Graduate Students David Almanzar (Rog Lab Austin Green (Şekercioğlu Lab)

Sister Chromosomes

David Almanzar came to the University of Utah in 2016 to pursue his PhD following his undergraduate degree at the University of Massachusetts. There he conducted research as an undergrad in Rolf Karlstrom’s lab, imaging neurons in the brains of fish.

Today, working in the lab of Dr. Ofer Rog, Almanzar works on understanding how chromosomes are regulated during sexual reproduction, when egg and sperm are produced. In order to pass along our genetic information to the next generation, our chromosomes are purposefully broken and then repaired. Studying this process is challenging, since pairs of chromosomes (also called “sisters”) have identical DNA sequence, and they are entangled together. This makes it hard to tell them apart even with an advanced microscope.

To overcome this limitation, Almanzar developed a novel method to label only one of the two identical sisters in a tiny transparent nematode called Caenorhabditis elegans. When he placed his samples under the microscope using this innovation, each sister was in a different color and he could see, for the first time, that the identical chromosomes occasionally exchange information. This has allowed him to begin understanding the mechanisms that regulate these exchanges, and his current work is focused on understanding more about this process.

Why is this important? “When happening precisely,” Almanzar says, “these exchanges are mostly innocuous. However, every exchange carries a risk of an error.” These errors, while rare, could be detrimental, and will likely result in an embryo with an incomplete or degenerate genetic information.

Moreover, the same mechanisms that guard the integrity of the genome during sexual reproduction also regulate repair events when cells in our body encounter damage; for example, upon exposure to UV radiation. In those cases, errors can lead to cancer. This work has recently been published in Current Biology.

When he’s not at the bench, David Almanzar, now in his sixth year as a PhD candidate in the School of Biological Sciences, plays guitar in a bluegrass band called the Pickpockets, which he co-founded in 2018. The band plays every Thursday at the local cider brewery, and at local events and gigs across the Mountain West. They currently are in the studio recording their debut album.

The Gift of the Scientific Process

By Austin Green

Ibegan my research career in 2013 as an undergraduate in the Şekercioğlu Lab at the School of Biological Sciences. At the time, my research interests were very broad.

All I knew for certain was that I wanted to do lots of fieldwork, so I started a small-scale project in Red Butte Canyon using camera traps. I have definitely learned a lot along the way.

I didn’t necessarily see myself going to graduate school when I started working in the lab, nor did I have any idea that one, smallscale project would blossom into a full-blown research career, but that is the beauty of undergraduate research. The weekly lab meetings and interactions with fellow students piqued a curiosity in me I didn’t know existed. That curiosity continues to this day.

As a first-generation college student from Salt Lake City, I knew next to nothing about academic research other than that it intimidated the hell out of me. It wasn’t until I was consistently around other researchers, interacting with them on a daily basis that I started seeing myself as someone capable of pursuing it myself. That interaction was key.

Public opinion and portrayal of scientists as white-coatwearing, speedy-fast calculators with purely objective motives, always striving to remove both values and preconceptions from their work was the only previous “exposure” I ever had to this world. However, being able to work with these professionals, and noting that they are in fact just human beings like the rest of us, was an eye-opening experience.

Everyone wants a sense of belonging in their profession, and it wasn’t until I started working in a research lab that I truly felt like I belonged in academia.

Now, as a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate on the verge of graduating, I reflect fondly on my eight years with the School of Biological Sciences and the Şekercioğlu Lab. The experiences I have had, and the knowledge I have gained, have helped shape my beliefs, values, and way of thinking. It is this gift of the scientific process that I believe can benefit all members of society.

Whether at a university lecture, a presentation at a local or government agency, or a workshop at a prison or troubled youth facility, I am ever-aware of the power that shared knowledge can have, especially if it inspires action from others. This is why I will be forever dedicated to fostering relationships with members of the community that feel separated from academia, much as I did as an incoming college student.

You can watch a short talk titled “The Effects of Interstate Highway Eighty on Mammalian Community Composition Across the Central Wasatch Mountain Range” by Austin Green at biology.utah.edu or on SBS’s YouTube Channel.