Learning information in class engaged and interested me throughout my academic career; however, the opportunity to discover new information through research is one of my most intellectually stimulating experiences. With my goal to learn as much as possible under Dr. Nolan Kane, the Professional Investigator of the Cannabis Genomic Research Initiative (CGRI), I have expanded my traditional bench lab experience to bioinformatics, hemp breeding, and leading designing and performing my own project examining differential protein expression in Cannabis. Although I am deeply fascinated by a four letter code that encodes the human body, I am also providing myself the freedom within my research to learn about other organisms and genetic diseases that
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I planned to answer my research question through an experiment utilizing RNA-sequencing of a female plant that has been chemically treated on some branches to produce male flowers. Throughout designing this project, I learned to utilize my network of colleagues to produce a feasible, budgeted, and funded project that will possibly answer what the protein expression difference is between these two types of flowers. To perform this experiment, I am collaborating with a local state-licensed cannabis producer, Skinny Pineapple, LLC, that is allowing this project to take place under standardized conditions, as well as allow for RNA to be extracted on site in sterile conditions. With the financial support of Skinny Pineapple, LLC, we are able to produce and extract RNA from numerous individuals with replicates of sample. Furthermore, after I extract and prepare the RNA for sequencing with funding from The Kane Lab, I will perform the analysis of these samples between September 2016 and April 2017 and publish the results of this project in May of …show more content…
Given the opportunity to co-lead this project, my colleagues and I have germinated seeds and planned how to utilize the space in a field to prevent unwanted breeding between different strains of hemp. Furthermore, this project has given me the opportunity to volunteer on the farm with labor and learn about the dynamics of an industrial farming operation to better plan our project on this farm. Ideally, we anticipate producing a hemp plant that survives the harsh environment and elevation of Colorado and produces a large seed for hemp seed oil extractions. We have designed this experiment to take 3-4 growing seasons and each season should produce a plant that is better suited to grow outdoors and produce larger seeds, which can be used each after harvesting next season’s seeds. When planning for a multiple growing season breeding project, it allows for the opportunity of any marker-assisted breeding systems developed in our lab or elsewhere to be utilized for this project to increase the success rate of obtaining this specialized strain of hemp. Furthermore, if we are successful in breeding a Colorado-hearty hemp variety, we would be able to sell the seeds to farmers as a possible source of funding for other projects within the
I planned to answer my research question through an experiment utilizing RNA-sequencing of a female plant that has been chemically treated on some branches to produce male flowers. Throughout designing this project, I learned to utilize my network of colleagues to produce a feasible, budgeted, and funded project that will possibly answer what the protein expression difference is between these two types of flowers. To perform this experiment, I am collaborating with a local state-licensed cannabis producer, Skinny Pineapple, LLC, that is allowing this project to take place under standardized conditions, as well as allow for RNA to be extracted on site in sterile conditions. With the financial support of Skinny Pineapple, LLC, we are able to produce and extract RNA from numerous individuals with replicates of sample. Furthermore, after I extract and prepare the RNA for sequencing with funding from The Kane Lab, I will perform the analysis of these samples between September 2016 and April 2017 and publish the results of this project in May of …show more content…
Given the opportunity to co-lead this project, my colleagues and I have germinated seeds and planned how to utilize the space in a field to prevent unwanted breeding between different strains of hemp. Furthermore, this project has given me the opportunity to volunteer on the farm with labor and learn about the dynamics of an industrial farming operation to better plan our project on this farm. Ideally, we anticipate producing a hemp plant that survives the harsh environment and elevation of Colorado and produces a large seed for hemp seed oil extractions. We have designed this experiment to take 3-4 growing seasons and each season should produce a plant that is better suited to grow outdoors and produce larger seeds, which can be used each after harvesting next season’s seeds. When planning for a multiple growing season breeding project, it allows for the opportunity of any marker-assisted breeding systems developed in our lab or elsewhere to be utilized for this project to increase the success rate of obtaining this specialized strain of hemp. Furthermore, if we are successful in breeding a Colorado-hearty hemp variety, we would be able to sell the seeds to farmers as a possible source of funding for other projects within the