Rivers Hosts Guest Researcher from Stanford to Senior Research Course
Rivers welcomed guest lecturer Dr. Seung Kim to Sequoyah Reynoso’s Grade 12 Honors Science Research seminar on Tuesday. Kim, who leads his own laboratory at Stanford University and is the founder of the Stan-X program, came to campus to speak to the class on his research on fruit flies that can have an impact on diabetes treatments in humans.
The Honors Research seminar is a new initiative that was launched last year when the students were juniors. The senior seminar utilizes the resources of The Revers Center and the expertise of external experts to provide students the opportunity to conduct research at a college or graduate level. Each year students in the course will create new strains of transgenic fruit flies that will be stored and used in collaboration with scientists across the country.
The six students in the pilot senior seminar have already been engaged in the research. In preparation for Kim’s visit, they read a scholarly paper authored by Kim titled “Ablation of Insulin-Producing Neurons in Flies: Growth and Diabetic Phenotypes.”
Reynoso, who leads the class, explained the impact of the project.
“Flies share more than half their DNA with humans,” he said. “Genes involved with certain diseases also appear in flies, so we can use flies as a model to study human diseases in some cases.” The researchers in Kim’s lab discovered insulin-producing cells in the fly brain and determined that the destruction of those cells results in a diabetes-like state for the flies.
“Flies share more than half their DNA with humans,” he said. “Genes involved with certain diseases also appear in flies, so we can use flies as a model to study human diseases in some cases.” The researchers in Kim’s lab discovered insulin-producing cells in the fly brain and determined that the destruction of those cells results in a diabetes-like state for the flies.
The class is already learning how to spot minuscule differences in several strains of flies as they prepare the first step in a series of crossbreeding experiments which will result in novel strains. Students observe the progress through microscopes and transfer flies into vials with fresh food to keep the flies healthy. By the end of the course, the newly created strains of flies will be sent to Indianapolis to be used in scientific and medical studies, thus having a direct impact on cutting-edge research. Students will also visit and present posters alongside students from other schools in the Stan-X program in May at the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey.
While this is just the beginning of the senior research seminar at Rivers, interest is strong. Students apply to the senior-level course from a junior-level course that has over 25 students, where they focus on research techniques and how to critically read peer-reviewed research articles.
And with bringing in live specimens this year, future opportunities abound. Reynoso says he and Science Department Chair Betty Bloch have discussed incorporating some of the research methods with the flies into a future genetics unit within the standard biology curriculum.
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