on campus.

“Essentially it allowed us to edit DNA,克洛夫斯基说. “We did a lot of experiments in this paper that were new to our lab.”

像卡迈克尔, both Kathleen 和 Israa look to further their education, both have plans to pursue graduate school in the future.

Having performed this type of research, 和 having it published, will make them st和 out from other applicants, 卡迈克尔表示.

“The things I got to do as an undergraduate, prepared me well in comparison to some of my peers, many of whom come from larger schools with larger research programs,”她说。. “来自BSU, where I got to develop this 项目 和 do research on my own, I gained independence 和 skills that have helped me be successful in my first two years here at Dartmouth.”

Israa has already received recognition for the team’s work when a friend from the University of Pennsylvania, whom she worked with this past summer at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, saw the published paper.

“He reached out 和 asked if we’d be willing to present it at a meeting,”她说。.

“I give all the credit to these three young women,y really are the ones who have the drive to do the work,克洛夫斯基说. “It’s great knowing our students are going out into the world more well-prepared than their contemporaries because of the experience they get 和 the support of BSU.”

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