Undergraduate student researcher finishes brain dissections

Vivian Chang, a junior majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, completed the last of her brain dissections. First, 600 mosquito heads were collected at four hour intervals around the clock. Vivian carefully and painstakingly dissected each and every one over the past 6 months. We now plan to extract the messenger RNA from the samples to measure the levels of various circadian clock genes and the other genes they regulate. To celebrate the completion of this major hurdle, the lab celebrated with some chocolate chip cheesecake!