Major: Biology Research Department: Bioinformatics Graduation Date: December 2019
Abstract: First introduced in the 1980’s, DNA fingerprinting has served as an indispensable tool in fields such as forensic science as well as in medical research. Since then, DNA fingerprinting technologies have progressed to include:
Restriction fragment length polymorphism methods
Variable number of tandem repeat sequences (VNTRs) typing
Short tandem repeat (STR) typing
Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification
Traditional DNA fingerprinting methods focus on comparisons of STR loci between DNA profiles of individuals. However, we hypothesize that a unique, concise DNA profile can be created by comparing an individual’s genome to the human reference genome. Thus, this research builds an algorithm that finds the preferred loci for comparison within the human reference genome and computes a personalized identification number derived from the comparison.
What does research mean to you? Conducting research is a way to honor the work of the numerous researchers who came before us by contributing to the immense bodies of knowledge that they have built. It involves asking a question with genuine curiosity, investing time and effort in search of the answer, and willing to be honest with the results. Often, research is not necessarily ground-breaking, nor does it produce results that we expected and can involve tedious work, but the fact that the work I am doing is contributing to science is itself the reward. Tell us about your journey. I started the Green Fellowship with some prior research experience but was hesitant on whether becoming a researcher was a career choice that was right for me. Additionally, I had no prior research experience in bioinformatics and was unsure if this was a right choice for me. However, the Green Fellowship has allowed me to realize that I am very much interested in research, and bioinformatics/computational biology are fields that I would love to get involved in. I plan on graduating in December 2019 and applying to programs in bioinformatics or computational biology.
Advice for Future Green Fellows
I believe one important thing that I’ve truly learned from the Green Fellowship is to not be afraid asking “dumb” questions. I have found that generally graduate students, post-docs, and professors are happy to discuss the research that they are doing, sometimes even willing to patiently explain the very basics. Asking meaningful questions has been the best way for me to understand such concepts and the most valuable skill that I have gained from the Green Fellowship.