Oct29
Posted on Oct 29 by
Dianna has officially started working in the research lab! She was able to use several literature papers alongside Dr. Gerdon’s calculations to assemble a protocol for uniform size nanoparticle synthesis. She has been using the standard Templeton method for nanoparticle synthesis with a few changes found in more recent papers. These changes include pH adjustments, longer rotation time, as well as different compounds used to coat the nanoparticles. Dianna is so excited to see which changes to the standard synthesis method create nanoparticles that are uniform in...
Oct17
Posted on Oct 17 by
Logan is very excited to begin working in the lab this semester on calcium phosphate mineralization in microfluidics! So far, Logan made some great strides of achieving mineralization by running the system for about an hour per test, but has had some issues with air bubbles interfering with the mineralization process as a whole. However, after the 4 hour mineralization run Logan did over the past weekend, he feels like he may finally have figured out how to avoid getting any air bubbles at all! Logan looks forward to continuing to work and improve on microfluidics and expand his knowledge on this method of research in accordance with calcium phosphate...
Oct17
Posted on Oct 17 by
After spending the past summer investigating the effects of selected DNA aptamers on the morphology and crystallinity of calcium carbonate, Alex plans on testing the aptamer’s affinity to calcium carbonate. Although the crystallinity and morphology experiments are done for now, there are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding the relationship between the aptamers and calcium carbonate; and hopefully the affinity experiments can answer some of them. To begin the affinity experiments, mineralized calcium carbonate is needed to test the aptamers. Alex hypothesizes there will be a correlation between the results from the summer and the affinity...
Oct11
Posted on Oct 11 by
Amanda has made her start in the lab by making her own collagen hydrogels! She has been making them with Kassidy, who is also teaching her how to mineralize and lyophilize the collagen hydrogels. After Amanda had made her second set, it was time for her to start mineralizing them in different concentrations of poly-aspartic acid. Amanda will then lyophilize and take IR of her three gels. She has just started this project, but she is already learning so...
Oct02
Posted on Oct 2 by
Research isn’t only about working in the lab but being able to analyze, interpret and write up results and data. Stephanie and Alex have loads of data from the summer that have already been analyzed and interpreted. Now, they are working on writing an abstract so they are able to present at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society Conference in Philadelphia. This would be Stephanie’s and Alex’s first time presenting their research at a...
Sep17
Posted on Sep 17 by
Kassidy has moved out of summer vacation mode and jumped back into the lab to continue research with collagen. She decided to do a quick experiment on the difference between using a PBS solution versus a collagen neutralization solution when preparing the hydrogels. After careful observation, it was found that the gels appeared the same with both solutions, based on thickness, color, and texture. Thus, Kassidy decided to continue her research using the PBS solution because all the previous data is from gels created using a PBS solution. Kassidy was also able to reduce her reaction incubation time from 7 days to 2 hours! This mini experiment was an easy transition from vacation back to research and really got Kassidy excited to be back in the...
