Summary of Fall 2023

This semester we focused on a few different gene sets that were used as control data sets. Throughout the semester we had stocks, crosses, and behavior groups. 

Stocks:

• The stocks were used as a way for us to frequently look out for virgin females and males to use for crosses mentioned below.

  • • • w1118 ; +/+ ; +/+
      • +/+ ; vglutGAL4 ; +/+
      • +/+ ; +/+ ; uas-TDP.43/Tm6bSbTb

Crosses:

• Using the virgins collected from the stocks we were able to set up crosses for behavior to study genes that we were interested in.

  • • • w1118 ; +/+ ; +/+  X vglutGAL4 ; +/+
      • +/+ ; vglutGAL4 ; +/+ X  +/+ ; +/+ ; uas-TDP43/Tm6bSbTb 

Flies for Behavior:

• The two progeny  behavior control groups we tested were:

  • • • w1118 ; vglutGAL4 ; +/+
      • +/+ ; vglutGAL4 ; UAS-TDP43/+

• The importance of setting up the behavior test allowed us to collect information that was relevant to the degredation of neurons and communication found in the aging of ALS.  

Genes of Interest Spring 2024 

Limitations of the Study 

In Class Limitations: 

• • • • Labeling and Communication

        • • • • The start of the Fall semester was a challenge because 3/4 of us were new to this environment and the idea of researching.
              • With growing pains we all collectivley decided to revamp how we were labeling and organizing our vials.
              • Communication also improved as we modified the Team Notebook to have a clear and identical layout every week. 

      • Virgin Collection

        • • • • The collection of virgin flies was near impossible some weeks. The flip of vials and the waiting period was what made out break our ability to collect.
              • In the beginning it was easier for us to collect virgins for cross set up, but in the middle of the semester is seemed as if every-time we went to collect, we missed it by a day or a few hours.

      • Limited Stock

        • • • • We had such a steady flow of stocks in the begining and the clutter of vials made it hard to keep track with what was new or old. 
              • So every other week or so we would try to collect and mitigate the obsessive amount of vials to make it easy to manage and organize the stocks. 

      • RNAi Delivery

        • • • • The RNAi gene of interest wasn't delieverd until later in the semeter, so our ability to collect daat on it was harder than the other stains. 
              • Unlike the other strains we werent able to create many (if any) crosses or stocks to run behaviors on.
              • Going into the spring semester, we would like to focus on the RNAi genes of interest and look into a few more to see if they have connections with the progression of ALS. 

Coding Limitations: 

• Coding in itself was probably one of the biggest set back and limitations that we had throughout the beginning of the semester, which continues even past the coding assignment.

  • • • Being able to correctly code the data set we were given proved to be a struggle for the entire group due to lack of experience and the complicating data that came with the paper.
      • With what progress we were able to make, we were able to find genes of interest:
        • • • • FOXF1
              • AP1M2 or Jra
              • Dll
              • MGST1
      • We were unable to decipher if the genes were used in upregulation of down regulation

• Going into the Spring 2024 semester, we could like to continue coding and looking into the genes of interest we found and see if they have manipulations in up or down regulations and how they may be connected to the progression of ALS. 

• Since the coding was unable to be completed, being able to enhance our code could help us determine what genes could be of interest for next semester.