Paul Gaziano worked with Dr. Mathur Kannan at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He studied the behavior of tracheal muscle responses from ponies that have respiratory conditions like asthma. He focused on the effects of drugs on muscle tissue and the possible causes at the molecular level of muscle twitching characteristic of asthma. |
|
Heather Knox worked with Dr. Robert Miller, Head of Physiology, at the School of Medicine at the University of Minnesota on retinal electrophysiology. Using a microscope with a joystick that is connected to a computer, she was able to accurately map neurons and compare the anatomy of different cells statistically. In a related project she tested for the presence of catecholamines in the retinal neurons which possess varicosities. |
|
Sandy Kim worked at Dight Labs at the University of Minnesota on the problem of uptake of iron by E. coli. The emphasis of the work was to determine reasons for the medical disorder that the Pope almost died from, peritonitis caused by E. coli . She cultured E. coli and then added iron compounds to the culture which increases the E. coli growth. She then added chelators, which evacuated the iron and restricted the growth of the E. coli. Sandy was asked to return to the lab for the 1989-90 school year. She continued her research until December 1990. |
|
Jane Petrucci worked with Dr. Alan Yonas at the University of Minnesota. She was trying to prove that one depth cue called accretion deletion that has been used for many years is really not a depth cue. She did this by showing four video displays to Breck students—two with accretion deletion and two which were not—to look for differences in response. |
|
David Risk worked with Dr. Tom Moliter at the Biochemistry Laboratories at the University of Minnesota. His project dealt with the pseudo rabies virus. David learned to draw blood from swine, which was not his favorite task, and to isolate the lymphocytes. He tested the effects of different concentrations of pseudo rabies virus on lymphocyte reproduction using radioactively labeled thymine to measure cell replication. |
|
Karl Steyaert worked with Dr. Mike Murtaugh at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He used restriction enzymes to cut plasmids at specific sites and then separated the cut DNA by electrophoresis to determine the length of the cut DNA chain. Karl also mapped the plasmid DNA chain. |
|
Kate Thomas did an ethogram, a detailed behavior study, on the two dolphins, Mindy and Rio, at the Minnesota Zoo. She spent many hours learning to recognize the many behaviors performed by this complex species. Because of her extensive observations, Kate noted definite differences in personality and dominance of the two animals. |