Max Dutro
Current Area of Research:
5MeO-DMT is a naturally occurring psychedelic chemical present in numerous plants, but is also secreted by the Sonoran Desert Toads. Past research has undertaken the goal of discovering where and how the toad produces this chemical, proving that diet does not influence its production. My goal is to use the stored, frozen samples that Marina has and grow the bacteria present in the samples, eventually using different analysis techniques to determine the bacteria present in the Sonoran Desert Toad Skin Microbiome.
Going into Senior year im feeling motivated to continue pushing through with finding a mentor. I'm starting my year off by reconnecting with past researchers, as well as expanding my mentor search to new topics! As I'm going into the new year, I'm thinking about new ways in which to approach the mentor search as well as trying to do as much outreach as possible!
Old Area of Interest:
Climate change is largely acknowledged by scientists as one of the biggest threats posed to animals. One result of climate change is global warming. Research shows that our earth is warming. Due to this scientists have studied the ways in which warmer climates will and have affected wildlife. Animals, like humans, have gut microbiomes composed of millions of different bacteria with a multitude of purposes, from digestion to producing nutrients. Because of this, scientists have studied the ways in which the gut microbiome will respond to the many threats posed by climate change. One of these is the increasing temperatures caused by climate change. Since gut microbiomes mediate many physiological aspects of animals, it is important to understand how climate change and, specifically, warming temperatures will affect animal gut microbiomes. By answering this question, we can more accurately make predictions about climate change's imminent impact on animals, as well as work to develop ways in which to further our conservation efforts.
As I get ready to begin sample collection, I have been expanding my knowledge of PCR and bacterial gene sequencing in order to attain a more informed understadning of the process for when I begin lab work. The MARC cohort is also currently in the proccess of writing introductions for our project. Mine is coming along nicely and I also found an interesting paper about Newts and tetrodotoxin with similair methods to the proposed methods of my project.