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Fall 2023 - Spring 2024
Dr. Zhou
Cancer and Genetics Research Institute
Sexual Dimorphic Inflammaging
Research Focus
It is well know that women generally have stronger response to viral infections and vaccination than men. However, 4 out of 5 patients with autoimmune diseases in the US are women. Women also tend to live longer compared to man, and when looking at RNA sequencing data of female fruit flies vs male fruit flies, we see that as flies of each sex age. The relative expression level of immune genes in female fruit flies increase drastically, whereas the male fruit fly immune genes do not show the same level of increase. ​
Responsibilities
For this project, I was involved with the dissection of fruit flies, and extracting the intestine from the insect. RNA was then extracted from the guts by me, and QPCR was ran on it before sending it out for RNA sequencing. My involvement also extended to discussion regarding the data acquired from RNA sequencing. Where I would participate in a group discussion in order to interpret the results. For my contribution to the project, I was named one of the co-authors for the manuscript that is currently under going peer review.
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