Biomedical Sciences Spotlight

Undergraduate Research Scholars Program

by Tiffany Friedrich

"I remember seeing an ad on television of a female scientist holding a microscope," laughed Jacobs. "Once I saw that, I knew I needed to become a scientist so that I could have a microscope!"

Fortunately, Krystyna Jacobs and research assistant professor, Dr. Gloria Conover, share the same passion and enthusiasm for science.

"Research is so much fun. It's like putting a giant puzzle-together based on experimental evidence for the scientific community," comments Conover. "Research definitely takes a great deal of work and patience, it may take a week to get even one result from an experiment, but it's all worth the effort when you are the first person to see the result. It can also make a great impact on the diagnosis and treatment of disease."

Jacobs is a member of the prestigious Undergraduate Research Scholars program and presented a project in the Molecular Biology & Microbiology category during Student Research Week. With the assistaince of Dr. Gloria Conover and prospective graduate student Samaneh Karami, Jacobs won first place with her poster presentation.

From left to right: Samaneh Karami, Krystyna Jacobs, and Gloria Conover.

Jacobs has been conducting research for two and a half years, and has been working with Conover since September 2009. Conover has convinced Jacobs to write a thesis for the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program.

The program gives undergraduate honor students the opportunity to showcase their hard work and research by writing a thesis at the end of their senior year.

"Krystyna has put a huge amount of time and dedication into her thesis so far," said Conover. "The Undergraduate Research Scholars program requires a minimum of 12 hours a week, and she puts in at least 16 to 20 during that timeframe, and is willing to work on the weekends if needed for the experiments."

Student presentations are hosted every three weeks. This gives the students a chance to practice presenting their research, as well as making sure that what they have found is consistent with what other researchers have found, and that the information makes sense to the audience.

Jacobs' thesis will describe the research in muscle disease that she and Conover have conducted over the past two semesters. The project, entitled "The Effect of a Nemaline-Myopathy Nebulin on Desmin Associated to Sarcomeres," was the subject of the winning poster presentation. Their research, which is still in the beginning stages, is on investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying muscle diseases. The focus of Jacobs' thesis is on the relationship between the intermediate filament protein desmin, and nebulin, and the effect of this association in nemaline-myopathy, the most common non-dystrophic skeletal myopathy in humans.

"Our main research interest in the laboratory focuses on the role of intermediate filament proteins in disease," said Conover. "Our goal is to decipher the functional significance of the association of the filament desmin to the giant thin filament nebulin, at the sarcomeric Z-discs, and its relation to muscle disease. Mutations in nebulin cause nemaline-myopathy; a debilitating genetic muscle disease that affects children and adults alike. Interestingly, there are reports in the literature that describe this condition in cats."

Conover's previous research showed that nebulin has high affinity binding to desmin. However, little is known about the involvement of this interaction in nemaline-myophathy.

"We still are searching for the effect that nebulin has on certain mutations," said Jacobs. "We do know that the mutation has an effect, we just need to figure out the mildness or severity of that effect on the binding."

Jacobs has many aspirations. Upon her August graduation from Texas A&M with a degree in Biomedical Sciences with her extensive research experience behind her, she will apply to medical school for the fall of 2011. This will give her a year-long break from school and will also allow her the chance to work with Conover on the nemaline-myopathy research.

"I enjoy research because you get to be right on the edge of new discoveries," said Jacobs. "As a researcher in Conover's lab, I have learned the value of patience. Research does not happen overnight. It takes days, weeks, sometimes months to produce viable results that help convey new information. It is a great feeling when you have results that no one has ever seen or produced before. Knowing that my research helps others to better understand the 'why' of nemaline-myopathy gives me a feeling of accomplishment."

Conover feels that it is important to give Biomedical Science undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct research, right here at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

"I feel strongly that early experiences for undergraduate research are essential for the advancement of the biomedical sciences, because I believe that if a student experiences the joy of the discovery process it will enhance and expand his or her career choices," said Conover. "I like to foster the innate creativity of our students in our research, and I also like to mentor students about the many ways they can contribute to science and pursue scientific careers at a professional level."