UCSD Developmental & Cognitive Genomics Research Group

The goal of The Developmental and Cognitive Genomics Group is to establish a comprehensive molecular map of the developing human brain in order to identify the cell-type specific gene-networks driving neurodevelopment disorders associated with intellectual disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome. Utilizing  mouse models and human derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to decode the genomic and molecular signatures of intellectual disability during neurodevelopment and cognition. Through collaborations with scientists, clinicians, and families they  hope to identify new therapeutic avenues for individuals with intellectual disabilities. 
​-Developmental & Cognitive Genomics Research Lab

Daily Internship Log

01/08/2025
Wednesday, January 8th was my first day working in my internship at The Developmental and Cognitive Genomics Research Group. The day started with an introduction to staff and a tour of our floor. The tour consisted of the offices, microscope room, freezer room, incubator room, and of course the lab itself. Armeen our mentor showed us the different samples kept in each room and then washed and plated mouse brains samples on slides which he later showed us on the microscope. He explained how each color shown in the microscope is a different section of the cell. The cells show up in different colors because of a process called immunofluorescence which is a part of immunohistochemistry. To make a cell fluoresce you have to tag the cell with 2 antibodies, this is because the  primary  antibody attaches to the targeted part of the cell and the secondary antibody will connect to the first making the target section fluoresce a specific color. After getting settled in, my internship partner and I read multiple research papers on Down Syndrome, immunohistochemistry, nucleolus, neurons, and glial cells. At the end of the day, I watched the Co-Investigator Ashley dissect a mouse for its brain. The way to dissect a mouse humanely is to completely sedate it, then make a small incision in the mouse's abdomen to expose the heart. Inject a fluid into its heart to freeze the cells in place. Lastly, the head is snipped off and a small incision is made through the skull to extract the brain.

01/09/2025

Thursday, January 9th. The second day of my internship at UCSD started by looking up more information on the topics I previously studied yesterday, then went into excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Excitatory neurons transfer messages through a process called action potential. A simple way of explaining action potential is that positively charged ions enter the neuron which is negatively charged causing the voltage to increase ( voltage is the charge) "exciting" the neuron. Messages transfer from neuron to neuron by the drenches, drenches catch the neurotransmitter (the message) and send it down the neuron. The "tube" the neurotransmitter goes through is called the Axon. Around the axon, there are band-like formations called mylons. Mylons are made up of glial cells which will be important for my future studies. Mylons make the neurotransmitter run through faster. Then the neurotransmitter exits through the axon terminal and essentially jumps to the next drench. After studying Grace, a PhD student showed us how the secondary antibody is attached and how it looks under the microscope. Armeen then called us for our daily debrief and showed us some samples.

01/10/2025
  ​ Friday, January 10th, I started my morning doing my blogs and setting up my website. We all went to a seminar that was about new information published on Alsimerz. After lunch, I took the UC lab safety course which was painfully long, and set up a data analyzing software called Fiji. Armeen gave us cell samples to analyze in Fiji. A Down Syndrome brain cell sample and a Non Down syndrome brain cell sample. Analyzing the pictures I noticed Down Syndrome brains had more cells separating. I wonder if that is because of the mutation or because of the state the cells were frozen. We ended the day with a conversation that included most of the team where we got to learn lots of personal information from each other and make connections.

Time Sheet

01/13/2025

01/14/2025
microscope training

01/15/2025
Analyzed data

01/16/2025
pipette training and sample staining chart making

01/17/2025
cell room

01/21/2025