Undergraduate Research Highlight | Annaline Denys

Taking one genetics class from Kent Golic, professor at the School of Biological Sciences, catapulted Annalina Denys into a deeper interest in a magical, unexpected world. She quickly applied for and was offered a position in the Phadnis lab to work as an undergraduate research assistant. She wanted to learn more about genetics research while making connections within the scientific community at the U. “Taking genetics was the first steppingstone into a magical world where you can inject DNA from bacteria into a fly and cause it to change eye color,” said Denys. “The more I learn about genetics, the more I understand how little I actually know about genetics.”

Denys notes that making connections with people in the community is one of the best ways to find labs to work for—in this case, a TA from a previous class gave her a recommendation at the lab where he worked. Before working in the Phadnis lab, she had limited prior lab experience, but now she can maintain cell cultures, extract DNA, sequence that DNA, interpret data and maintain a stock of flies. She has spent most of her time in the lab focusing on uncovering the mutations in a selfish gene that causes hybrid sterility and sex-ratio distortion in Drosophila pseudoobscura hybrids. This project had been in the works long before Denys started working on it, and she is excited to see some meaningful results begin to come from it. She noted that things haven't always gone the way she planned, and she has often had to restructure her way of thinking to make a new plan. “I have had to redo experiments many times, and I have learned very valuable lessons in patience and recovering from disappointment,” Denys said.

Regardless of the occasional setbacks, Denys has enjoyed learning something new every day. “It's like figuring out a puzzle,” she said. “And every time a new step in the experiment works feels like we are getting closer to an answer.” Denys encourages students looking for research lab opportunities not to be afraid to make mistakes or "sound dumb" when asking questions. She says to keep in mind that the people you are working with have been doing this for years. It’s completely normal to not understand what might feel like simple concepts, and sometimes asking questions is the only way to learn. “Research is not easy,” Denys said. “But when you really apply yourself, it is so fun. Learning new things on the fly (pun intended) is hard but so rewarding.” 

 

Any views, experiences, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this student highlight do not necessarily represent those of the College of Humanities or the College of Science.