The Senior Program

The centerpiece of the Senior Program in biochemistry/molecular biology is the senior project. Under the guidance of a professor, students conduct independent laboratory research and experimentation. For most students, the project involves two semesters of lab work, with several periods dedicated to writing a thesis and preparing for an oral presentation to departmental faculty and student peers. The senior thesis is a culmination of each student’s undergraduate experience; it synthesizes coursework, research and discussion into a focused statement of intellectual growth and insight.

Recent projects in biochemistry/molecular biology include:

• Mechanisms of Spatiotemporal Gene Regulation in Drosophila
• Studies Toward the Total Synthesis of Melokhanine A
• Ultrasound-Assisted Disulfide Bond Formation
• The origin of membrane vesicles in the Zea mays meiotic spindle
• Tetrahymenia Digestion of E. coli
• Effects of PFAS on DNA damage in aquatic turtles
• Fishtrack Project: Using eDNA Water Samples to Classify Aquatic Organisms by Applying Computational Analysis
• Novel pyridinium salt reagents for the synthesis of bioactive 2-aminopyridines
• Zea maize Kinesin Facilitated Meiotic Drive
• Analysis of Mniii/Feiii cofactor in Class lc RNRs
• Investigation into Food Vacuoles in Tetrahymena thermophila
• PaaA and PaaB Enzymology in the Biosynthesis of Pantocin A
• Mapping Genealogy from the genus Paeonia by Designing Universal Primers
• Investigating Meiotic Spindle Structure Using Electron Microscopy and 3D Modeling