The Summer Research Apprentice Program has officially come to a close, but we will still be featuring a few SRAP participants on our blog. Stay tuned!
Alex Mackiel and Heather Peters both enjoy science and
getting their hands dirty while they conduct research.
“One of my favorite parts about my project is being in the
lab,” says Alex, a senior from Minnesota. “I like doing things on the computer
as well as being in the lab. I like being surrounded by science.”
Heather, a junior from Cheyenne, Wyoming echoes his thoughts,
saying, “I like working with people, the hands-on activities and learning new
stuff.”
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| Alex Mackiel (left), Dr. Gomelsky (middle) and Heather Peters (right) |
Alex and Heather applied their love of science this summer
while working in the Molecular Biology Department under Dr. Mark Gomelsky.
In technical terms, Alex explains their research. “For our
project, we are using near-infrared light to active a protein called guanylate
cyclase,” he says. “We have to engineer a protein that can respond to light and
produce the second messenger molecule. This messenger is able to do different
things in the body.”
The research that Heather and Alex conducted could help to
revolutionize the medical field.
“The near-infrared light penetrates deep into mammalian
tissues and is completely harmless,” says Dr. Gomelsky. “If we implant
light-activated proteins into engineered cells that are designed to cure
medical conditions, we can control these cells inside an animal.”
After high school, Heather hopes to join the Air Force ROTC
program and become a psychologist for the Air Force. Alex hopes to go to
medical school to become a surgeon.
SRAP is a six-week, intensive research program for high
school students. It is based at the University of Wyoming and is sponsored by
Wyoming EPSCoR. To learn more about the program, click here, or search “SRAP”
in the archives.
By Robin Rasmussen
Photo by Robert Waggener
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