Senior Jacob Barret conducted research this past summer and fall using the zebrafish model to characterize the effect of estrogen on regeneration in the caudal fin. His work demonstrated that embryonic zebrafish exposed to high concentrations of estrogen resulted in inhibited regenerated tail length, area, and morphology. Furthermore, differences in pigment formation were qualitatively observed between treatment groups. This spring, he has focused on elucidating possible molecular mechanisms responsible for this inhibited regeneration process. So far, he has observed the expression of two genes involved in regeneration in the presence of various estrogen concentrations following amputation. The expression of these genes in various estrogen treatments has been monitored using qPCR. The results of this molecular work will be discussed as a part of his senior thesis near the end of April! Fantastic work!
