![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/summerinternships\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/07\/Shifferly-Lab-Photo2.jpg\")
<\/a>I learned many applicable skills such as sterile procedure
and basic reagent production, but I also learned about the challenges of working with living
organisms. All students worked with Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a species of nematode
worm. These worms are smaller than an eyelash with a typical lifespan between twelve to
eighteen days, so we learned methods of working with and maintaining these living worms.
Besides the items I have already listed, one thing that makes this research experience unique is
that each pair of students worked on a separate project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All projects tied together into a similar
goal, but there was a degree of diversity between methods of achieving that goal. For example, I
worked on optimizing the operating mechanism for a protein complex called LOCKR, while
others worked by influencing the expression of genes using gene knockdown. Both projects
worked towards the goal of understanding more about C. elegans genetics, but each took on a
different facet of this goal. This independence between projects required helped to build
interconnections between students working in the lab. We had weekly lab meetings where we
presented our progress, and these meetings allowed me to get a sense of what my peers were
doing. Furthermore, this allowed me to gain a big-picture understanding of the research process
occurring throughout the laboratory. <\/p>\n\n\n