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Full-Text Articles in Organisms
Amphisbaenian Head Movement And Burrowing Forces In Damp Granular Media, Jacob Newell
Amphisbaenian Head Movement And Burrowing Forces In Damp Granular Media, Jacob Newell
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
Damp granular media is a difficult environment to study because it is both practically complex and it lacks equations which fully describe its behavior. In this study, an oscillatory lateral head movement and its effects while penetrating damp granular media were tested using a robophysical model. This experimental research was inspired by the burrowing behavior of the clade Amphisbaenia, a group of usually limbless squamates that employ a variety of different burrowing behaviors, but it can apply to a wide range of burrowers. This research could help with both human burrowing technologies and the further investigation of animal behaviors.
Knockout Of Endospanin 1 Via Crispr In Zebrafish, Danio Rerio, Jared Kittinger
Knockout Of Endospanin 1 Via Crispr In Zebrafish, Danio Rerio, Jared Kittinger
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
I made endospanin 1 knockout (KO) zebrafish to examine its effects on lipid and bone metabolism. Endospanin 1, or leptin receptor overlapping transcript (leprot), is a cytosolic protein linked to the protein hormone leptin that influences the trafficking of leptin receptors to the plasma membrane of cells. Genes for endospanin and tyrosinase (a pigmentation enzyme) were targeted via a microinjection of guide RNAs and CRISPR Cas9 into zebrafish embryos at 2-4 cell stages. I was able to disrupt the endospanin 1 gene (based upon the disruption of tyrosinase), but very few mutant zebrafish fully developed into adults. Only low KO …