RNAi screen for gastrulation defects in C. elegans (2008)

Undergraduates: Trudy Li, Jacob Sawyer

Faculty Advisor: Bob Goldstein
Department: Biology

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The specific focus of my research was to perform a RNAi screen identifying genes that function in gastrulation. In this experiment, the candidate genes tested are targets of the protein skn-1, which acts in the specification of cells, helping to differentiate future endodermal and mesodermal cells in the EMS blastomere. In this experiment, these genes were inhibited, preventing normal gastrulation from occurring and resulting in embryonic lethality. Hence, the phenotype of embryonic lethality was used to measure the effects of the candidate gene on gastrulation.